Scott coasts to first PGA Tour victory

He swings like Tiger Woods. He worships Greg Norman.

It might not be long before Adam Scott of Australia sets his own standard of greatness.

Scott took an important step in that direction Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a flawless performance under pressure only he knew was there, closing with a 5-under 66 for his first PGA Tour victory.

"It's difficult to win in America, not just being a foreigner but a young player," Scott, 23, said after a four-shot victory over Rocco Mediate.

Scott sure made it look easy.

With consecutive birdies to open a huge lead and clutch pars that kept anyone from making a serious run, Scott led by at least three shots throughout a rainy day at the Tournament Players Club of Boston and finished at 20-under 264.

It was his fifth victory worldwide, and he won all of them by protecting a lead going into the final round.

Scott's record (5-1) is nothing like Woods, who is 28-2 on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

The swing, however, is eerily similar, and it carried Scott to a dominant performance over the last three rounds that left everyone else playing for second.

"He's as good as you can get," Mediate said. "At his age ... we've got our hands full."

Scott is on a short list of young players who have been heralded as future rivals for Woods, along with Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose of England; all three were born in 1980.

Scott is carving his own path to stardom, honing his game on European soil and not willing to play the PGA Tour on a regular basis until he feels he is ready.

The inspiration comes from Norman, his boyhood idol in Australia, whose name Scott sees on the roll of champions at so many European Tour stops.

"I'd like to set that same presence over there that Greg Norman did and have lots of wins," Scott said. "He was the best in Europe. He came over here and then became the best over here. I've still got some stuff to learn in Europe.

"But the time is starting to become right to play over here."

Mediate did his best to make a charge with four birdies in five holes around the turn, and he closed with a 6-under 65. All that got him was second place.

Rose, Scott's best friend on the European Tour, birdied the last two holes for a 67 and finished third at 269.

Woods never had a chance in the Tournament that benefits his foundation. He never got closer than five shots of Scott, finished with a 67 and tied for seventh.

It was his fifth straight PGA Tour event without a victory dating to the 100th Western Open on the Fourth of July weekend, although he has finished out of the top seven only once during that stretch.

Three days of sunshine gave way to lead-gray skies and a light rain, although close to 30,000 people still packed in behind the ropes to watch the conclusion of the PGA Tour's return to the Boston area for the first time in five years.

Scott didn't waste any time eliminating the drama.

Starting the final round with a three-shot lead, he never let anyone get closer, starting with a simple up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 second hole. He stretched his lead to six shots with a pitch into 10 feet for birdie on 7, then had to hold on.

Mediate chipped in for birdie from about 30 feet on No. 7, starting a stretch of four birdies in five holes that brought him within three shots of the lead.

Two groups behind, Scott looked as though he might fold.

He missed the green badly to the right on No. 11 for his first bogey of the final round, and when he let the driver fall loosely from his hands after a poor drive on 12, it appeared as though nerves were getting the best of him.

"When I bogeyed the 11th, I asked my caddie, 'How do we stand?' He said Rocco was at 15 under, and I felt like that was a little bit of a shock," Scott said. "I felt like I was way out in front, but I was only three. It was time to knuckle down and really bury it."

His approach from the rough on No. 12 came up 70 feet short, and he lagged to 8 feet.

"Another mistake there could have been crucial," Scott said. "I got away with it. My putter saved me on the back nine."

He holed the par putt, and the Tournament effectively ended on the next hole.

Mediate hit his approach into 5 feet on the 14th, while Scott hit into a hill of shaggy rough to the right of the 13th green and chipped to 10 feet.

A two-shot swing appeared imminent, with all the momentum going Mediate's way. But he badly missed the birdie putt, Scott poured his in for par, and the young Aussie wrapped it up with a 6-foot birdie on 15.

The victory should have surprised no one. Scott has won in South Africa and Sweden, in Qatar and Scotland. Earlier this year, he pushed Woods in a 19-hole loss in the semifinals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"Adam has won around the world," said Woods, who often plays practice rounds with Scott at the majors. "He has a tremendous amount of talent. It was just a matter of time before he won on our Tour."

Divots

• After four straight weeks, U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk won't resurface until the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship at the end of September. He went out in style, with six birdies on his front nine. "It almost made me wonder why I was taking a month off," Furyk said. "Then I double-bogeyed 10 and remembered why." He closed with a 66.

• This was the fourth time Woods played in the Boston area. He last was here in 1999 for the Ryder Cup.

• Scott became the first sponsor's exemption to win a PGA Tour event since David Gossett at the 2001 John Deere Classic.

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