Citing adjustments in both his attitude and his equipment for improved showings on the PGA TOUR late last year, Scott began the final round five shots off the lead and in need of a low round to feature near the top of the leaderboard.

Making the turn at even par, Scott gathered momentum with birdies at 10 and 11 but a bogey at 15 and a three-putt bogey to finish saw him post a closing 72 for a share of 10th at six-under par, four shots back of Belgian victor Thomas Pieters.

It was a strong start to the new season too for Scott’s good mate Wade Ormsby, the South Australian fighting through the brutal conditions in the second round on his way to a tie for 25th at three-under par.

Min Woo Lee produced one of the best rounds of the final day – a five-under 67 – to climb 28 spots on the leaderboard into a share of 35th as Jason Scrivener  and Maverick Antcliff both missed the cut.

Queenslander Scott Hend withdrew from the tournament following an opening round of 74, citing “medical reasons” following a procedure he underwent in December.

Four spots at The Open at St Andrews in July were on offer at the Asian Tour’s SMBC Singapore Open with Victorian Zach Murray in position to snare one entering the final round.

Tied for fourth through 54 holes, Murray improved his position with birdies at the sixth and seventh holes at Sentosa’s Serapong Course on Sunday but stumbled on the way in.

A bogey at 12 was followed by a double-bogey at the 15th and another dropped shot at 16, Murray falling to a tie for ninth and four shots from one of the coveted spots at The Open.

Kiwi Ben Campbell shot 69 in the final round to finish eighth with Matthew Griffin (71) and Travis Smyth (72) both earning a share of 16th.

The Singapore Open represented the completion of the Asian Tour Order of Merit that began in January 2020 with Ormsby (third), Andrew Dodt (17th) and Travis Smyth (21st) all finishing inside the top 30.

Jason Day was the lone Aussie to play all four rounds at The American Express on the PGA TOUR while Rod Pampling was tied for 28th at the Champions Tour’s season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship, Kiwi Steven Alker losing at the second hole of a playoff to Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Results

DP World Tour
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Winner Thomas Pieters 65-74-67-72—278           €1.2m
T10        Adam Scott        70-72-68-72—282           €135,562
T25        Wade Ormsby   73-72-69-71—285           €63,897
T35        Min Woo Lee     71-76-72-67—286           €49,600
MC        Jason Scrivener 74-75-149
MC        Maverick Antcliff             73-77—150
WD        Scott Hend         74

Asian Tour
SMBC Singapore Open
Sentosa Golf Club (Serapong Cse), Singapore
Winner Sadom Kaewkanjana      67-70-65-69—271           $US225,000
8            Ben Campbell    70-70-69-69—278           $30,625
T9          Zach Murray      68-73-65-73—279           $22,337
T16        Matthew Griffin              71-69-70-71—281           $14,669
T16        Travis Smyth      72-70-67-72—281           $14,669
T23        Jake Higginbottom          71-71-68-72—282           $11,402
T48        Todd Sinnott      75-68-73-72—288           $5,875
T60        Daniel Fox          73-72-74-72—291           $3,875
MC        David Bransdon 71-75—146
MC        Andrew Evans   74-73—147
MC        Ben Eccles          73-74—147

PGA TOUR
The American Express
Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta, California
Winner Hudson Swafford            70-65-66-64—265
T49        Jason Day           67-75-67-70—279
MC        Danny Lee          65-72-74—211
MC        Brett Drewitt     67-73-72—212

Champions Tour
Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai
Hualalai GC, Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii, USA
Winner Miguel Ángel Jiménez    67-66-66—199  $US340,000
Won on second hole of sudden-death playoff
2            Steven Alker      66-67-66—199  $200,000
T28        Rod Pampling    70-73-71—214  $17,875