MELBOURNE: Adam Scott had five front-nine birdies yesterday and another on 18 for a 5-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 Sunday. But his playing partner Poulter bogeyed two par-5s 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.”
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.
Poulter said his bogey on the 12th was costly.
“It wasn’t a mistake in club selection, it was a poor swing,” Poulter said. “So, if you’re going to make a poor swing in that situation then you’re going to get punished, and I did. I made a good 6 in the end, but a bogey there’s costly and obviously a bogey on the next par 5 was also very costly.”
“It was good to try and defend. I’m obviously just a little disappointed that I wasn’t slipping another jacket on.”
Scott tapped in for birdie on the par-5 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, and the margin could have been closer. 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 before Scott’s birdie on 18.
Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion, finished tied for eighth after a 71 Sunday, 15 strokes behind Scott.
Donald wins Dunlop
Phoenix by 5 strokes
In MIYAZAKI, Japan, Luke Donald shot a 3-under 68 yesterday to win the Dunlop Phoenix by five strokes for his first win on the Japanese tour.
Donald eagled the par-5 7th hole and added three birdies against a pair of bogeys at the Phoenix Country club to finish at 16-under 268, five strokes ahead of Japanese amateur Hideki Matsuyama, who shot a 67.
Donald, who won the US PGA Tour and European Tour money titles last season, was playing in the Japan Tour event for the first time since 2007.
Koumei Oda shot a 64 to finish third at 10-under while Hiroyuki Fujita (70) and Australian Brendan Jones (71) finished tied for fourth place at 9-under.
Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, winner of last week’s Taiheiyo Masters, had a 70 for 22nd at 1-under.
Scott outshines Poulter to win Australian Masters
