LOS ANGELES - Adam Scott contemplated the safe shot to get him out of his mess on the 15th hole at Riviera Country Club, knowing it would probably cost him his two-shot lead but not yet the tournament.
On a Sunday filled with big blunders and untimely mistakes, Scott changed his mind.
"I thought, 'Well, you can maybe win the tournament if you hit a great flop shot here.' So I thought I might as well go for it," Scott said after his two-shot victory in the Genesis Invitational.
The flop shot put the ball five feet from the cup and allowed him to escape with a bogey. Two holes later, he ran in a 10-foot birdie putt for a two-shot cushion and carried that to a 1-under-par 70, a 72-hole total of 11-under 273 and a win that felt overdue.
Scott won the Australian PGA two months ago and hadn't played since then. It had been nearly four years since his last PGA Tour victory. That changed at Riviera, his favorite course, on a final day so tough no player shot better than 68.
Scott made clutch putts for birdie, par and bogey, but it was that decision - and the shot - that stood out.
"I had a little bit of that kind of mindset, not just today but the whole week, of 'What have I got to lose?' Give myself a good chance to get back in the winner's circle on the PGA Tour," he said.
The victory came 15 years after Scott won a playoff at Riviera that didn't count as official because rain shortened the tournament to 36 holes. The 39-year-old Australian earned every bit of this win, his 14th on the PGA Tour and 29th worldwide. He will move up to No. 7 in the World Golf Ranking, his first time inside the top 10 in nearly three years.
So tense was Sunday that nearly a dozen players had a chance to win. Five players had a share of the least at some point.
The list included top-ranked Rory McIlroy, who never recovered from a triple bogey; Harold Varner III, who chunked his 3-wood shot off the 10th tee so badly that the ball traveled 129 yards and led to a double bogey. Matt Kuchar, who had at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds - he shared a one-hole advantage with McIlroy and Scott after Saturday's play - went 15 holes with three bogeys and no birdies to fall behind.
"Honestly, I didn't expect it to be as difficult as it was, but everyone was finding it tough out there," McIlroy said after a 73 that left him in a tie for fifth. "Adam held on well at the end."
Scott won by two shots over South Korea's Sung Kang, who started eagle-double bogey and shot a 69; Scott Brown, who played bogey-free on the back nine and birdied the 18th for a 68; and Kuchar (72).
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (69) made the cut on the number and finished three shots behind in a tie for fifth with McIlroy (73), Joel Dahmen (71), Bryson DeChambeau (69) and Max Homa (70).
Former Baylor School standout Luke List, in the mix after three rounds thanks to back-to-back 68s, closed with a 75 and tied for 30th at 2 under.
Tiger Woods had his problems, too, but he was never in contention.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner played a five-hole stretch late in his round at 5 over and shot a 77 to finish last among the 68 players who made the cut. It was the first time Woods has finished last alone since the Memorial in 2015.
"Good news: I hit every ball forward, not backwards - a couple sideways," Woods said.
As for Scott, it looked like nothing but progress.
"I'm stoked with this," he said. "It's a big step, whatever point in my career I'm at. I haven't won for three years. This feels very special."
It showed at the end. He rapped in a three-foot par putt, stood back and raised his right fist in the air. This victory was a long time coming, and it came on his favorite PGA Tour course.
And this time, it counted.
Parel rallies
NAPLES, Fla. - Scott Parel overcame a three-shot deficit and closed with an 8-under 63 to win the Chubb Classic by two shots over Bob Estes, earning his third career victory on the PGA Tour Champions and surpassing $5 million for his career.
Parel, 54, moved atop the senior circuit's Charles Schwab Cup standings for the first time in his career. He has rallied on the final day in all three of his victories on the 50-and-older tour.
Estes closed with a 64 to finish at 15-under 198, two shots ahead of Bernhard Langer (69) and Kevin Sutherland (67), who shared third.
Parel seized control around the turn on The Classics at Lely Resort with a birdie on No. 1. Behind him, Langer dropped shots on the eighth and nine holes, giving Parel a two-shot lead. No one caught him the rest of the way, and his 17-under 196 total tied a tournament record.
He also extended his streak of 21 straight rounds under par dating to the second round of the SAS Championship last year, the longest active streak on the tour.
Milestone title
ADELAIDE, Australia - Inbee Park captured her 20th career LPGA Tour tournament title by closing with a 1-over 74 for a three-shot victory in the Women's Australian Open.
The 31-year-old South Korean led by seven strokes on the back nine at Royal Adelaide Golf Club before dropping shots on the 14th and 16th holes as Amy Olson made a late charge. The American closed with a 70 and wound up second, one shot ahead of France's Perrine Delacour (73).
China's Yu Liu (73) and the United States' Alex Marina (75) shared fourth at 9 under.
Park birdied the par-5 17th to restore a three-shot lead and closed with a par to finish at 14-under 278. It was her first victory in nearly two years and pushed her in the right direction as the seven-time major champion seeks a coveted spot for heer country in this summer's Tokyo Olympics. Park won the gold medal in Rio four years ago.
Close but good
LONGWOOD RANCH, Fla. - Andrew Novak birdied his last two holes for a 6-under 66 and a one-shot victory over John Chin in the Lecom Suncoast Classic.
Novak won for the first time in his third season on the Korn Ferry Tour and moved to No. 3 on the points list.
Chin, who closed with a 64, began the back nine at Longwood National with three straight birdies, then picked up two more through the 16th hole. However, he had to settle for a par on the final two holes and a runner-up finish.
Taylor Montgomery was 7 under in a nine-hole stretch through the 17th hole, only to make bogey on the final hole for a 64 to finish two shots out of the lead in third.
Peter Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, made six bogeys in his round of 74 and tied for 20th.
Stephan Jaeger, the former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout, tied for 53rd at 10 under after closing with a 69.