The 37-year-old used the putter in Wednesday's pro-am and had been toying with the idea of reintroducing it for tournament play. The PGA will now serve as the test run as he ponders whether to put it back into his bag on a full-time basis.

Scott ditched the long-handle putter three months in advance of the banning of the anchored pivot point in January 2015. The rule change didn't ban long putters, but did ban the practice of using the hand on the chest as an anchored pivot point.

He did return to the long putter briefly in 2015 but wasn't comfortable with the changed technique required for its use. Now he's been inspired by Champions Tour players Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron, who recorded brilliant stats among the seniors this year with the longer blades.

But that duo were criticised in some quarters for pushing the boundaries with their technique before being cleared of any wrongdoing by the United States Golf Association.

"Yeah, I think I might give it a run this week," Scott said. "I haven't done that much work with it, but it feels pretty good out there. Yeah, I think it might make the grade this week; definitely feel very comfortable with it.

"I've just noticed, like everybody else, that Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron make everything they look at and have done since the anchoring ban and moving it away from the body.

"So it was actually pointed out to me that this year they both recorded the best-ever putting stats since stats have been kept. Both of them beat the old best. You know, I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if they had just a really good year, but maybe they've found the best way to putt."

Scott's putting has long been regarded as the weakness in his game. He won his cherished Masters title in 2013 before the ban was implemented and has used the short putter since the final months of 2014.

When he did flirt with the non-anchored stroke, he didn't like what he saw. Now, he's found ways to solidify the grip and wants to see if it pays off over the coming week in a tournament that also features in-form Australian Marc Leishman and defending Masters champion Sergio Garcia.

"I tried it a little bit a few years ago, but I was just frustrated with the long putter ... so I was looking for a change at that point and the shorter putter felt good," Scott said.

"[Now] it just doesn't feel much different at all than whether it's anchored to the body or not. I mean, it's doing the same thing it feels like to me. It feels very solid. I don't see it to be much work needed.

"It feels good. It's just like when you pick up a new putter and you just hole putts, that's what it feels like."

Scott could do with a boost as he prepares to dive back into the game after the birth of his son Byron, his second child with wife Marie Kojzar, in August. the couple also have a two-year-old daughter Bo Vera.

The PGA will be his 19th event of the year, representing his lightest schedule since he turned professional in 2000. He has no regrets about spending time away from golf and said he was realistic enough to know his game had suffered.

He is ranked 31 in the world and said his form during the past season wasn't dire. His stats and returns have been, by his standard, average. And that's not a description that sits well with the hard-hitting Queenslander.

The lack of tournaments hasn't been behind his drop down the rankings. Rather, he said, it was a lack of practice as he devoted more time to his growing brood. Scott has always been a wonderful natural talent, but he knows that's nowhere near enough.

"It wasn't so much the playing less," he said. "I'm kind of known as a bit of a part-time golfer anyway out there. It was probably just the less practice this year. You know, the priorities just had to shift a little bit. I travelled a lot more and practiced a bit less and they were the challenges.

"The first half of the year I played OK, but didn't get much out of it. Then, since the US PGA, I mean, really the focus hasn't been on the golf at all and that shows up when you're going to play in world-class fields, there's no doubt.

"It's good for me to see that because it's very clear for me going back next year exactly what I need to do to remind myself what I've done for the past five or six years, to play at the level that these guys at the top are playing at."

Scott, Garcia and Wade Ormsby will be the group to watch on Thursday as play begins, with the trio teeing off at 6.10am local time.