All that is professional golf, has ended for 2019. No, the Parent-Child and other silly-season events don’t count. Not even that little get-together that somehow offers world ranking points, but is an unofficial event. In Dubai, Georgia and Florida, the finest golfers on the LPGA, Euro and PGA tours holed their final putts for the last year of this decade. So much happened in 2K19, including the arrival of Lee6, the major return of Tiger, the dominance of Brooks, and the awakening of Scott McCarron. Raise a toast at year-end gatherings to their entertainment of us all, and to the realization of their hopes and dreams. For now, allow us to run down the tours, one last time, before we hopefully meet again in 2020, with the clearest vision.

Rahma Lamma Double DingDong in Dubai

That’s waaaaay too much of an Animal House reference (and also gives away my age) but it sure is fun to say. Jon Rahm won his 3rd European Tour event of the season in unique fashion. Following earlier wins in the Open championships of Ireland and Spain, Rahm arrived in Dubai in a position to challenge for world supremacy. He did not disappoint.

Rahm seized control of the climactic event of the European Tour with 5 birdies in his first 7 holes. Then, golf took over and the Spaniard let Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Tommy Fleetwood back into the tournament. 4 bogies over the next 8 holes (offset by a 2 more birdies) and some heroics from the French and English, made this finish a nail-biter. Fleetwood sliced 5 strokes off par over his last 7 holes, including birdie at the watery 18th. Never a winner on tour, Lorenzo-Vera closed within one with 2 consecutive birdies, midway through the inward nine. Unable to make additional dents in par over the closing four holes, MLV finished alone in 3rd spot, 1 putt behind Fleetwood and 2 back of the champion.

With his victory at Dubai, Rahm matched previous Race leader Bernd Wiesberger for wins (3) on the season. He jumped two spots over the Austrian, into 1st spot on the season. Fleetwood also elevated his stature with his runner-up finish. The Englishman moved into 2nd place in the season-long Race, relegating Wiesberger to a 3rd position on the podium. Shane Lowry (Ireland) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (England) round out the top 5. The wins at Dubai will no doubt cause pundits across the globe to ask, when will Rahm step up in a major way.  We, of course, won’t ask that question, as we hold ourselves to a higher standard. For certain, the Spaniard has improved every facet of his game, allowing himself to be considered in every event in which he competes.

Ignorance is victory at LPGA Tour Championship

Sei Young Kim thought she was up against Nelly Korda in the final round. She didn’t know that Charley Hull had stormed from way behind tor each 17-under par, the figure where SYK stood on the 72nd green. 25 feet from birdie, Kim needed two putts to reach a playoff with the Englishwoman. Her putt found the bottom of the cup, for what she thought was a 2-stroke victory. Never mind that it was only a 1-shot margin of triumph; Sei Young was the holder of the largest tournament check in the history of women’s golf. The CME Race To The Globe, the season-long points race, went to her countrywoman, Jin Young Ko. Ko was also the Rolex Player of the Year, and holder of 4 tournament titles in 2019, 1 more than Kim.

Most aficionados expected Nelly Korda to offer the greatest challenge to the 3rd-round leader, but Korda and Kim each struggled throughout the round. Each had three bogeys on the day, including silly 6s on the par-5 14th hole. Meanwhile, Hull and Danielle Kang were lighting the Tiburon golf club’s gold course on fire. Hull had 6 birdies on the day, including the final 3 holes, and the 5 of the final 7. Kang had 5 birdies on the opening nine holes, then nothing until the 17th hole, where she made an eagle 3. Her 65 moved her from 9th to a tie for 3rd, while Hull moved from 4th to solo 2nd. Korda’s final-hole birdie returned her to red figures for the 4th consecutive day, out of a tie for 4th with Brooke Henderson, into the 3rd-place tie with Kang.

Sea Island site for Duncan’s debut victory

The fall series on the PGA Tour is known to be the proving ground for the unheralded, or the formerly-heralded. Thus far in 2019, Joaquin Niemann, Sebastian MuÑoz, and Lanto Griffin notch inaugural wins. Cameron Champ and Kevin Na earned important victories in their respective resurgences. No one had made more of an impact than Brendon Todd, who had won his last two tournaments and was gunning for a 3rd consecutive at Sea Island. For a time on Sunday, it appeared that he might do just that. Sadly for him, an incredible, 11-round streak in the 60s came to an end. From Bermuda, through Mayakoba, and up to Sunday morning in Georgia, the UGeorgia alum had played the best golf of any golfer, all year long. On Sunday, Todd came undone, to the tune of 72, and wound up in 4th spot. Not bad, but not what he wanted.

What Tyler Duncan wanted, was to rebound from a Saturday 70. No one finds it easy to follow up a 61 with a similar round, but the Purdue alum was hoping for something a bit better than … 70. On Sunday, as Todd struggled and Webb Simpson moved into the lead, Duncan sneaked up on everyone. Simpson came home in the final pairing with 67, for a total of -19. He overcame a 14th-hole bogey with birdies at 15 and 16. Imagine his surprise upon learning that Duncan made birdie at 3 of his closing 4 holes, to also reach the prime minus 19. Into sudden victory did the pair enter, and on the 2nd go-round of the par-4 18th, Duncan made another birdie to shut the door on Simpson and stand atop the PGA Tour podium for the first time.