BEIJING, April 24: Australia’s Adam Scott held on to win the China Open Classic by three strokes despite a brief scare in Sunday’s final round. The Australian had led from the start of the $2.3 million tournament but he almost suffered a collapse allowing South Africa’s Retief Goosen to close to within one shot.

Scott’s nerve held, however, and he carved out an even-par 72 to finish on an 18-under total of 270 and claim his ninth career title.

U.S. Open champion Goosen settled for the runner-up spot on 15-under after a finishing 70 with three men tied for third a further two strokes back.

Scott set a course record with a 63 in the first round and his halfway total of 15-under 129 matched the tournament best for the first 36 holes.

His problems began when he double-bogeyed the 18th while completing his third-round 69 on Sunday morning, reducing his advantage from seven shots to five.

The majority of players were finishing their third rounds early on Sunday after heavy winds forced the abandonment of play in Thursday’s first round at Beijing’s Pine Valley.

Scott showed signs of wilting under pressure from Goosen in the final round but the 24-year-old responded with birdies at the 12th and 13th holes to halt the South African’s run.

World number five Goosen won the tournament in Perth two years ago but failed to make enough putts to take advantage of Scott’s wobble.

Scott’s victory was worth $388,000 to the world number 10 and took his career prize money to more than $7 million.

Leading final round scores:

270 — Adam Scott (Australia) 63, 66, 69, 72.

273 — Retief Goosen (South Africa) 68, 67, 68, 70.

275 — Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 70, 65, 68, 72; Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 70, 67, 66, 72; Richard Sterne (South Africa) 68, 66, 70, 71.

276 — Ernie Els (South Africa) 71, 67, 69, 69; Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 68, 70, 69, 69; Brett Rumford (Australia) 71, 71, 65, 69.

277 — Luke Donald (Britain) 73, 67, 65, 72.

278 — Scott Drummond (Britain) 69, 71, 65, 73; Sergio Garcia (Spain) 67, 71, 67, 73; Santiago Luna (Spain) 70, 70, 66, 72; Steven O’Hara (Britain) 72, 65, 69, 72.

279 — David Park (Britain) 70, 68, 67, 74; Gary Rusnak (United States) 68, 65, 71, 75.

280 — Simon Dyson (Britain) 72, 71, 66, 71; Gregory Havret (France) 71, 70, 67, 72; Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 70, 72, 64, 74; Terry Price (Australia) 73, 66, 70, 71.

281 — Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 71, 70, 66, 74; Wade Ormsby (Australia) 71, 67, 68, 75; Unho Park (Australia) 70, 71, 69, 71.

282 — Emanuele Canonica (Italy) 72, 66, 68, 76; K.J. Choi (South Korea) 72, 65, 70, 75; Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 74, 67, 68, 73; Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand) 68, 71, 66, 77; Gareth Paddison (New Zealand) 71, 68, 72, 71; Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 70, 73, 67, 72; Anthony Wall (Britain) 73, 66, 69, 74.

283 — Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 72, 70, 68, 73; David Bransdon (Australia) 69, 70, 71, 73; Paul Casey (Britain) 72, 68, 69, 73; Steve Collins (Australia) 74, 68, 71, 70; Martin Doyle (Australia) 74, 68, 69, 72; Soren Hansen (Denmark) 70, 69, 71, 73; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 70, 65, 73, 75; Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 73, 68, 70, 72.

SINGH SHARES LEAD

HOUSTON (Texas): Vijay Singh carded a two-under 70 to grab a share of the third-round lead with Australia’s Gavin Coles at the Houston Open on Saturday, leaving the Fijian in position to become the first repeat winner of the $5 million event.

Champion Singh, who held the first-round lead after a course record-tying 64, made a ragged start on Saturday with bogeys on four and six but the world number two recovered with a birdie on eight and three more on the back nine to finish 11-under on 205.

Coles, who spent last season on the PGA’s Nationwide Tour, appeared comfortable alongside the big guns on the elite circuit, mixing three birdies with two bogeys on the front nine before ending with nine successive pars for a 71 at the Redstone Golf Club.

Singh and Coles were one stroke clear of Britain’s Greg Owen, who shot a 70 for 206.

Twice former US Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain and American Brett Quigley were on 207, nine under.

Leading third round scores:

205 — Gavin Coles (Australia) 65, 69, 71; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 64, 71, 70.

206 — Greg Owen (Britain) 67, 69, 70.

207 — Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70, 67, 70; Brett Quigley (US) 67, 67, 73.

208 — John Daly (US) 68, 67, 73; Joe Ogilvie (US) 68, 67, 73; Tom Byrum (US) 68, 70, 70.

209 — Stephen Leaney (Australia) 71, 68, 70; Kent Jones (US) 70, 71, 68; Charles Howell III (US) 70, 70, 69; Brian Bateman (US) 68, 73, 68; Jeff Maggert (US) 67, 68, 74.

210 — Dan Briggs (US) 70, 71, 69; Mark Calcavecchia (US) 69, 68, 73; Bo Van Pelt (US) 69, 68, 73; Brian Davis (Britain) 71, 69, 70.—Reuters