Scott wins battle of attrition in Barclays

Masters champion Adam Scott won The Barclays on Sunday after everyone around him did their best to lose it.

Scott played bogey-free at Liberty National in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener, making only two birdies on the back nine for a 5-under 66 that put him in the mix of a crowded leaderboard at the top. Turns out he was the only one who stayed there.

Justin Rose had a 25-foot birdie putt for the lead, ran it 5 feet by the cup and three-putted for a bogey for a 68. Kevin Chappell had a two-shot lead through 10, only to play the next seven holes in 7-over par to close with a 76.

Tiger Woods suffered a back spasm on the par-5 13th hole and hooked a fairway metal so far left that it landed in a swamp on the other side of the 15th fairway, leading to bogey. He dropped another shot on the 15th, and then gamely birdied the 16th and 17th holes to pull within one shot of Scott. Woods’ putt from the back of the 18th green was one turn short of falling to force a playoff.

The last challenge came from Gary Woodland, who fell out of the lead when he hit driver on the 13th that ran into the water, leading to bogey. Woodland had birdie chances from inside 10 feet on the final three holes, and missed them all. He closed with a 73.

Scott finished at 11-under 273 and moved to a career-best No. 2 in the world.

Champions Tour

John Riegger won the Boeing Classic in his fifth Champions Tour start, holding off John Cook and Fred Couples at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Snoqualmie, Wash.

Riegger, 50, birdied three of the final four holes – holing a 20-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th – for a 4-under 68 and a two-stroke victory over Cook. Riegger finished at 15-under 201.

Cook closed with a 65. Couples, from Seattle, was third at 11 under after a 66.

Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot a 72 and finished 8 under at 208.

LPGA

Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old New Zealand amateur, successfully defended her Canadian Women’s Open title, closing with a 6-under 64 at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton, Alberta, for a five-stroke victory and her fourth win in professional events.

<h3>Web.com Tour

Australia’s Bronson La’Cassie won the Cox Classic in Omaha, Neb., to earn a PGA Tour card with a sixth-place finish on the Web.com Tour money list.

Spokane’s Alex Prugh finished tied for seventh at 16-under 268 after shooting a final-round 68.