Scott does enough to make cut

William Johnson

• Last Updated: November 15. 2009 10:18PM UAE / November 15. 2009 6:18PM GMT

Adam Scott’s tie for sixth place behind Tiger Woods in the JBWere Masters in Melbourne yesterday was the only significant development from that tournament on the last day of qualifying for the Dubai World Championship.

Scott, who stood at third in the world less than three years ago and was considered a serious threat to Woods at the top of the rankings, has lost his way in recent months and now stands at 62 on the world computer.

This week, however, is all about the European money list and Scott’s Melbourne pay cheque of €32,699 (Dh179,156) enabled him to travel to the Dubai World Championship as its 42nd placed qualifier with an outside chance of claiming a share of the Race to Dubai’s US$7.5 million (Dh27.5m) bonus pool.

Scott finished six shots behind Woods, whose 14-under-par aggregate score of 274 justified some of the huge appearance fee paid to the world’s best player. Woods’s return from a first visit to Melbourne was boosted by a winner’s cheque of €173,000 and he made a light-hearted boast about “winning in every continent except Antarctica” after posting a final round of 68 to pull away from joint overnight leader Greg Chalmers.

“All the guys have raved about this golf course and I understand why,” said Woods, celebrating his seventh tournament victory of a year which began uncertainly as he completed his recovery from knee surgery.

“I really enjoy playing on sandbelt courses because it brings back shot-making and we don’t see enough of that.”

Woods, whose two-stroke victory was his 38th in a European Tour event and the 97th of his professional career, added: “I would certainly love to come back.

“I haven’t looked at next year’s tournament schedule yet. I’ll do that next month and get an idea of what I need to do for the entire year and I’ll come up with a game plan.”

Chasing home Woods and Chalmers was Frenchman Francois Delamontagne.