October, when the trees are bare of all they wear. That’s Bono and U2 singing, way back when. Saturday brought colder temps to the northeastern USA, and Sunday confirmed them. Fall has arrived and with it, brought fewer golf tournaments. Gone are the weeks of five and six tours in competition. Like life, things wane in the closing months. Despite the dearth of competition, the three events that took place delivered every bit of drama that one could demand. Not until the final hole did things unfold for this trio of tourneys. Our mid-October Tour Rundown is worth your time, so have a read.

PGA Tour: McIlroy outsmarts the pundits this week in Vegas

Perhaps you caught the quote from Mr. Honesty, the one about the level of golf skill that lurks on the PGA Tour. McIlroy mentioned Keith Mitchell, with whom he had played at some recent point, as really good and capable of winning at any moment. For two days of 62-64, Mitchell made the Northern Irishman seem a druid. 73 derailed Mitchell’s run at the title, although he made a run at recovery on Sunday with 67. Mitchell finished three shy of the top spot, in a tie with 3rd round leader Rickie “Hardluck” Fowler, who flatlined with with 71 on a birdie-filled Sunday.

Second spot went to Open champion Collin Morikawa, who turned in 29 after seven birdies in nine holes. The Californian cooled down a bit on the back nine with only a birdie and an eagle to brag on. Morikawa reached 24-deep and looked for all the world a winner…until along came McIlroy! The druid himself capped a final-day 66 with an eagle at the 14th and clipped Morikawa by one to claim his 20th PGA Tour title. After a forgettable Ryder Cup last month, Rors needed (and got) an individual title.

Rory is rolling it. @McIlroyRory opens up a 3-shot lead with an eagle from off the green at 14. ? pic.twitter.com/x64XLWxHgV

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 17, 2021

PGA Tour Champions: Mr. Out-of-Nowhere comes out of nowhere to win

We’re going to stop short of saying that the 2021 campaign has been a hardluck run for Miguel Ángel Jiménez. The Canarian has notched eight top-10 finishes highlighted by five in the top three places. In his last four starts, MAJ has finished 2-4-2-2; if winning is the measuring stick, it’s a putt or two that makes the difference. Contrast his stretch with that of Lee Janzen; the two-time U.S. Open champion has one top-20 finish this calendar year, but it’s a win. And it came this week. And you know who he touched past in the end to win!

Janzen wins as often as Jiménez eschews a glass of tinto with dinner. It ain’t often. On this day in October, a few miles west of Raleigh, Janzen opened with bogey then played 17 holes in 6 under par…scratch that, played 18 holes in 7 under par. Why 18? It took one extra hole (which he birdied) to dispatch the Spaniard. Don Miguel did everything correctly to win: He made five birdies and limited his bogey output. Unfortunately, Janzen hammered out four birdies on the inward half to close the gap. Now, perhaps, he’ll finally be mentioned in greater company than that of Leslie Knope.

The real question is who's Leslie Knope?@ParksandRec slept on @LeeJanzen. pic.twitter.com/S9gfK861Cd

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 17, 2021

European Tour: Anyone want the Andalucía Masters?

As time wound down at Valderrama, the thought on the minds of many was, “Does anyone wish to lay claim to this title?” Laurie Canter was in the mix at the start of round four; after birdie at the fifth, the Englishman played the remaining holes in 6 over par and dropped to a tie for fourth position. Min Woo Lee got close, too., but he had an ugly three-in-four stretch of bogeys and finished in a tie for second place. Sebastian Söderberg got even closer. He reached 6 under par after 70 holes but closed double and bogey over Valderrama’s difficult close and dropped back with Lee into second at minus 3.

Who came out on top? A fellow who had a less-than-memorable Ryder Cup last month, who was desperate for an affirming victory. Matt Fitzpatrick had nearly as boring a round as one might imagine: 15 consecutive pars, two birdies, then one final par. On this day, his recipe for bogey-avoidance won him an unexpected, seventh tour title. It was his first since December of 2021, when he claimed victory at Dubai. On this day, Fitzpatrick lulled the course and the opposition to sleep and emerged with a three-shot victory.

Seeking his seventh European Tour title. @MattFitz94 is heading down 18 with a three shot lead.#EDAM2021 pic.twitter.com/I7gkfDjoPf

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 17, 2021