Scott makes just enough clutch putts to prevail at Riviera

Adam Scott has another victory at Riviera, and this time it counts.

Scott survived a calamitous Sunday with just enough clutch putts — for birdie, par, even a bogey — and closed with 1-under 70 for a two-shot victory in the Genesis Invitational.

The victory comes 15 years after Scott won a playoff at Riviera that didn’t count as official because rain shortened the tournament to 36 holes. He earned every bit of this victory, his 14th on the PGA Tour and 29th worldwide.

Nearly a dozen players had a chance to win. Five players had a share of the lead at some point.

Riviera was such a strong test that everyone made mistakes, including Scott. He went long off the fifth green, had a flop shot come back to his feet, putted the next up the hill and made double bogey.

But he bounced back with a slick, scary 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 sixth to regain a share of the lead, and he never trailed the rest of the way.

Rory McIlroy was tied for the lead when he went long on the fifth, took two flop shots to get on the green and then compounded the error with a three-putt triple bogey. McIlroy never recovered. His tee shot on the par-3 sixth went on the wrong side of the bunker in the middle of the green, leading to another bogey. He closed with a 73 and tied for fifth.

Harold Varner III, looking for his first PGA Tour victory, was tied for the lead until he tried to hammer a 3-wood on the reachable 10th hole and chunked it so bad it barely reached the fairway, traveling a mere 129 yards. That led to double bogey, and he made bogey on the par-5 11th to fall out of contention. His day ended by missing a 3-foot par putt that gave him a 74 to finish out of the top 10.

Tiger Woods had his problems, too, but he was never in contention.

Woods played a five-hole stretch late in his round at 5 over and shot 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.

Scott finished at 11-under 273 for his first PGA Tour title since the World Golf Championship at Doral in 2016.

“I’m stoked with this,” Scott 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 was his second straight victory — he last played three days before Christmas and won the Australian PGA — and takes him back to the top 10 in the world for the first time in nearly three years.

• Inbee Park captured her 20th career LPGA Tour victory by closing with a 1-over 74 for a three-shot victory in the Women’s Australian Open.

• 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, his third career victory on the PGA Tour Champions to surpass $5 million for his career.

MLB

MANFRED WON’T TOLERATE BEANBALLS IN WAKE OF

SCANDAL » With baseball ablaze over the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal, commissioner Rob Manfred met with several managers and told them to knock off any notion of get-even beanballs.

“I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else,” Manfred said.

• Yu Darvish got hit hard by the Houston Astros during the 2017 World Series — both his ERA and reputation took quite a beating.

On Sunday, after a bullpen session for the Chicago Cubs, he sought to settle the score a bit. He said the Astros, their sign-stealing scheme exposed, should be stripped of their title.

“Like the Olympics, when a player cheats, they can’t have a gold medal,” the Japanese-born star said. “But (Houston) still has a World Series title. It does make me feel weird. That’s it.”

• Tony Fernández, a stylish shortstop who made five All-Star teams during his 17 seasons in the major leagues and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series, died Sunday after complications from a kidney disease. He was 57.

Tennis

EDMOND WINS NEW YORK OPEN TITLE » Kyle Edmund won his second ATP title, wearing down Andreas Seppi for a 7-5, 6-1 victory at the New York Open.

Edmund won five straight games to take the first set and build a big lead in the second set.