Adam Scott had five front-nine birdies yesterday and another on 18 for a five-under-par 67 and a four-stroke win over Englishman Ian Poulter in the Australian Masters, his first victory of the year.
Scott trailed by one after three rounds and led by the same margin after the front nine yesterday. However, his playing partner Poulter bogeyed two par-fives in three holes on the back nine to fall behind by three after 14 holes.
Poulter, who shot 72 yesterday, then missed a one-foot par putt on 17 to all but hand the title to Scott, who finished with a 72-hole total of 17-under 271 at Kingston Heath.
“This has been a long time coming,” Scott said. “This is pretty sweet to be in the gold jacket and hold this trophy that I’ve been admiring since I was a little kid.”
“Winning the Australian Open was like getting the monkey off my back a couple of years ago, but this is certainly something I’ve wanted to achieve for a long time. Maybe I can set the theme of winning jackets and turn it green [the US Masters] next year before I come back to defend,” he added.
The final-round pairing turned into match play — the third-place finishers, New Zealanders Gareth Paddison (68) and Mark Brown (69), tied for third, eight strokes behind Scott.
Scott tapped in for birdie on the par-five first to quickly pull level and the lead changed six times in seven holes.
After trailing by three strokes, Poulter made it interesting with an eight-foot birdie putt on 16 to pull within two. Scott was short of the green, but pitched to within four feet and made his par putt to make the swing just one shot.
Poulter gave away any chance of catching Scott when he lipped out on 17, increasing the margin back to three.
Graeme McDowell, last year’s US Open champion, finished tied for eighth after a 71 yesterday, 15 strokes behind Scott.
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