Scott clutch late

April 28, 2008

Adam Scott felt he needed to make a statement by winning yesterday. He prevailed, though not quite the way he wanted to do it.

After blowing the three-stroke lead he carried into the final round, Scott made a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to force a playoff, then sank a 48-foot putt playing it again on the third playoff hole to beat Ryan Moore in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.

"In the end, I think [the statement] was to myself: I could actually win it when things weren't going my way," Scott said. "But it wasn't quite the statement I had in mind. I would have liked to have gone out there and have played like Ryan played and won by a few."

Still, Scott made the shots when he needed them for his sixth PGA Tour victory after cutting short his post-Masters trip home to Australia so not to waste his good play there.

Playing the 18th hole for the third time in less than an hour, the second time in the playoff, Scott hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker to the right. But he got his approach to the front of the green, then rolled the putt over two ridges and into the cup.

"I got away with one today," said Scott, at No. 10 in the world the highest-ranked player in the Nelson field. "A bit lucky."

Moore had a chance to force another hole, but his pin-high putt from the fringe skimmed just past the cup.

"I'm just a little frustrated I didn't make mine," said Moore, who closed with a 2-under-par 68 to match Scott (71) at 7-under 273.

The playoff was a fitting end after a back-and-forth duel between Scott and Moore, who finished four shots ahead of Bart Bryant (72).

It was the fourth career runner-up finish for Moore, the first player since Tiger Woods to skip Q-school and go straight from college to the PGA Tour. Woods got his first victory in his seventh start as a pro, while Moore is still looking for his first after 70 tournaments since 2005, after he was a four-time All-American at Nevada-Las Vegas.

"A loss is a loss, but I tied for first at the end of the day," said Moore, who had never been in a playoff. "I was just proud of myself for battling around on a tough day in tough conditions.'"

Playing conditions at the redesigned TPC Four Seasons changed drastically again after rain overnight combined with blustery conditions. It was an unseasonably cool day with temperatures barely reaching 60 degrees, with wind gusting to 30 mph making it feel cooler.

The winning score was the highest since the Nelson moved to the Las Colinas venue in 1983.

• LPGA Stanford International Pro-Am // Annika Sorenstam made a par on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th, in Aventura, Fla., to beat Paula Creamer. It was Sorenstam's 71st career tour victory. Sorenstam (1-under 70) erased a one-hole deficit in the final two holes of regulation. She and Creamer (69) finished at 8-under.

• Champions Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf // Tom Watson and Andy North teamed for a better- ball 64 for a 31-under 185 total, edging Craig Stadler and Jeff Sluman by a stroke in Savannah, Ga.

• European Asian Open // A 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole gave Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke a one-shot victory in Shanghai, China, for his first title in five years. Clarke shot a 1-over 73 for an 8-under 280 total, a stroke ahead of Robert-Jan Derksen (73) of the Netherlands.

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Scott clutch late

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Scott clutch late

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