Adam Scott withstands charge from Matt Kuchar to win Australian Masters

Carrying a four-stroke lead after the first three days of competition, it seemed like Adam Scott would waltz his way to victory at the Australian Masters. But Scott struggled on Sunday, momentarily losing his lead to American Matt Kuchar before Kuchar’s late-round collapse – a bogey on the 16th hole followed by a double-bogey on the 18th — allowed Scott to escape with the win.

Vijay Singh finished the third, Nick Cullen finished in fourth, and Ryan Fox tied with Matthew Griffin for fifth.

Although disappointed with the loss, Kuchar told reporters that he can’t dwell on his mistakes:

"It’s certainly a rough way to end, but that’s kind of the nature of the game. You have to be ready to bounce back and keep going. The guys who look towards the positive do better in the long run. It’s so easy to dwell on your last hole. You see guys carry over some bad momentum. I know better than to do that (Herald Sun)."

Scott, who won last week at the Australian PGA Championship, said he never lost confidence despite falling behind Kuchar with only a few holes to play:

"I think even if I was one shot behind I knew there was going to be an opportunity down 15 and I just needed to hang in there. Things change so quickly so if you’re out there early in the round thinking about winning or not winning I think you’re doing yourself no favours whatsoever because you can’t control what’s going to happen for the next three hours at that point (Sportal.com.au)."

Scott also won the The Masters at Augusta National back in April. He’s currently ranked second in the world.

[Source: Herald Sun/Sportal.com.au]