Week two of the NFL season did not impact the execution of tournaments on the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, Korn Ferry, and Tour Champions. With the Solheim Cup in Spain this week, followed by the Ryder Cup in Italy at the end of this fortnight, team golf is on the horizon. For the moment, it’s all about individual play, and we have that nearly to excess. Sit back, sit up, and strap in for this week’s Tour Rundown.

DP World Tour @ BMW PGA Championship: Air New Zealand pulls into port

After three days of seven birdie-and-eagle tallies, the flighted creatures left Ludvig Abers’ nest. The wunderkind on the European Ryder Cup side went dodo with a two-birdie 76 on Sunday, dropping to a 10th-place tie. His forced landing cleared the skies for a number of other airlines. British Airway, Iberia, Qantas, and other planes attempted to land on runway number one, but in the end, it was cleared for Air New Zealand, piloted by Ryan Fox.

Fox looked for all the world like a non-winner, after his triple bogey on the third hole. His mental reset allowed him to post eight birdies over the next fifteen hole, including six on the inward nine. Nearly chasing him down was the English duo of Aaron Rai and Tyrrell Hatton. The pair posted 68 and 66, respectively. Rai had a pair of bogeys offset his six birdies, while Hatton began the round on fire, with five birdies in his first seven holes. He could not preserve the pace, and came up one shot shy, in a tie with Rai.

A shot worthy of winning any golf tournament ?#BMWPGA | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/hDizle3dq3

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 17, 2023

PGA Tour @ Fortinet Championship: Thee one we longed to see win, has won at long last

Sahith Theegala was Thee Stallion this week. The California native and recipient of more family love than any other human knows, broke through for his first victory on the PGA Tour. Theegala had been mentioned in some circles as a long-shot Ryder Cup selection, but the knock was that he had not yet proved that he could win. Check that box for now.

Theegala and S.H. Kim finished 1-2 this week and the tournament was about their duel, from the 36th hole forward. Kim and Theegala held the halfway lead at 132, but Theegala jumped ahead by two after Saturday’s third round. On Sunday, Theegala made seven birdies against four bogeys, but three of those birdies came in the opening five holes. Those notches stretched his lead to five, and forced Kim to do better than the nine consecutive pars that opened day four.

To his credit, Kim played a strong inward half. He posted three birdies to separate from Cam Davis and catch a glimpse of the top spot. Theegala was too consistent coming home, however. He bookended bogeys at 10 and 18, but stuffed the turkey with three birdies in between. His final margin of victory was two strokes, and now we look to see if victory number two is soon to come.

The moment @SRTheegala became a champion ? pic.twitter.com/AcmqXlQSd2

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 18, 2023

Korn Ferry Tour @ Simmons Bank Open: Murray finds redemption in Nashville

Grayson Murray finish 169th on the 2022-2023, ensuring that he would need some Korn Ferry Tour assistance to return to the big circuit. He came through big time in Tennessee, winning a guitar trophy for the tournament title, and a move inside the top six, heading into two final playoff events.

Five golfers began round four in a tie for first. None of them was able to do what Murray did. Max Greyserman fared worst, posting 79 to drop 43 spots. TJ Vogel dropped 11 spots, to 12th, while Pontus Nyholm dropped four shots, to fifth position. Jamie Lovemark and Carter Jenkins posted 70s on day four, to finish T2 with Mason Andersen. The playoffs are the time of year when pressure pushes emotions to the surface, and competitors react differently.

Murray seemed to find the proper cocktail mixture of patience and risk. He played the front nine in one-under par, then jumped into the fray with birdie at 11, followed by four more over his closing five holes. None was able to match him coming home, and Murray hoisted not just a trophy, but the continuance of his professional dreams.

Grayson Murray slams the door! ?
@simmonsbankopen pic.twitter.com/TfzQz2oN9N

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) September 17, 2023

PGA Tour Champions @ Sanford International: Mr. Midwest wins sixth of the year

You need to be flawless to beat the man from Wisconsin, Steve Stricker, when he is on his game. KJ Choi played a wondrous 53 holes of golf this week, but made an ill-timed bogey on the final green, and missed a chance at a playoff. Choi tapped in for five and finished on 15-under par. Behind him, in the middle of the fairway, stood Stricker. He now had a two-shot lead (whether he knew it or not) and played a bad iron shot from 120 yards, some 60 feet shy of the hole. He then hit a bad approach putt, leaving himself eight feet for par. His recovery putt was dead in the hole, one revolution shy of perfection. Despite that trifecta of less-than-Stricker shots, Super Steve tapped in for bogey and a one-shot margin of victory.

Stricker had that wiggle room, thanks to a 62 on Friday. He followed that with a 66 on Saturday and, despite his last-hole tarantella, another 66 on Sunday. Stricker is currently number one on the season-long Schwab Cup list, with double the money of Bernhard Langer, his closest pursuer. To say that he has been the cream of the competitive crop in 2023 is about as accurate a statement as anyone will make today. The only other question is, how many more years and wins does he have in him?

The eagle has landed ?@SteveStricker drains an eagle putt to move into a tie for the lead @SanfordIntl. pic.twitter.com/BFoY0RGaZ9

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) September 17, 2023