Our return to manifold events was short-lived, alas. With nearly a month between events on the LPGA, PGA Tour Champions, and Korn Ferry tours, our attention focuses on the twin titans of Europe and America. The colonial tour rolls into sunny San Diego for a Torrey Pines trek, while the old world circuit remains in the Middle East, on the eastern edge of the Emirates’ Persian Gulf peninsula. Each tour promises to be thick with drama, both on and off the course, so Thumbs Up and away we go with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open is Reed’s 9th Tour Title

Patrick Reed outplayed his pursuers on Sunday at Torrey Pines. Toney Finau did NOT win again, Sam Harrop. Viktor Hovland fell apart unexpectedly, and Carlos Ortiz did even worse. Reed and Ortiz entered the final round in a first-place tie at minus-ten strokes. Hovland, Jon Rahm, and Lanto Griffin (all winners on tour) sat two shots behind the leaders, suggesting that some sort of multi-player shoot out might be in the offing. Sadly, it never transpired. Reed moved ahead with an eagle-birdie run at the 6th and 7th holes, fought through a single bogey at the 8th, and played two-under golf the rest of the way. His closing 68 produced a five-shot triumph over a quintet of runners-up: Finau, Hovland, hometown lad Xander Schauffele, Ryan Palmer, and Henrik Norlander. Ortiz tumbled all the way to a tie for 29th, thanks to a wretched 78 that will be dispatched to the memory closet as soon as possible.

Greatness isn’t always palatable — Patrick Reed got himself mucked up in a controversy again this week. Unlike his dalliance with sand at the 2019 Hero World Challenge, this one was more clumsy-carp than Thanos. Reed was the best golfer in the Farmers field this week; and as a one-time major titleist and multi-capped international team contestant, has shown that he is one of the best when he is on his game. He bears an odd similarity to Sergio Garcia, in that both make childish decisions, despite their advancing years. For those of us who’ve never danced with greatness, their actions are difficult to unpack.

Those final rounds — Francesco Molinari and Luke List took nearly as much away from Sunday as Reed. The pair tied for low round of the day at 66, and sailed 29 spots up the leader board, into a tie for 10th. List’s 66 bookended his first round, and only a listless 77 on Friday kept him (theoretically) from challenging more. Molinari has struggled to find the form that left him on Masters Sunday 2019, and the world is a better place when the serene Italian contends.

See you soon, Torrey — Our attention returns to La Jolla in 134 days, when the world’s best will tee it up on the South course. The first open at TP gave us Tiger v. Rocco, with Lee Westwood oh-so-close to a first major. Rocco is gone to the Champions Tour, and Tiger’s status is always uncertain. Westy, meanwhile, is coming off a resurgent season that saw him capture the Race To Dubai on the European Tour. We’ll once again resign ourselves to the worst closing hole in major championship golf (even worse than the 18th at Bethpage Black) and hope that the drama and the principle actors will overcome that element. If you told us that the event would be played on the North course, we might do handsprings for  a week.

European Tour: Dubai Desert Classic to Casey for 15th Tour Title

Paul Casey birdied the 72nd hole, not for a heroic victory, but for a four-shot margin over South Africa’s Brandon Stone. Stone was paired with Sergio Garcia, who fell away early, while Casey marched the last round with third-place finisher Robert MacIntyre of Scotland. Stone did fine work to recover from an opening 38, courtesy of three bogies against zero birdies. He played the second nine in minus-three, to return to level par on the day. MacIntyre sat like a hunter at minus one through eight, until an inexplicable, four-bogie run ended his day. He made a second birdie at the 14th, but his effort on this day was fortunate to allow a tumble of only one spot on the leader board.

Attacking the golf course — Casey began his fourth round in solid fashion, with pars and birdies over his first five holes. The highlight, which might just as easily have been a lowlight, was a pitch-in for birdie at the par-three fifth hole In an on-course interview, Casey described the missed green with a wedge as not one of his best. Needing to float his recovery out of the thicker stuff, over the fairway surround, and onto a green running left and away, the 43-year old Englishman checked all the boxes. Alighting on the green, the ball reeled with determination, as if the bottom of the hole were predetermined. Asked how he had conjured such a shot, and what his plans were for the day, Casey indicated that being ruthless, attacking the golf course, was his only consideration. Having worked for three days thus far, the plan should not change.

Low rounds and things like that — Casey did what he had to do, to convince the others that they had to gamble. His final-round 70 was his fourth of the week at that number or better. On Sunday, Casey was bad at times (three bogies) and at other times, brilliant (five birdies.) He never threatened to scratch a large number (double or worse) on his scorecard, and forced his pursuers to take risks. Among the entire field, the low number on the day was the 67 posted by Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard. If MacIntyre had posted that number, all other things being equal, he would have nipped Casey by two shots. Højgaard’s five-under performance moved him 26 spots, inside the top ten.

That putt — Something about reading tales of heroic acts in our youth, I guess. We love to point to pivotal moments and turning points in any story. It’s hard to look at Sunday’s final round in Dubai, and not remember Casey’s 13-feet putt for bogey at the 15th hole. After taking too brave a line on the par three, Casey received his comeuppance with a banked lie in thick cabbage. His chop-out was more salad than needed, and the ball failed to reach the green. A subsequent pitch sailed the ball to the far edge of the frog hair, but a courageous stroke with the flat stick limited the damage to one lost shot.