It’s time to cash in.
That’s the attitude Adam Scott will carry into this week’s WGC–HSBC Champions tournament in China after a Sunday 63 saw the Queenslander open his 2018-19 US PGA Tour campaign with a top-10 finish at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in South Korea.
Four of the five Aussies competing at Jeju Island finished inside the top 20 but despite impressive final rounds from Scott and Jason Day in particular, they were unable to make any inroads on runaway winner Brooks Koepka who shot 64 to win by four shots and claim the mantle as the world’s No.1 golfer.
Opening the tournament with a three-over 75 that put him on the back foot, Scott vaulted 33 places up the leaderboard in the final round with seven birdies and a closing eagle at the par-5 18th.
Buoyed by his finish, Scott says it is important he carries that momentum into the World Golf Championships event at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai this week.
“I feel like my game is good but I’m not getting the best scores, so this is a good start. And then I get to play next week also at Shanghai, so I’m excited now going there with a good score here on Sunday,” said Scott, who moved to 35th on the FedEx Cup standings, 477 points behind Marc Leishman who leads after two tournaments.
“It is important to have a good start, especially for me because I normally take quite a long break from the PGA Tour. When I don’t have a good start, I fall a long way behind in the FedEx Cup and that makes for a lot of work throughout the year. This week and next week is very important for me so I can go home and take my break and come back in February not too far behind, hopefully.
“I felt like I’ve played a lot of good golf this week, but there was always something – one bad hole one day, the putts didn’t go (on Saturday) – there’s always something when you’re not winning. So today was nice to put it all together and play a really consistent, solid round.”
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Tied for fourth through 54 holes and with positive memories from his third-place finish 12 months ago, Cameron Smith looked the most likely Aussie challenger to Koepka heading into the final round but lost ground despite shooting a three-under 69 highlighted by an eagle at the last.
In his first appearance of the wraparound season, Day’s tournament came to life with a seven-under 65 on Saturday and he followed that up with 67 in the final round to finish in a tie for fifth.
Runner-up to Justin Thomas a year ago, Leishman’s final round of 66 moved him up to a tie for 18th and top spot on the FedEx Cup standings, seven points ahead of American Kevin Tway.
Day, Scott and Smith are all playing the HSBC Champions tournament this week and will be joined by fellow Aussies Adam Bland, Jason Norris and Brett Rumford along with Kiwi Ryan Fox.
• In the Dominion Energy Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions, Victorian David McKenzie was tied for 49th as Woody Austin triumphed by a shot from Bernhard Langer, Fran Quinn and Kent Jones.
