Qatar Masters:New world number five Adam Scott is confident his stunning three-stroke victory at the Qatar Masters is the shape of things to come. The Australian began the final day three strokes behind overnight leader Johan Edfors but played an immaculate round, smashing the course record by two strokes with an 11-under-par 61, coming within one birdie of equalling the European Tour record.
Had it not been for a missed birdie putt at the 16th, Scott could even have challenged for a first 59 on the European Tour. But when the 27-year-old sits in his new BMW 650i Coupe, which he claimed by breaking the course record, with a winner's cheque to boot, he will hardly remember he was world number three at this stage last year after playing what he described as the "best round of golf I have ever played".
"It's a move in the right direction, getting back to where I was," added Scott after claiming his 14th professional title. "I haven't played that poorly over the last six months, it just hasn't been anything special, just solid stuff and nothing exciting.
"There are so many good players that you slowly slip away, this time last year I was number three in the world and feeling pretty good about myself.
"I didn't have a great year by the standard I set for myself, but it wasn't a poor year. Everyone around the world is playing hard and this is a good move in the right direction for me to get the win early in the year.
"It's now important to build on this momentum. There are two world golf events and the Masters in the next two and a half months, hopefully I will keep this form rolling and then get in the mix in those (tournaments), that is my aim."
Swede Henrik Stenson claimed his second consecutive second-place finish, with South Africa's Charl Schwartzel at 15 under and Edfors a further shot adrift.
After maintaining his 100 per cent record in Doha after winning the 2002 title at 19 under par on his only other visit, Scott claimed his sixth Tour title and first since the 2005 Johnnie Walker Classic.
Scott will not feature at next week's Dubai Desert Classic, with his next appearance set to be the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles in three weeks. He has already admitted he is hoping to play a more European Tour-based schedule in the future, and after moving up to fourth place on the Order of Merit, admitted he will assess his situation more closely over the coming year.
Scott was five under through his first five holes, which included a fortunate deflection off the flag at the fifth, and reached the turn in 30 after adding another at the seventh.
Three more birdies quickly followed to start the back nine, and after effortlessly easing his way to 11 under, Scott safely played the last and two-putted the final green after leaving his second shot short of the lake and greenside bunkers.
Scott hit every green in regulation and all of his birdie putts, apart from a snaking 30-foot effort on the 15th, came after playing his approach shots to within 15 feet.
"Henrik must feel like he did everything he could to win this tournament after starting the day two back and shooting a 65. I looked at the leaderboard on 15 and saw Henrik was still right with me and I knew I had to keep making birdies," said Scott.
Graeme McDowell left the best until last with his 69 leaving him 12 shots adrift of the winner on 280. Next best of the Irish contingent was Damien McGrane (73) and Rory McIlroy (74) who both finished on 282. Peter Lawrie also shot 69 for 288.
(Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 72):
268 - Adam Scott (Aus) 69 73 65 61
271 - Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 70 67 65
273 - Charl Schwartzel (Za) 70 67 69 67
274 - Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 66 69 70
275 - Lee Westwood 67 70 73 65
277 - Colin Montgomerie 71 68 69 69
278 - Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 69 68 70, Anton Haig (Za) 67 71 69 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 75 67 67, David Howell 70 68 71 69, Nick Dougherty 72 67 70 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 70 72 66
279 - Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 72 68 68, Steve Webster 72 70 67 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 69 72 69, Marc Warren 74 70 67 68, Andrew Coltart 70 70 65 74, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 68 70 68, Ross McGowan 70 68 69 72
280 - Graeme McDowell 70 71 70 69, Oliver Wilson 72 68 70 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72 69 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 72 68 69, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 72 69 68
281 - Anthony Wall 71 69 70 71, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 70 70 70, Ross Fisher 74 71 68 68, Paul Lawrie 73 70 66 72, Luke Donald 70 72 68 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 70 71 68, Oliver Fisher 72 73 67 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 71 70 69
282 - Damien McGrane 72 71 66 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 73 69 69, Rory McIlroy 71 71 66 74, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 72 68 70, Phillip Archer 71 70 69 72, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 71 68 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 70 74 68, Barry Lane 73 71 69 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 70 68 71
283 - Soren Hansen (Den) 72 69 73 69, Richard Finch 72 73 71 67, Marcel Siem (Den) 69 72 71 71, Simon Dyson 72 70 71 70, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 72 70 74 67
284 - Rolf Muntz (Nzl) 73 71 72 68, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 73 68 74 69,Niclas Fasth (Swe) 74 71 72 67, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 71 71 71 71
285 - Peter Hanson (Swe) 75 70 69 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 72 72 73 68, Phillip Price 73 72 70 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 74 67 71 73, Bradley Dredge 73 72 71 69
286 - Robert Jan Derksen (Nzl) 74 70 72 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Pt) 73 71 73 69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 71 73 68, Sam Walker 70 73 70 73
287 - Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 74 70 72, Richard Green (Aus) 75 70 71 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 74 70 70 73, Simon Khan 73 72 71 71
288 - Miles Tunnicliff 73 71 72 72, Peter Lawrie 73 72 74 69, Seve Benson 72 70 74 72
289 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 71 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 74 71 73 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 73 76 69
290 - Michael Campbell (Nzl) 73 71 74 72
296 - Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 72 73 76 75
