Texas Shootout

The result was a winning score of seven-under-par 273, the highest since the tournament moved to Four Seasons in 1983, and one of the most exciting finishes of the season after a weeklong tussle in 30-mph winds. On Sunday the 25-year-old Moore was in position to take his first title after birdieing the tough par-3 17th, only to see Scott catch him at the wire by draining a nine-foot birdie putt on 18 to force the playoff. After matching pars on the 18th and the 17th, Scott found the fairway bunker to the right on 18. He then hit his approach about 50 feet from the cup. Scott didn't even bother asking Navarro for a read. "I had a good feeling," he said.

Scott fit nicely into the part of the event's leading man—he had courtside seats for the Dallas Mavericks' playoff game last Friday night—but he had a bigger role in mind, like trying to win his first major at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, though he has never played a competitive round there. He did, however, play a practice round at Torrey in February while in Southern California for the Northern Trust Open. "It's a monster," Scott said.

When Scott's game is on, so is he.

NEWS & NOTES

QUOTABLE

"Really? That's not like me, but I'll take it."
—RYAN MOORE, upon being told last Saturday that he was six for six in getting up and down from bunkers

Bounce Back

When Darren Clarke rolled in a long birdie putt on Sunday at the European tour's Asian Open in Shanghai for his first victory since 2003—and more significantly, his first since losing his wife, Heather, to cancer in '06—the echoes reverberated across Texas . Several of Clarke 's former European Ryder Cup teammates were warming up on the range at the TPC Four Seasons when word reached them.

"It shows great determination on his part," said Luke Donald . "He's really had a rough two, three years and basically had to restart his life after his wife died. It's nice to see him hang in there and win."

Adam Scott , who like Clarke is a member at Wentworth in England , also praised Clarke 's toughness. "He's worked really hard for the last eight months or so," Scott said. "It shows he has some real character about him."