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Tour Rundown: Hovland’s 3rd tour title, 2nd in Riviera Maya | Original Ko
Three rounds of 61 were posted this week on three of the world’s major tours. Each of those golfers held the lead at one point, yet none of them came away with a trophy. Lots of different ways to unpack that slice of information, but the easiest way to understand it is is this: you need more than 18 great holes to win a tournament, but you only need a few bad holes to lose one. With most of the fall behind us, our attention once again turns to warmer climates. From Mexico to Florida to the middle east to Iberia, winners were crowned and cups raised aloft. Let’s run it all down together in this week’s edition of Tour Rundown, with bonus coverage from last week.
PGA Tour: WWTC in Mayakoba is Hovland’s third tour title, second in Riviera Maya
Víctor Tierrasanta has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Viktor Hovland (holy land in Danish) might consider just such a name switch, after his third PGA Tour title in a Hispanic land. Hovland successfully defended his 2020 win at El Camaleon, winning by four shots over Mexico’s favorite son, Carlos Ortiz. Matthew Wolff started the week off with fireworks, posting 61 with 10 birdies. He held the lead through Friday evening but came apart a bit on Saturday with 74. His Sunday 65 moved him twelve rungs up the leader ladder into a tie for fifth.
Hovland played his strongest golf of the week through the middle rounds, which are beginning to define winners as they never have before. The 36 holes that come at the center of an event show who can bring their best golf on consecutive days. Hovland went 65-62, then closed with 67 that could have been lower, had he been pressed. Two sloppy bogeys on the inward half kept him out of the mid/low 60s for a third consecutive day, but it was more than enough to distance him from playing partner Talor Gooch (74 for T11) and keep Ortiz and others at bay. After Ortiz, Justin Thomas came third at -18, with Scottie Schefler in 4th at -17.
Another birdie for Viktor Hovland.
He leads by four with one to play. pic.twitter.com/6ZSIuXakIc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 7, 2021
Ladies European Tour: ASLI at Royal Greens to the Original Ko
Lydia Ko is the OG Ko, having earned that moniker at a young age when she took over women’s golf for a time. As she grew into the professional sport, she kept winning. The winning stopped, but the desire never ebbed. This week, Lydia Ko reclaimed the game that made her the role model for many, winning on the Ladies European Tour by a healthy five shots. Atthaya Thitikul, one of the generation of young Thai golfers, claimed a second-place finish that was not nearly as close as it appeared if a five-shot margin can be considered close. Down by four to begin the day, Thitikul went out on Sunday in 32 and lost ground to Ko. The Kiwi Ko posted eagle at the ninth hole to turn in 31, extending her advantage. Two more birdies, at 10 and 13, expanded the gulf to seven. A game Thitikul scratched three closing birdies onto her card to secure a five-shot advantage of her own (over third-place finishers Carlota Ciganda and Alice Hewson) but there would be no chasing down the champion.
Bread and butter for Lydia Ko ? ?#RaiseOurGame | #SaudiLadiesIntl pic.twitter.com/w4q2F6TgTZ
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 7, 2021
European Tour: Portuguese Masters in Vilamoura finally to Pieters
The tournament at Vilamoura went from the other tournament with a 61, to the tournament that no one seemed prepared to win, to a fifth tour title for Thomas Pieters of Belgium. To recap, Italy’s Nino Bertasio opened with a round of ten-under, survived Friday with 69, stumbled on Saturday with 74, and rebounded on Sunday with 67 to finish in a tie for fifth position. France’s Mathieu Pavon coasted through the first nine holes on Sunday, turning in three-under 32. His birdie at ten increased his lead, but his triple-bogey eight at the par-5 12th brought him crashing to earth. From there on, it was birdie-bogey-birdie-par-bogey-par for 70, and a minus-17 finish. Pavon will regret the back-nine par-5 holes, which he played in 4 over par on the weekend.
Enter Nicolai Højgaard, who played the first 17 holes in magnificent fashion on Sunday. He stood minus-eight on the 18th tee, 18-under for the tournament. Knowing that he needed one more birdie, he flew too high, creased the sun, and made bogey. Højgaard finished in a tie for second with countryman Lucas Bjerregaard, whose 67 brought him into a tie with Højgaard and Pavon for second stage on the podium. The stage was set for third-round leader Pieters to snatch a victory, and his birdie at the 17th gave him a two-shot cushion at the last. He converted a long putt for par at the last for a 68, a 19-under total, and his first win since 2019.
The moment @Thomas_Pieters captured his fifth European Tour title ?#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/bQO2Rovm8w
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 7, 2021
PGA Tour Champions: TimberTech in Boca Raton is first Champions Tour win for Alker
The song Southern Cross is an appropriate descriptor for Steven Alker’s journey through professional golf. On Sunday, the New Zealand-born professional saw the Crux constellation for the first time, ending a seven-year lull on top of the podium. Alker last lifted a loving cup in Cleveland in 2014, when he won on the Korn Ferry Tour (back when it was called the Web.Com Tour.) He is also the owner of the longest playoff-win record, an 11-hole affair at the same event. Now a member of the senior corps, Alker began a remarkable run of tournaments with a Monday qualification at the Boeing Classic. He tied for 7th there, and continued to make the following week’s field with top-ten finishes. His unanticipated run qualified him for the post-season series, and he made good on his opportunity this week at Broken Sound.
Tim Petrovic grabbed the headlines with his Saturday 61, but a Sunday 74 undid all his good work, and dropped him to a tie for fourth. Charging on Sunday was Jim Furyk, who made a run at Aker with a 71. Six closing pars did Furyk in; birdies were needed today. Charging harder was Miguel Ángel Jiménez, whose 66 followed only Mike Weir’s 65 for low round of the day. Jiménez began the day with a bogey at the par-5 opener, but from that point on, it was full steam ahead for the birdie engine. In the end, Alker’s clean inward half of three birdies and six pars was the recipe for an initial tour title and a new life in the senior game.
Clutch. He can smell a title! pic.twitter.com/If651h2b6e
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 7, 2021
Last Week’s Two Winners
When fewer than three major events are played across the globe, Tour Rundown takes a hiatus and recalls those winners the following week. On October 29, England’s Bronte Law edged Mexico’s María Fassi by one shot in the first Moonlight Classic, on the Ladies European Tour. Played over the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club, the women competed after dark, beneath the glow of a spot-lit layout. Law made eagle at the 16th, to Fassi’s birdie, and the pair parred out for the final margin.
On the 31st, Australia’s Lucas Herbert took advantage of Danny Lee’s back-nine misfortune and reached 15 under par at Port Royal in Bermuda. His par at the last took the top spot over from fast-finishing Patrick Reed, who moved up 15 places on the final day. Overnight leader Taylor Pendrith stumbled to 76, tumbling to a fifth-place tie. Lee overcame a double-single-single, three-hole stretch of bogeys to close with birdies at 15 through 17. Had he dropped another at the last, he would have caught Herbert. Instead of a second career win for Lee, or a first for Pendrith, it was Herbert who secured his inaugural PGA Tour title at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Giving it the FULL BRONTE @brontemaylaw ???#RaiseOurGame | #MoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/AEyESKAR40
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) October 30, 2021
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Morning 9: Scheffler repeats at Players | Monday PIF meeting | McIlroy takes another shot at Norman
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Tour Rundown: Matching luggage for Scheffler
For those of us from another generation, the disruption of the golf world that we knew well is both exciting and unsettling. The two most potent disruptors are rival golf leagues, not unlike the turmoil seen in the NCAA, and the Anchorman-style gangs of golf reporters. Reconciled to a past era are the dominance of the U.S. PGA Tour and the monthly golf magazines. One element that will not change, at any time in the foreseeable future, however, is the sanctity of the grand slam and golf’s four male major championships. While the LPGA and the PGA Tour Champions have seen a light and added fifth and sixth power titles, the men’s game remains staunchly in the 20th century.
This last topic surges in pertinence each March, just before the playing of The Players Championship. Two camps stake tents and run banners up the poll. One cries out for elevation of the PC to major status, while the other digs a trench around its impregnable quadrilateral. My personal take is this: Every four years since 2016, golf is played at the Olympics. Is Olympic Gold the equivalent of a major title? Yes, it is. It comes around every 1,500 days and brings elite golfers together in competition at the most important athletic event and venue. In my mind, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele earned major titles in Brazil and Japan, as did Inbee Park and Nelly Korda. As for the Players Championship, why not? The field is stronger by ranking than any major event, and the golf course demands every shot that golfers can create.
The Players Championship is so important to the U.S. PGA Tour that all other tours under its umbrella take the week off. No Korn Ferry, no Tour Champions. The LPGA and the DP World Tour follow suit, which shrinks the amount of watchable golf to two events. On that sour note, let’s run down this week’s play, beginning with the Players Championship and ending with the Asian Tour in Macau.
PGA Tour @ Players Championship: matching luggage for Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler is making a bid to be the player of his generation. From the previous one, a fair number have taken leave from traditional competition. The Johnsons, Koepkas, and Reeds from the 1980s no longer play the events that stand the test of time. The born-in-the-90s generation had its first great champion in Jordan Spieth until he took leave of the senses that brought him to golf’s pinnacle. Spieth’s descent ran opposite Scheffler’s rise.
Scottie Scheffler had won nothing on the PGA Tour until February 13th of 2022. He won on that day in Phoenix, then won three more times by the middle of April. One of those wins was the API at Bay Hill. Last week, Scheffler won for a second time at the Orlando course. Last March, Scheffler won his first Players Championship, by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. On Sunday, Scheffler dived headfirst into a cauldron of fierce competition. Facing challenges from Olympic champion Schauffele, Open champion Brian Harmon, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Scheffler breathed. As the only man to reach 20 under par, he earned a second consecutive title at Sawgrass and reminded us that it has been two years since he won the Masters and that he is on a tear.
It all began at the fourth on Sunday for Scheffler. After pars at the opening three holes, Scheffler’s driving wedge from 92 yards landed 20 feet shy of the hole, took one large bounce, then spun left, trickling into the hole for eagle. He followed that incantation with another birdie, then two pars. The stretch from 8 to 12 was where the champion made a statement. His quartet of birdies over that run, brought him to 19-under par and let the pursuing pack know that even lower than the winning 17 under in 2023 would be necessary.
And the trio was game. Harman and Clark both dipped below 70, to reach 19 under at the final pole. Schauffele could not find a similar gear and closed with 70 — 69 would have earned him a playoff with Scheffler. It was the extra gear, the ability to go low when all things mattered, that eleveated the now two-time champion to the top of the podium. In five of his eight tour wins, Scheffler has posted a sub-70 round on day four, and four of those have been 67 or lower.
With elegant precision, Scheffler applied the final thrust at the par-5 16th. He played safely away from Pete’s Pond on the right, into the left greenside bunker at the back of the putting surface. His bunker shot was thing of exquisite accuracy, trickling to a planned stop about 20 inches from the hole. The birdie concluded matters and rang the sort of bell that Dye courses tend to display.
The greenside bunker is not a problem for the defending champ.
Scottie Scheffler’s birdie at 16 moves him back into a share of the lead @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/aEi7onLZPE
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2024
Asian Tour @ International Series Macau: Catlin earns playoff victory
There are two sorts of golfers that compete on the Asian Tour, which makes no secret of its alliance with the LIV. The first are the AT stalwarts, the ones who play as golfers have always played, with little guarantee and much pride. The others are the ones who compete on the LIV, eschewing both risk and pride for the guaranteed payday. Their deal costs them world ranking points, so they play in AT events, hoping to qualify for golf’s major events.
This week in Macau, one of those LIV golfers shot 60 on Sunday and did not win the tournament. Hard to believe, you say? Aye, but when another golfer shoots 59 in the third round, follows it up with a 65 on day four, then makes overtime birdie twice at the par-five closer, the razor’s edge of great golf is sharpened. Thus did it happen with American John Catlin and Spaniard David Puig.
It was Catlin who signed for 59, and it took a twisting, eagle putt at the last to enshrine the first-ever, sub-60 on the Asian Tour. It was Puig who closed the gap on Sunday with a 60 of his own, which featured a bogey at the lengthy fifth hole, but was followed by seven birdies and an eagle over the next 13 holes. Catlin had a six-feet putt for the regulation win, but missed. In extra time, Puig nearly holed for eagle at 18, then tapped in for birdie. Catlin’s second danced along the OOB perimeter, before ending on an access road. His drop and pitch left him another six feet to remain alive, and this time, he converted.
At the second go-round of the par-5 finisher, Puig found the green in two, but took three putts from nearly 50 feet. Catlin confronted another challenging pitch for his third, and once again, his wedge game won the day. He tapped in for birdie and the win.
5??9?? ? @JohnCatlin59 eagles the 18th to shoot the first 59 on the Asian Tour ?? #whereitsAT #ThisISEverything #InternationalSeries @intseriesgolf pic.twitter.com/RV9gYy1SIp
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) March 16, 2024
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Morning 9: Rory, Xander, Clark share Players lead | Rory on controversial drop | AK misses Macau cut
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