Adam Scott's telling confessions of Tiger

It's not surprising given his first awe-struck encounter, but Adam Scott has revealed how tormenting from a scary good Tiger Woods set his professional golf career back years.

Like most, Scott has welcomed Woods' plans to hopefully one day return to the PGA Tour, even if the 15-times major winner admits his comeback from a career-threatening car accident is taking longer than he'd like.

But you have to wonder if Scott privately wished his career hadn't coincided with golf's longest-reigning world No.1 following the Australian's candid revelations on the eve of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.

Still rehabilitating from the devastating leg injuries sustained in the car crash two years ago, Woods is the non-playing tournament host in LA, where Scott was quizzed about playing in the Tiger era.

Having shared swing guru Butch Harmon as a coach in their formative years, Scott said he'd "always had a really great relationship with Tiger".

But, fascinatingly, Scott - who climbed to world No.1 after winning the Masters in 2013 - confessed that Woods' psychological beat-downs more than two decades ago actually prevented him from flourishing until years later.

"Early in my career, I was able to be very up close and on the inside of his game. We were both working with Butch Harmon, the swing coach, and I played a lot of golf with Tiger early on," Scott said on Thursday.

"I actually think he was so good and he liked messing with me that it dented my confidence, to be honest. It took me a few years to figure that out.

"You know, then he's the ultimate competitor. If I showed signs of looking like I was playing well or was any potential threat, he would try and step on my throat and stop that immediately."

Like he did during a