Scott, Hanging Around, Outlasts a Tightly Packed Field to Win the Barclays JERSEY CITY - Adam Scott was on the practice range, with his fairway wood in his hand and several balls at his feet, when he became the champion of the Barclays, the first tournament in the monthlong FedEx Cup playoffs. After posting a five-under-par 66 on Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club for a 72-hole score of 11-under 273, Scott could have stayed in the television booth and accepted the praise of the CBS crew. He could have sought the sanctuary of the clubhouse locker room and relaxed with his caddie, Steve Williams, out of the public eye. Scott did not believe his score would hold up, not when contenders still on the course included his dear friend Justin Rose, the reigning United States Open champion, and Tiger Woods, the world No. But the same purposefulness that prompted Scott to postpone a celebratory trip to his native Australia after his Masters victory in April propelled him to the range to hit shots with his medium irons and then a fairway wood in the event he found himself in a playoff. Scott got the second victory he had been stalking all summer after Rose three-putted for a bogey on No. 18 and Woods and Gary Woodland, a third-round co-leader, missed birdie putts. "I'm pretty shocked," said Scott, who began the day six strokes off the pace. If you hang around the lead long enough, you're going to win some, you're going to lose some, and this one went my way. Phil Mickelson, the world No. 2, who began the day nine strokes behind, gained a great deal of ground and fans in his gallery with six birdies in the first 13 holes. At 15, Mickelson hit his approach to 5 feet and drained the birdie putt to get to 10 under, one off the lead. For Mickelson, who won the British Open last month with a Sunday charge, it was as if he were back at Muirfield. "I thought if I could take advantage of 16 and get one or two more coming in, that I was going to end up staying a few more hours," he said. The 16th hole is a 325-yard par 4, and Mickelson tried to drive the green and came up short. He chipped to 13 feet and missed the birdie. As Mickelson stood over his 3-footer for par, Woods and Kevin Chappell began their walk from the fifth green to the sixth tee, a stroll that took them behind the 16th green. The fans made a commotion over Woods, who held his index finger to his lips so Mickelson could putt. Mickelson made it but narrowly missed a snaking 48-footer for birdie at 17 and finished with his lone bogey at 18 to post a 65 and a 72-hole total of nine-under 275. That was good for a share of sixth with D. A. Points (67) and Jim Furyk (69). With five victories in 13 PGA Tour starts this year, Woods is within three titles of matching Sam Snead's career record of 82. Woods has won 79 of 306 starts for a winning percentage of 25.8, better than Snead (14.8), Ben Hogan (21.8), Jack Nicklaus (12.3), Mickelson (8.7) and Scott (4.8). Woods, who has never won this tournament, began the day four strokes behind the co-leaders, Matt Kuchar and Woodland, and had crept within one when the par-5 13th literally brought him to his knees. Hitting from the fairway, Woods sent his second shot into a water hazard a hole and a half to his left. He dropped to his knees - in pain, not exasperation. Woods, who was bothered by lower back pain all week caused, he said, by sleeping on a hotel mattress that was too soft, made a bogey 6. After his third bogey on the back nine, on 15, Woods rebounded with back-to-back birdies to again get within a stroke of Scott, who was making his way to the range when Woods's approach at 18 landed off the green, 27 feet from the flag. Using his putter, Woods rolled the ball within three inches of a playoff-forcing birdie. That left Woodland, who also came within inches of extending the tournament. Standing next to Williams on the range, Scott heard the crowd's cheers trail off during Woodland's birdie attempt. But only after the video confirmed that the putt slid past the cup on the low side did Scott and Williams exchange a hug and a handshake. For Williams, a New Zealander, it was the capper to a perfect sports weekend. His fellow Kiwi Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old amateur whose coach has sought advice from Williams, successfully defended her title Sunday at the Canadian Women's Open. The New Zealand entry won the Louis Vuitton Cup to advance to next month's America's Cup finals and, last but certainly not least, as a beaming Williams noted, the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team, beat Australia to retain the Bledisloe Cup. Williams, who was on Woods's bag for all but one of his 14 major titles, said: "It's very pleasing to get multiple wins. It's very hard to win out here. Scott, who teed off 1 hour 20 minutes before the leaders, had the advantage Sunday of playing on the periphery of the pressure zone. "I feel like I've been given a bit of a gift," he said, "but I'll take it."