PACIFIC PALISADES (CNS) - Australian Adam Scott fired a 1-under-par 70 today to win the $9.3 million The Genesis Invitational by two strokes over three golfers after trailing by eight strokes after the first round.
Scott began the round tied for the lead with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the world's top-ranked player and American Matt Kuchar. Scott birdied the first and third holes to become the outright leader.
However, Scott dropped out of the lead after bogeying the fourth hole, missing a 5-foot, 6-inch putt for par, and double-bogeying the fifth, missing an 8-foot, 2-inch putt for bogey.
Scott bounced back with a birdie on the sixth hole, to tie Kuchar and Harold Varner III for the lead. With Dustin Johnson, Max Homa -- a Valencia High School alumnus -- and Kuchar challenging for the lead, Scott parred each of the next six holes, then birdied the 13.
Scott bogeyed the 15, but regained a two-shot lead with a birdie on the 17th hole. He closed out the tournament with a 4-foot, 6-inch putt for par on the 18th for his 14th PGA Tour victory, and first since back-to-back victories at the Honda Classic and WGC-Mexico Championship in 2016.
“It's incredibly satisfying to win a tournament of this stature on a golf course of this stature,” said Scott, who shot an 11-under-par 273 for the tournament, including a 1-over-par 72 in Thursday's first round, which put him eight shots off Kuchar's lead.
The tournament drew nine of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including each of the top six. Scott is projected to move from 14th into the Top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Scott was declared the winner of the 2005 Nissan Open, as The Genesis Invitational was then known, but it was not recognized as an official victory because the tournament was shortened to 36 holes because of rain.
“That's fun to poke fun at the thing in '05, but it is 15 years ago, so I really moved on from that by now,” Scott said.
The Genesis Invitational was Scott's first tournament since winning the Australian PGA Championship.
“Our tournament finished Dec. 22 and I just felt like the way the schedule is now with the majors month after month after month and then the FedExCup, I have to give myself a decent rest, because it's very hard to take more than two weeks off at a time,” Scott said.
“If you take three weeks anywhere, you're missing something important.”
Scott received $1.674 million and the first SUV from Genesis, the GV8, for the victory.
Scott is the third player since 1983 to overcome a double bogey in the final round and win the event, following Fred Couples in 1992 and Aaron Baddeley in 2011.
Kuchar, fellow American Scott Brown and South Korean Sung Kang tied for second at 9-under-par 275, each earning $703,700.
Homa and McIlroy were among five golfers tied for fifth, three strokes off the lead, including Hideki Matsuyama, who needed to sink a birdie putt on the 36th hole to make the cut with no room to spare, then shot a 7-under-par 64 and 2-under-par 69 for the final two rounds.
Johnson was among three golfers tying for 10th, four strokes off the lead. Varner finished in a four-way tie for 13th, five strokes off the lead.
Tiger Woods shot a 6-over-par 77 to finish tournament at 11-over-par, finishing last among the 68 players making the cut.
“I did not do much well today,” said Woods, who shot a 5-over-par 76 Saturday.
The Genesis Invitational was Woods' second attempt to break his tie with the late Sam Snead with 82 victories on the PGA Tour to become its winningest player. He has not announced when he will play next.
In his other attempt, he was among six golfers tying for ninth, sixth strokes behind Australian Marc Leishman in the Farmers Insurance Open, which concluded Jan. 26.
Woods has never won in his 13 appearances at Riviera, 11 as a professional and two as a teenage amateur.
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