Northern Trust Open 2016: Final Leaderboard Scores, Prize Money Payouts

A star-studded leaderboard headlined Sunday's final round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, and a familiar victor in Bubba Watson ultimately emerged triumphant.

Watson won the event for the second time in three years thanks to a closing three-under 68 to get to 15 under par overall and best Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak by one stroke.

Check out the top performers and payouts below:   

Pos.	Player	Scores	To Par	Prize Money
1	Bubba Watson	66-68-67-68	-15	$1,224,000
T2	Adam Scott	68-68-67-67	-14	$598,400
T2	Jason Kokrak	68-64-70-68	-14	$598,400
4	Dustin Johnson	68-66-68-69	-13	$326,400
T5	K.J. Choi	69-67-67-69	-12	$258,400
T5	Marc Leishman	68-67-68-69	-12	$258,400
7	Chez Reavie	66-67-69-71	-11	$227,800
T8	Matt Kuchar	69-69-69-67	-10	$204,000
T8	Sung Kang	70-69-66-69	-10	$204,000
10	Ryan Moore	69-68-69-69	-9	$183,600

It was Scott who appeared to be pulling away early on, carding an eagle at the par-five opening hole and three birdies at Nos. 3, 4 and 6 to ascend to the top on his own.

But an ugly double bogey at the eighth allowed all of Scott's capable competitors back into the tournament.

Scott bounced back from dropped shots at Nos. 14 and 15 to birdie the 17th thanks to a gutsy two-putt and didn't even need the flat iron for an epic finish at the 18th:

Kokrak was holding the solo lead for a time and wasn't afraid to challenge the flag with his approach to No. 13:

The 30-year-old's inexperience in the spotlight showed down the stretch, though, when he bogeyed the par-four 15th and failed to match Watson's birdie at No. 17 despite having the ability to hit it just as far as his playing partner.

Although Kokrak salvaged a scrambling par at the par-three 16th, Watson began to make his big move on that hole with his tee shot:

Watson still had a hole in hand on Scott and fully capitalized on his length by bombing a drive down the middle of the fairway, setting up a two-putt birdie to head to the 18th tee with a one-shot advantage.

ESPN's Mike Greenberg had a humorous reaction to Watson's driving prowess:

Another excellent drive at the last left Watson with a manageable approach to the tricky final green, where he settled for a routine two-putt par and diminished the drama created by Scott's surge to the clubhouse.

Jason Sobel of ESPN.com referred to the silver lining in regard to Scott's performance:

Credit should also go to Kokrak for at least giving the eventual champion something to think about with a birdie bid from about 15 feet away on No. 18, which would have forced a playoff had it gone down.

Will Gray of Golf Channel noticed how Kokrak complemented his power with magnificent flat iron work this week:

The strong result ought to boost Kokrak's confidence and certainly gives him a good outlook for the 2015-16 campaign with a nice check in tow.

Other players who carved out a bigger paycheck over the final 18 holes were wily veteran Matt Kuchar and Ryan Moore, who did so in dazzling style by acing the 16th to vault into the top 10:

Rory McIlroy rolled in an eagle putt at the opening hole to join the leaders at 12 under par but proceeded to make seven bogeys thereafter to fall out of contention. He did birdie the last to finish with a 75.

Speaking of superstars, it is indeed time to include Watson in that conversation if there were any doubts before. Only McIlroy (11) has won more times than Watson on the PGA Tour since 2010, as the latter has now picked up nine victories in that span.

Golf Channel's Justin Ray further highlighted the unique company Watson joined Sunday:

Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel noticed an interesting trend as the golf discussion begins to focus more on the year's first major:

It will be interesting to see how McIlroy bounces back from a bad finish at Riviera, which marked his first stateside start of 2016.

The Northern Irishman has a chance to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters Tournament in April, but Watson has won the green jacket twice and has the type of form to suggest he could do so a third time this year.

Scott is also a player to watch moving forward. He appears to be adjusting well to his short putter and is on form not far away from the trip to Augusta National.

Post-Round Reaction

Per the PGA Tour on Twitter, Watson mentioned that he passed a kidney stone on Monday and also said, "For me to come back...and pull one out in a tough way means a lot," per the Associated Press (via the Los Angeles Times).

Scott applauded how well Watson did to hang on, saying, "A guy like Bubba, he's very tough to beat. ... He's proving tough to beat from that position. He's wearing the course out on the toughest day."

Per the AP report, Kokrak expressed regret about the fateful bogey at No. 15, saying, "You've got to eliminate the mental mistakes. ... Hitting it in the middle of the green on 15 is just...I had a two-shot lead at the time."