The Australian had missed a four-foot birdie at the Wyndham Championship in 2023 to snap his 16-year streak of reaching the playoff.
He said he felt more "motivation" than pressure taking to the course knowing he likely requires a two-way tie for third or better to have a reason to fly to Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude next week.
Scott finished the day in a tie for eighth, four shots adrift of leader Joel Dahmen who closed with three straight birdies for a 9-under 61.
4 straight birdies for Adam Scott! — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 31, 2025He's moved into the top-5 @WyndhamChamp.📺 @PGATOURLIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/iYcUq0bouj
That put him one shot ahead of Alex Noren with four others a further shot behind.
To also reach the playoffs, Dahmen would need at least a runner-up finish with no more than two other players.
"The playoffs are a bonus for me," he said.
"I'm just going to go out and try to play good golf, and I guess if I play really well, then I get to play another week."
Scott addressed his mindset heading into the tournament.
"I'm going to need to get like 20-under to think of anything, so I better not be one-under through day one or I'm going to leave myself a lot of work, so nice to make a few birdies," Scott said.
"And of course as much as I think about moving on, I'd like to win this tournament, so that's - it's a similar kind of scenario for me."
Starting his round at the 10th hole, Scott turned in an uneven opening nine with two bogeys and three birdies.
He clicked after making the turn, including a run of four consecutive birdies to climb the leaderboard.
On the par-four, 426-yard fourth - Scott's 13th hole in the first round - Â he rolled home a birdie putt bending it back to the right from below the hole.
At No.5, Scott stayed with the short stick from well off the front of the green with his third shot. From nearly 60ft out, he rolled the ball to a stop inside of two feet for the tap-in birdie and carded two more birdies at No.6 and No.7 to briefly jump into a tie for third.
Perhaps his best shot of the day was the 33ft putt at the par-three seventh. It was his seventh birdie of the round.
By the time he signed his scorecard, Scott and playing partner Jordan Spieth were tied for fifth and two back of the leaders.
Scott has two top-10 finishes at Sedgefield. He did not play last year after taking second at the Scottish Open and tying for 10th in the Open Championship.
This season has been more of a grind. Scott, who celebrated his 45th birthday two weeks ago, is still chasing his first top-10 in 2025. He last had a top-10 in 2024, at the BMW Championship where he tied for second.
Fellow Australian Cameron Davis shot a two-under 68, seven off the lead.
