"What have I got to lose" Adam Scott, Riviera Prevail At The Genesis

Just how we never would have drawn this one up.

Adam Scott posted a one-under-par 70 under sunny, one-club breezy conditions to slip away from early finishers Sung Kang, Scott Brown and fellow third round co-leader Matt Kuchar. The win is Scott’s second at Riviera, but first for the record books after his 2005 36-hole win in a playoff over Chad Campbell was not counted as an official win.

“It fells really good,” he said after the round, noting that it was cute and all to “poke fun” at his unofficial win.

“It's incredibly satisfying to win a tournament of this stature on a golf course of this stature. It was a wonderful week, it was incredibly enjoyable just being here with the weather like this, the course in perfect condition and a great field. Even better to come out on top and kind of have your game really tested today. It was not easy and that was most enjoyable to kind of see that my game is holding up to that.”

The start was Scott’s first of 2020 after winning the Australian PGA and competing at the Presidents Cup.

I have no idea where this moves him to in the FedExCup.

After a painful bogey-double bogey run at Riviera’s 4th and 5th holes, Scott made key birdies at the sixth and 13th holes, but it was salvaging bogey at the 15th where Scott went above and beyond the field.

His 173-yard second plugged in the greenside bunker, causing an overplayed recovery to trundle over the back left of the green, leaving a tough recovery pitch.

“The shot that stood out was deciding to flop the second chip on 15 after I was plugged into the bunker and I kind of knifed it across the green. It was in a horrible position then.

”I stood there and I wanted to maybe bump it into the fringe, but realistically it was going to be 45 feet past probably and I thought, well, you can maybe win the tournament if you hit a great flop shot here, so I thought I might as well just go for it.

”I had a little bit of that kind of mindset not just today but the whole week of not careless, but "what have I got to lose" kind of thing going, give myself a good chance to get back in the winner's circle on the PGA TOUR. So that shot stood out for me, the flop shot on 15.”

For Scott, that letting go is a product of experience and an effort to take his game to a different place.

“As I chat about my feelings when I play with my coach, we often talk about just letting go a little bit. I mean, at times I feel like I'm too loose on some shots, but then there are other moments where I play a little too conservative all the time. It's a fine balance playing down the stretch in contention and finding the right place. It was fairly clear to me at that moment, my first thought was bump it in, it's safe but I'll probably make a double. Then I thought I really want to win this and maybe this shot can do it, and I hit a really great shot. It was quite fun.”

And fun to watch.

A look at the ShotLink numbers suggest typically solid ballstriking from the 39-year-old, but it was the sometimes-balky putting that carried the day. Scott made 282’ 7” feet of putts while registering just 88 putts on the 52 greens he hit, leading the field.

Other numbers of note:

17th SG off the tee

23 of 56 fairways

8th in all drives distance, 294.8 yards

15th on the measuring holes, 288.7 yards

52 of 72 greens

3rd SG approach play, with a 38’ 5” proximity average

17th SG scrambling

The round four highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment: