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By Melanie Hauser
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

HARRISON, N.Y. -- One win. Two could haves.

Two down-the-road-on-Friday afternoon majors.

A great year for some players in this four-week playoff series.

Adam Scott opened The Barclays with a 4-under 67. (WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Scott in 2007

Tournament Finish Score to Par Mercedes-Benz Championship 2 -12 Nissan Open T69 +5 World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship T33 -- World Golf Championships - CA Championship T61 +11 Shell Houston Open 1 -17 Masters Tournament T27 +12 Wachovia Championship T24 -1 THE PLAYERS Championship T6 -6 the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley T5 -14 Stanford St. Jude Championship 7 -4 U.S. Open Championship CUT +18 AT&T National CUT +8 Open Championship T27 +2 World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational T36 +9 PGA Championship T12 +2

VIDEO

• Interview:  Adam Scott

Yet a disappointment for Adam Scott. At least so far.

But things are looking up.

The man with a PLAYERS Championship but no major yet on his resume scaled back on golf after the U.S. Open so he could be fresh for the FedExCup and it seems to have paid off. Scott opened The Barclays with a 4-under-par 67 that left him four shots behind first-round leader Rory Sabbatini.

Starting on the back nine, he birdied three of the final four holes to turn 3-under. His only hiccup was a bogey at the fifth.

"I was hitting a lot of good shots my first 10 or 12 holes and then missed a couple greens coming in and managed to save most of them,'' he said. "But you know, really pretty solid golf.''

Just like earlier in the year. Scott won the Shell Houston Open and had an impressive May-June run finishing tied for sixth at THE PLAYERS, tied for fifth at The Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley and seventh at the Stanford St. Jude Championship. He gave himself chances to win at Memorial and Stanford St. Jude Championship, then got into a few bad habits, couldn't find any kind of flow and missed cuts at the U.S. Open and AT&T Classic and finished tied for 27th at the Open Championship.

"It was a bit of everything,'' he said of the swoon. "It was all setup related. Set up got off, then my swing got off and I got into a bad habit... A lot of bad golf, which is a bit frustrating."

Slowly, but surely, he rebuilt it and, after spending extra time on the range at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, he turned the corner. The result? A tie for 12th at the PGA Championship.

"(At Southern Hills) I was so close to feeling like I was going to have a great score every day,'' he said, ''but a couple of three putts each day held me back.''

With the exception of the fifth, Scott cruised Thursday. Then again, Westchester Country Club is a comfort zone after finishing second to Vijay Singh last year.

"Every time I've been here unfortunately it's been wet,''' he said. "So the greens are very soft and you've got 6 irons backing up out there. It makes it tough to get to the back pins, and they have put a few back there I think to make the course a bit tougher and hope it's going to dry out the next few days.''

Scott came into the playoffs in 10th place on the standings, which means the pressure is off. As long as he plays reasonably well he doesn't have to worry about making it to next week -- or to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- so he can just play his game and try to move up in the standings.

"I think you've just got to take it one event at a time,'' he said. "Fortunately I don't really have to think about not playing next week because I know I'm going to. I'm not in that kind of mode, but it's a good opportunity for me to get some points up early and possibly pick up some ground on the favorite.''

Thursday, Scott and nearly 30 other players in the field tried to raise awareness for pediatric brain tumor research by wearing blue alligator belts in support of Ian's Friends Foundation (IFF). The foundation was named for 3-year-old Ian Yagoda who was diagnosed with an inoperable Type 2 Astrocytoma tumor in his brain stem.

Scott couldn't say no, especially, he said, after meeting Ian.

"It's something little to do to for a good cause, to raise some awareness for that illness,'' he said. "And make someone feel special for a day.''

Scott has three more rounds here, then it's off to the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he won in 2003 and finished second in 2004. After that, it's the BMW Championship, then on to East Lake where he will defend his 2006 title.

"I planned for (this stretch),'' he said. "If you're in contention every week, you're going to be pretty worn out.''

After that, Scott has a week off, then he'll be in Montreal playing for the International team at The Presidents Cup.

"Hopefully a week off is good enough,'' he said. "But I don't know, I think you know, Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, that kind of an event has the ability to get you going even if you're not really wanting to be there.'