A new tournament, a new winner
September 2, 2003

NORTON, Mass. -- A new tournament in the Boston area produced a new winner on the PGA Tour. Both figure to be around for a while.

Adam Scott, a 23-year-old Aussie with a swing that looks identical to Tiger Woods, showed something else in common with the world's No. 1 player. Give him a lead, and he's not likely to give it back.

Scott started the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship with a three-shot lead and never gave anyone a chance, making consecutive birdies to pull away and clutch pars down the stretch as he strolled to a four-shot victory over Rocco Mediate.

Scott closed with a 5-under 66 on Monday and finished at 20-under 264, earning $900,000.

"Winning for the first time as a professional is always going to be my most memorable win," said Scott, who already had won four times around the world. "But this probably beats all the others."

Scott had never won against such players as Woods, Vijay Singh and U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, nor had he ever felt such support from 30,000 golf-hungry fans who made the Deutsche Bank Championship feel like a major.

"The crowds were nuts," Mediate said. "We need a tournament up here."

Woods was partly responsible for bringing the PGA Tour to the Boston area for the first time since 1998, when the old CVS Classic lost its spot on the schedule.

The proceeds went to his foundation, but that's the only charity he received over four days on the TPC of Boston.

Woods closed with a 67 and tied for seventh, never coming close to winning.

Then again, neither did anyone else.

Scott has won all five of his worldwide titles from the front, and this was the third time he won by at least four shots.

"Now it seems easy," Scott said after a birdie on the final hole. "I was grinding really hard out there."

It sure didn't seem that way.

Scott took control of the tournament with a course-record 62 in the second round Saturday, and his victory might have been even more dominant had he converted more birdie chances inside 12 feet.

But his putter showed up when he needed it most.

Mediate birdied four of five holes around the turn, starting with a chip-in from 30 feet on the par-5 seventh, and cut Scott's six-stroke lead in half.

Scott made his first bogey on No. 11, then turned to his caddie and asked where he stood. The answer surprised him.

"He said Rocco was at 15 under," Scott said. "I felt like that was a little bit of a shock. I felt like I was way out in front, but I was only three in front. It was time to knuckle down and really bury it."

That he did.

Despite missing the 12th fairway, coming up 70 feet short of the hole and leaving his birdie putt some 8 feet short, Scott came through in the clutch.

"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.

"He's not afraid of anything," said Mediate, who closed with a 65. "I wanted to be second by myself, because I couldn't win unless something weird happened, and he's not going anywhere."

Justin Rose, Scott's best friend on the European tour, birdied the last two holes for a 67 and finished third at 269. Singh was another stroke back after a 66 that could have been much better if not for a slew of short-range birdie putts that he missed.

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 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."

The question is where Scott goes from here.

He has an exemption on the PGA Tour through 2005, but he has honed his game on European soil and plans to stay there -- at least for now.

One reason is his idol, Greg Norman, first made his mark in Europe. Everywhere Scott goes, he sees Norman's name on the roll of champions.

"I'm trying to follow a similar path as Greg Norman," Scott said. "He was the best in Europe. He came over here and then became the best over here."

Scott might not be too far behind.

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Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved.