My predictions are usually declassified, years after the fact, as wretched fails by a desperate prognosticator. Such attachments fail to dissuade me from continuing to prognosticate, and my anticipation for 2021 is that it will be the Year of the Hatton. If interested, read the European Tour summary below.

After two weeks of single events on the PGA Tour, the pistons of three other tours began to pump in week three of January 2021. Such machinations can mean but one glorious thing: the return of Tour Rundown … Olé!

From the LPGA to the PGA, from the Europeans to the Champions, welcome back and welcome home. It’s great to have your eyes on these words again. Sit back and enjoy Tour Rundown número uno for 2021.

PGA Tour: The American Express counts three wins for Kim

Patrick Cantlay probably figured that he needed to make birdie on two-thirds of the holes Sunday, to have a shot at the title at The American Express. It’s not that he feared third-round leader Tony Finau, who has developed an uncomfortable penchant for not closing the deal on Sunday. It’s that too many finishers, starting with Abraham Ancer and Si Woo Kim, were close enough to threaten. On Sunday, Cantlay posted 11 birdies for 61 and came up one shot shy of a playoff. Despite doubling his strokes under par, from -11 to -22, Cantlay found only second spot on the podium.

Prior to Sunday, Si Woo Kim had not won in nearly four years. His last victory, his second, was at The Players Championship in 2017. That’s a pretty strong victory for anyone, so when victory beckoned in Palm Desert, Kim was ready. His round wasn’t as electric as Cantlay’s, but its strength lay in its consistency. Four times on Sunday, Kim made back-to-back birdies. That four-pack of duets totaled eight under par, enough to vault him past Finau (4th place), past a hard-charging Cameron Davis (130 on the weekend for solo 3rd) and Cantlay, to minus-23.

European Tour: Abu Dhabi Classic is Hatton’s sixth tour title

Tyrrell Hatton, Knight of the Thrice Double Consonant, is golf’s heir to the Most Interesting Man crown, worn currently by Miguel Ángel Jiménez. From the coiffed facial hair, to the square jaw, from the clenched-when-not-grinding teeth to the under-his-breath narrative, Hatton oozes hilarity. It’s not that he doesn’t look, sound, nor play like a boss; it’s that the combination of all of his characteristics, mannerisms, and nuances is beyond the pale when it comes to interest and humor. And when he wins, it is glorious.

Hatton’s generation lay in the shadow of one Rory McIlroy. When the Northern Irishman and his massive curls arrived fifteen years back, his counterparts certainly wondered “Why him?” and upped their games. As a result, we have Hatton, Fairway Jesus, Shane Lowry, and others, from the British isles, playing at McIlroy’s level. The shadow has grown weighty for McIlroy, and Hatton is poised to claim it from the four-time major champion.

Hatton posted four bogies on the entirety of the week in the United Arab Emirates this week. McIlroy twice had rounds with four bogies or worse. Hatton is tidy, while poor Rory has grown sloppier with age. In the first and fourth rounds, Hatton posted clean cards, consisting of five or more, sub-par holes. After opening with an eight-birdie, no-bogey effort, McIlroy set sail on the seas of turbulence. What is most enervating about his play is that he finished five back of Hatton, after opening with birdies on two of his first three holes in round four. Where was the continuity of that brilliance? Absent.

In total contrast, Hatton played thorough and conservative golf until the turn of the course arrived in view. Standing one-under on the day and in complete command of his senses and game, the Englishman notched three birdies from holes seven to ten, to seize absolute control of the tournament. Even though Aussie Jason Scrivener would match Hatton’s closing 66, it would gain but a solo second finish, four back of the pride of High Wycombe. Thus spake Zarathustra: 2021 will be the Year of the tight-jawed bloke from Buckinghamshire.

LPGA Tour: Diamond Resorts is Jessica Korda’s sixth tour title

No one, let me restate, NO ONE, should follow up a third-round 60 (featuring a back-nine 28) with a 66—while playing with her younger sister (#4 in the world) and the #5-ranked player (the overnight leader.) Despite the long odds, Jessica Korda did precisely that. After her meteoric rise from nowhere to contention, thanks to a nine-birdie, one-eagle Saturday round, things looked gloomy for Korda early on Sunday. She stood at one over through five holes, already two shots down on the day to overnight leader Danielle Kang.

We may never know what transpired at that point, but a switch certainly flipped. Kang played two-under golf the rest of the way, and lost four shots to Korda. Younger sister Nelly Korda caught her own bottle of lighting, posting a seven-under 64. It vaulted her to solo third, two behind Korda and Kang. In the end, Jessica and Danielle went into overtime, with Korda making birdie at the first extra hole for the win.

Know this: you’ll see many a stellar third round in 2021, on all the world’s tours, as players avail themselves of moving day. You’ll also count on one hand the number who challenge on Sunday, and you might count on your thumbs the number who win. What Jessica Korda did to open the 2021 tour was certainly uncommon, if not outright unbelievable.

PGA Tour Champions: Mitsubishi Electric is Clarke’s 2nd senior title

There is no doubt that contestants want to know how Fred Couples shot 63 on day two of the Mitsubishi Electric. A quick scan of the top 15 finishers reveals that most signed their worst scorecard of the week for that middle round. Another one of golf’s mysteries, so let’s move on to the finish and Darren Clarke.

The 2011 Open champion claimed an inaugural Champions Tour win in November of 2020. The victory was his first since his seminal triumph at Royal St. George’s. This week, on the Big Island of Hawai’i, Clarke outmatched his 2nd round co-leader, Jerry Kelly, and the other 41 competitors in round three. He departed paradise with a two-shot victory, a smile, and a trophy … and some cash.

Clarke began the week with a flawless 63 (7 birdies and 1 eagle) to stand one back of Retief Goosen’s 10-birdie 62. Day two arrived, and Goosen “soared” to a 71. Clarke held firm with 68, and seized a two-advantage, courtesy in part of Goosen’s bogey-bogey finish. Those strokes would stand up in round three, as both golfers posted 64 over the final round, tied for low daily by two strokes.

Jerry Kelly might have had his Green Bay Packers on the mind, as he could not match playing partner Clarke’s magnificence. The Wisconsin native posted the same number of birdies as his Northern Irish counterpart, but stumbled thrice with a double and two bogeys. No doubt a third-place finish is not the worst way to begin the 2021 campaign, but Kelly will certainly chew his lip on the long mainland flight over what slipped away.