No matter how much the current crop of golf stars matters, the legends matter more. Annika Sorenstam made an LPGA tournament appearance (she was explicit in stating not a comeback) and Tiger Woods survived a frightening automobile accident. Those two stories stole our attention for different reasons, as we deservedly cheered both on.

Other stories unfolded as the week progressed, with four champions emerging from rigorous tests. It’s time to chase down the week’s story lines in another edition of Tour Rundown. Adjust your mirrors and have a look back with us.

World Golf Championship: Workday at The Concession

The new site for the opening WGC replaced the tree-lined fairways of Club de Golf Chapultepec. The Concession was a visual shift for the golfers and the viewers. Gone were the narrow corridors and overhanging arbor. In their place was a wider Nicklaus course, with some swamp and sand, and a few palmettos that would make a difference. After 72 holes, the story line was easy to see in reverse: the three young’uns stole the week.

On Thursday, we watched as Young’un number one, Matthew Wolff, hit his ball with his practice putting stroke, then withdrew from the event after opening with 83. On day two, we watched Viktor Hovland, Young’un number two, play a gorgeous round of golf through 17 holes. Seven birdies danced with ten pars, as the Norwegian comet moved quickly up the leader board. Just as precipitously, Hovland tumbled down the slope after measuring eight strokes on the par-four ninth, his closing hole. Those palmetto bushes came into play twice as bad swings, bad fortune, and bad decisions conspired to annul four of his hard-earned birdies. To his credit, Hovland would remain in the story line across the weekend, tying for second place with Billy Horschel and Brooks Koepka.

Young’un number one, Collin Morikawa, was the class of a classy field at The Workday. Morikawa avoided quads on day two and jumped into second place, behind Koepka, with 64. Over the weekend, Koepka was unable to return to the 60s, and reached 15-deep for his second-place tie. Morikawa burst from the tape on Saturday with six birdies on his opening nine. A pair of unsightly bogies on the two, back-nine, par fives, shrunk what should have been a sizable lead. On Sunday, the Californian played steady golf on the day, countering a hole-two bogey with four birdies coming home. Both Horschel and Hovland needed perfection on day four, and it lay just beyond their reach. Each counted a pair of bogeys on the inward half, giving Morikawa the cushion he needed for his first WGC title and fourth PGA Tour victory in a brief career.

LPGA: Gainbridge

The Gainbridge moved from Boca Raton to Orlando this year, and caught the attention of at least one champion. Annika Sorenstam has lived in the Lake Nona community for years, and decided that this year’s playing might be a good time to make an appearance, not a comeback (but just in case she ever wanted to consider a comeback, this was a great site). It was a turbulent week for the Swede, as she endured an inaccurate ruling on Thursday, a flirtation with the cut on Friday (she made it) and two banal weekend rounds that relegated her to a 74th-place finish among the 74 who made the cut.

On the other end of the leaderboard, many in the sub-thirty set were making noise. Lydia Ko (also a Lake Nonoan) had the halfway lead at 134, with Patty Tavatanakit and Nelly Korda a shot back at 135. Also close were In-Gee Chun, Chella Choi, and Lexi Thompson. Each had a chance to win over the weekend, but only one did. Tavatanakit and Jin Young Ko made Saturday moves with 66s, and Angel Yin did them one better with 65. Korda assumed the lead with a 68 as Ko dropped to a 72 on day three.

Sunday’s promise of a duel in the sun fizzled early. Korda jumped from the block with birdies on three of the first six holes. Saturday’s heroes lost their footing, with Yin, Chun, and Tavatanakit all moving into the 70s and out of contention. Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson jumped into a second-place tie with scores of 69 and 68, respectively. After her fierce start, Korda locked in on 12 consecutive pars, and won her fourth LPGA title (and first since 2019) by three shots.

PGA Tour: Puerto Rico Open

Puerto Rico’s Open is an interesting event. Until Viktor Hovland won at Mayakoba in 2020, none of its winners had been able to secure a subsequent tour title. It provides opportunity for those not in the WGC, to rediscover their game and bring it along the PGA Tour trail. Branden Grace found himself in an unwanted space this season, dealing with the recent passing of his father. Five years had passed since his inaugural PGA Tour win, at the Heritage in 2016. On Sunday, specifically in the last 45 minutes of the event, Grace discovered his own version of grace.

Homeland hero Rafael Campos was in contention all week long, and ultimately settled into a tie for third with fellow, 54-hole leader Grayson Murray, at 16-under par. Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas surged on Sunday with 65, but a 14th-hole bogey was his undoing. Grace played a game of cat-and-mouse on Sunday, with three birdies and no blemishes through 16 holes. Not spectacular, but not damaging, either. On seventeen, the Pretorian took advantage of a following wind and drove into a greenside bunker at the par-four trace. His bunker shot touched down, released, and rolled properly into the hole for eagle. At the closing hole, where Vegas had made birdie some time before, Grace found a greenside bunker in two, and hit another marvelous pitch from the sand, to within three feet. His putt dropped, he assumed the lead, and earned a second tour title for his efforts.

PGA Tour Champions: Cologuard Classic

If Puerto Rico is a place for ignition of careers, the Champions Tour is filled with stories of redemption. Mike Weir came to Tucson in search of that precise medicine, and he nearly filled the prescription. Unfortunately for him, the least-likely guy to have five CT wins (Kevin Sutherland) chose Sunday to make a charge and enter the fray.

At the beginning of the week, a carrot was dangled in front of Phil Mickelson: no player in golf’s history had ever won the first three starts, on any tour. Lefty had two of them in the pocket, and this week’s course was precisely where he had won his first tour event, as an amateur, decades back. Well, Lefty played like a righty this week, so that story fizzled.

Through two rounds, Mike Weir played like the lefty that won the 2003 Masters and had plenty of game, before injuries and an ill-timed attempt at designing golf courses derailed his train. Sunday was a tale of two cities for the Canadian. The first eight holes were business as usual: three birdies for a four-shot lead. The final ten holes brought three bogies, the kind of finish that bleeds slowly and painfully. Two of those bogies came in the final three holes, just as Kevin Sutherland posted birdies at 16 and 17. The about-face was so sudden, it was hard to consider plausible. In the blink of an eye, Weir’s chance at victory had drifted away on the wind, as Sutherland lifted a Champions Tour trophy for the fifth time.

First and foremost, prayers and love to Tiger Woods and his family.

TaylorMade

Rory McIlroy is going back to an older model putter this week at Concession swapping his Spider X for a TP Juno.

Robert McIntyre AKA “Bobby Mack” put a new TaylorMade Rescue ’21 Hybrid ([email protected]) in the bag with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black Hybrid 100 6.5 TX.

Matthew Wolff put a new TaylorMade (19) UDI in the bag with a Mitsubishi MMT 125TX.

Collin Morikawa was testing SIM2, SIM2 Max hybrids this week with Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX shafts.

Dustin Johnson alongside TaylorMade’s Keith Sbarboro was testing SIM2 drivers with Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X, Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661 and an LAGP Proto.

Callaway

Jon Rahm made adjustments to his Mavrik Sub Zero 5-wood to optimize launch. The 5-wood has 16.4 degrees of loft and a Black Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8X. The adjustments were to the lie of the club going from 59.8 to 58.9 and weight distribution from 12g Front/6g Back to 10G Front/6g Back. Dialed.

Min Woo Lee put a new Epic Speed ([email protected]) with a Fujikura Ventus Red 7X. Lee also debuted his new logo which is on fire.

Titleist 

Genesis Invitational champion Max Homa tested TSi2 5-woods to give him some options for some of the tee shots at Concession. It’s equipped with a Graphite Design Tour XC 8 TX.

Lanto Griffin swapped into a shorter driver going from 45 to 44.5 in his TSi3 (10). Griffin’s driver has a Project X HZURDUS Smoke Black 70 6.5TX

Justin Thomas put a TSI3 (9) in the bag this week. The new set up is powered by a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF TX

Ping

Cameron Champ switched back into a shorter length Ping G425 LST this week going from 45 to 44.25 inches. The shaft is a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 70 6.5 TX (@44.25 , Tip 1.5, D4 SW).

Louis Oosthuizen did something interesting. He had a Ping build him a G425 LST (10.5 @ 9.4, Small -) with the company’s lightweight Alta Slate CB 55 stiff shaft. The 2010 Open Champion was looking for a softer feel with the driver, which isn’t surprising, considering he was seen taking a hard look at Adam Scott’s TSi with an AutoFlex. The whippy lightweight plot thickens…

Ping released a bunch of new putters this week for seeding. Multiple staffers tested them and we will see on Thursday if any go in play.

Cobra

Cobra’s Ben Schomin (and king of the mullets) is doing something to Bryson’s driver—wanted to post this because of the respect for Ben’s hair. Hair aside, Bryson did put a new LAGP Axis Blue 6X in his driver and was also testing new Rad Speed 3 Woods.

Misc/Free Agents

Tommy Fleetwood swapped out his Callaway MD5 Jaws wedges for a set of Titleist Vokey’s (52M, 56M, and 60T) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.

Adam Scott (Titleist staff) was testing long center shafted Odyssey Two Ball 10.