Bouts of competitive nerves crop up without warning, much like far-off train whistles or, say, back spasms. On a strange, compelling Sunday at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, one of those three factors—sometimes all of them—affected seemingly every contender for The Barclays, except one: Adam Scott.

Scott finished at 11-under par for the tournament, one shot clear of four players — Graham DeLaet, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland –- to win the PGA Tour’s first Playoffs event.

His round was the epitome of steadiness on a day when seemingly everyone else near the lead experienced some significant backward movement—his 5-under 66 was the only bogey-free round to come out of the last nine groups. The win pairs quite nicely with Scott’s 2013 Masters title and moves the 33-year-old Australian to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

DeLaet shot a stellar 65 to make a big upward move for the first event of the FedExCup Playoffs. The Canadian will wait at least another week to secure his first career PGA Tour victory, but his play Sunday may well have secured him a place on Nick Price’s International squad for the coming Presidents Cup.

Justin Rose seemed to sneak up on everyone on Sunday, joining the lead after birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. He made a gutsy up-and-down from a greenside bunker at No. 15 to stay in a tie for the lead, and came to No. 18 tied with Scott and striped his tee shot to 9-iron range. After a decent approach to around 20 feet, Rose blew his birdie putt 5 feet by the hole, and then jabbed his par putt to the right, missing the chance to force a playoff with friend and fellow first-time major champion in 2013, Scott.

After battling back pain all week, Woods seemed to have avoided it on Sunday until No. 13, when his second shot on the par f5 sailed left and he doubled over in pain, beset by a back spasm. He would make a bogey, but forge on despite the pain, making birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 before leaving a birdie putt from off the green three inches short on the final hole to finish a shot shy.

Woods’ decision to finish the round was an indication that the injury is not serious, or at least not able to be made much worse by a few more holes of golf. His statements after the round, however, indicated that his participation in the next Playoff event is currently in doubt.

Woodland, who co-led after 54 holes with Matt Kuchar (finished T19 after a final-round 78), had an up-and-down final round but was able to offset his mistakes with two front-nine birdies. Suspect tee shots on Nos. 5 and 13 proved too much to overcome, though. He missed three birdie putts of less than 13 feet on each of the last three holes, culminating with a misread final-chance birdie putt interrupted by the long blast of a train, which forced him to back off initially.

Woods was paired with Kevin Chappell, who held the solo lead by two at 13-under after a birdie on No. 10. But Chappell would three-putt for double bogey on the next hole and fell apart from there, carding a final-round 76 to finish five shots behind Scott.

The FedExCup Playoffs continue with the Deutsche Bank Championship, which begins next Friday at the TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.