By Tony Webeck

A runaway Joaquin Niemann kept a third Genesis Invitational win out of reach but Adam Scott is confident a victory is close after posting another top-five finish at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Two eagles and birdies at three of the four par 3s highlighted a Sunday 66 for Scott to climb into a share of fourth at 14-under par, five shots shy of Niemann.

It was his seventh top-10 finish at the venue and took his total prize money in the tournament to a staggering $US5,034,503.29 and provides a timely confidence boost leading towards the start of major championship season.

“I think I’m working on all the right things,” said Scott, who began his final round with an eagle and added a second at the par-5 17th to make a late surge.

“I wouldn’t change anything much, but just a little more practice and hopefully it keeps kind of embedding itself into my routines out there and I make a few more putts and a few less bad shots and hopefully be winning soon.

“I’ve got a couple things I’d like to work on before I peg it up next time, but I’m pegging it up with a bit more confidence the next time I play.

“I have good feelings around here. Everything seems a little bit easy.

“Even though I wasn’t winning this week, even the bad stuff didn’t get me down so much.

“It’s nice when you’re out on the course with like a really light-hearted vibe. This place does that for me.”

Scott’s last win was at Riviera in 2020 just prior to the COVID-19 shut-down but on the back of two top-10s on the DP World Tour to start the year is trending towards a run at a second green jacket at Augusta National.

Marc Leishman was the highest-placed Australian heading into the final round but closed with a two-over 73 to earn a share of 15th, level with fellow Australian Matt Jones (68) ahead of his Honda Classic title defence next week.

A second-round 64 was the anchor to Blake Windred’s tie for 15th at the Challenge Tour’s Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open in South Africa with Kiwi Denzel Ieremia earning a top-20 finish on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica courtesy of a bogey-free seven-under 65 on the final day.

Fellow Kiwi Steven Alker continued his extraordinary run of form on the Champions Tour, finishing seven shots back of Bernhard Langer in a tie for fifth at the Chubb Classic in Florida.

Results

PGA TOUR Genesis Invitational The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California Winner Joaquin Niemann            63-63-68-71—265           $US2,160,000 T4          Adam Scott        68-65-71-66—270           $540,000 T15        Matt Jones         70-67-71-68—276           $189,000 T15        Marc Leishman 70-66-67-73—276           $189,000 T21        Danny Lee          70-70-65-72—277           $125,880 T33        Cameron Smith 67-68-74-70—279           $64,000 T48        Cam Davis          71-71-70-69—281           $30,428 MC        Min Woo Lee     77-70—147

Korn Ferry Tour LECOM Suncoast Classic Lakewood National GC (Commander Cse), Lakewood Ranch, Florida Winner Byeong Hun An 65-66-67-69—267           $US135,000 T46        Brett Drewitt     67-69-69-71—276           $3,319 T55        Curtis Luck         66-70-70-72—278           $3,120 68          Aaron Baddeley 65-70-78-74—287           $2,955 MC        Rhein Gibson     69-69—138

Challenge Tour Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open Royal Cape GC, Cape Town, South Africa Winner JC Ritchie            69-66-67-68—270           €34,846 T8          Daniel Hillier      67-68-71-69—275           €3,952 T15        Blake Windred  72-64-70-71—277           €2,891

PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Estrella del Mar Open 2022 Estrella del Mar Golf & Beach, Mazatlan, Mexico Winner Matt Ryan          63-70-66-66—265           T19        Denzel Ieremia  71-69-69-65—274           MC        Tim Stewart       72-72—144

Champions Tour Chubb Classic Tiburon Golf Club (Black Cse), Naples, Florida Winner Bernhard Langer             64-68-68—200  $US240,000 T5          Steven Alker      71-65-71—207  $58,795 T38        Stephen Leaney 72-72-73—217  $7,680 T38        Rod Pampling    69-73-75—217  $7,680 T68        Stuart Appleby  75-74-78—227  $1,504 74          Robert Allenby  81-74-77—232  $1,056