Adam Scott is determined not to wait as long for his next victory to come after ending a 35-event PGA Tour drought to win the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The Australian, who started the final round with a three-shot cushion, never surrendered the lead as he carded a near flawless four-under-par 66 to triumph by three shots at East Lake last night.

"It's been a long time," he said.

Scott finished the tournament 11 under par, ahead of Jim Furyk, who shot the day's best score of 65 to claim second place, with Joe Durant (67) another shot back in third.

England's Luke Donald tied for fifth after a final-round 68.

Scott collected $1,170,000 (£615,000) for his fourth official victory on tour, jumping to third behind Tiger Woods and Furyk on the end-of-season money list.

As nice as the pay-day was, the victory was even more special.

"It's an important win," said the 26-year-old world number four, who enhanced his reputation as a reliable front-runner by improving his win-loss record to 4-1 when leading going into the final round on tour.

"I want to get in the habit of winning a little more frequently. Hopefully this is a start."

Scott had previously posted six top-three tour finishes this year but he did not appear to feel the pressure of sleeping on a lead, picking up three birdies on the front nine.

"I certainly expected to win today, and that's all the pressure anyone needs, but I was determined to win," he said.

"Around the seventh, eighth and ninth holes I felt my game was really great and, no matter what anyone threw at me, I could give them a run."

Despite his impressive start, Scott remained just three shots clear of Furyk at the turn.

But he moved further ahead with another birdie at the par-four 10th, before holing out from the bunker for an unlikely birdie at the par-four 13th to go five clear.

He was in cruise control after that, bogeying the 16th and almost dropping another shot at the 17th when sinking a 20-footer to save par.

Furyk acknowledged there was little he could do.

"A guy goes out with a three-shot lead and shoots 66 on this course, he's obviously going to win," the American said. "He did all the things he needed to do."

Scott's win came just a week after he missed the cut in Florida.

His swing was in disarray, but a session with coach Butch Harmon on Tuesday corrected the problem.

Harmon noticed his pupil was swaying his hips too much on the backswing, instead of rotating.

"We've got my swing in a spot now where I think it's a lot more consistent," said Scott.

Collated final-round scores (USA unless stated, Par 70):

269 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 67 67 66

272 Jim Furyk 69 71 67 65

273 Joe Durant 68 68 70 67

274 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 71 68 67

277 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 73 66 69 69, Luke Donald (Eng) 73 67 69 68, Tom Pernice Jnr. 69 72 67 69

278 Vijay Singh (Fij) 69 72 65 72, Lucas Glover 73 71 66 68

281 Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 72 66 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 70 72 70

282 J J Henry 71 73 69 69, Brett Quigley 71 68 73 70

283 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 73 71 73 66, David Toms 74 71 71 67

284 Zach Johnson 71 69 71 73

285 Arron Oberholser 71 70 72 72

287 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 77 70 71 69

288 Dean Wilson 75 72 71 70, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 74 72 71 71

289 Ben Curtis 73 77 66 73

290 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 75 71 70, Brett Wetterich 75 74 69 72

291 Chad Campbell 73 74 74 70

292 Stewart Cink 69 75 75 73

294 KJ Choi (Kor) 72 78 72 72

297 Davis Love III 82 71 71 73