Scott wins Genesis Invitational title

LOS ANGELES: Adam Scott fired a one-under-par 70 on Sunday to win the Genesis Invitational, and this time the Australian’s victory at Riviera Country Club is official.

On a challenging day that saw world number one Rory McIlroy card a two-over-par 73 and tournament host Tiger Woods stumble to a six-over 77, Scott countered two bogeys and a double-bogey with five birdies to build an 11-under total of 273.

He finished two strokes in front of South Korea’s Kang Sung (69) and Americans Scott Brown (68) and Matt Kuchar (72). "It’s incredibly satisfying to win a tournament of this stature on a golf course of this stature -- even better to come out on top and have your game really tested. It was not easy," Scott said.

He said the key with Riviera playing firm and fast was to "take away the big mistakes" and while he didn’t manage to do that completely, he did it better than most. Scott’s big miscue came at the par-four fifth, where his flop shot from behind the green rolled back to his feet and he wound up with a double-bogey. McIlroy, who started the day tied for the lead with Scott and Kuchar, fared even worse at the fifth, where he also needed two flop shots to reach the green but then took three putts for a triple-bogey. While Scott bounced right back with an 18-foot birdie putt at the sixth, McIlroy made a bogey and never really recovered. "Definitely the toughest day of the week," said McIlroy, who regained the world number one ranking last Monday for the first time since 2015. "The wind was up, hole locations were sort of tricky spots, the course was firming up again. Everyone was finding it tough out there." Scott gave himself a bit of breathing room with a 12-foot birdie at the 13th, but for him the shot of the day was a flop shot at 15, where he limited the damage to a bogey after his approach was plugged in a greenside bunker and he blasted out through the green.