There has been a spate of news about Rory McIlroy locking himself in an attic somewhere, in search of a reimagined and redefined swing path. For the faithful, his work over Abu Dhabi’s Yas Links this week was monumental. For the rest of us, it was more of the same. His scores were terrific, and his shots were beyond the reach of mortal man. In the end, however, it was a top-FITB (fill in the blank) finish, a dalliance with the podium, but not a win. At this stage in Rory’s career arc, all that will make a difference for the historians are victories. Rory Daniel McIlroy will turn 36 in May of 2025. He is ten years distant from his fourth and last, major title. He has 40 career wins, but he’s a dad and a husband, and a player in the chess game of international golf. His legacy is affirmed if not completely defined, and that will have to do, for now.

Early November brought a journey for me to my alma mater. The weather was unseasonably warm in the Piedmont, and the camaraderie with brothers far outweighed the football loss under the lights of Friday night. The LPGA traveled to the island of Oahu, in the USA’s 50th state, for its Lotte Championship. The DP World Tour visited the aforementioned, middle-east kingdom. The PGA Tour took up residence at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, while the PGA Tour Champions closed its season in Phoenix, at its tour championship.

The time for Tour Rundown to rest is a fortnight off. With the DP World Tour’s conclusion slated for next week, and the right brackets of the LPGA and PGA a week beyond, we’ll tip our caps and turn to salute a memorable year of golf. For now, let’s enjoy the antipenultimate installment of my favorite, Sunday-evening activity, and run us down a little tour action.

PGA Tour: Eckroat corrals second Tour title, down Mexico way

You must be a bit of a traveler when you’re outside the upper echelon of world golf’s competitors. The PGA Tour season concludes with a trek from Japan to Mexico, then Bermuda, before a final stop in coastal Georgia. It’s a flyer-miles bounty, but is certain to stretch the physical and mental energies of the contestants.

There is a tendency for fall events to produce opportunities for non-winners to secure a critical, first tour title. Max Greyserman, Justin Lower, and Carson Young each came on strong this week in Los Cabos, and each reached the stretch with a chance to haul in an inaugural victory. Unfortunately for them, they ran up against a fellow who was them just eight months ago. Austin Eckroat earned his first tour title in March, at the Cognizant Classic in Florida. That experience with success was essential to Eckroat’s performance on Sunday.

Despite a bogey at the fifth hole, Eckroat went out with six birdies for 31, then added another four over the first five holes on the inward nine. His electric charge forced the contenders to change their strategy and go for broke. Eckroat added one more birdie at the 17th, then made an odd bogey at the par-five closer. Despite never leaving the fairway, Eckroat stumbled to a six. By that point, victory was no longer in doubt.

Among the chasers, Lower closed with eagle to finish one behind Eckroat, at 23-under par. Young matched him with a birdie at the last, while Greyserman finished with a pair of birdies, for solo fourth spot.

10-under thru 17 and leader by 3.

Austin Eckroat heads to the 18th tee eyeing his second TOUR victory @WWTChampionship! pic.twitter.com/Htws5szCfq

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 10, 2024

LPGA: A-Lim is A-List with second LPGA win

Kim A-Lim was, until today, a footnote in golf’s chronology. She was a 2020 major champion, the year of Pandemic golf, at an odd site, in an unfamiliar month. She won the US Women’s Open at Champion’s Creek, in Houston, in December. With wind blowing and temperatures dropping, Kim held off Ko Jin-Young and Amy Olson by a single shot.

This week, almost four years on, A-Lim recorded a second, LPGA victory, in a much warmer climate. She closed with birdie at the par-five 18th to craft a two-shot win over young Russian golfer Nataliya Guseva. The runner-up posted four rounds in the 60s, and reached 16 shots under par for the week. She was a stroke better than third-place finisher Auston Kim, for the best finish in her nascent career.

Kim A-Lim began the week with an impressive eagle, and never looked back. She tallied 26 birdies over four rounds, and added a second eagle on day three, with an ace at the ninth hole. Simple math reveals that she gave back 12 shots over four rounds, but when you save as many strokes as she did, sometimes it just doesn’t matter. The LPGA circuit will travel to Belleair, Florida this week, before concluding the year down Florida’s gulf coast, in Naples.

A Lim Kim currently holds the lead at -16 but there’s been a lot of movement today ?

The final round of the LOTTE Championship is live now on @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/GSv842QoWH

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 10, 2024

DP World Tour: Good Waring to you!

The DPWT sealed the wax on its final, regular-season event this week in Abu Dhabi. The tour’s best will put a bow on 2024 next week in Dubai, at the Earth course. The Race to Dubai has concluded, with Rory McIlroy some 1500 points clear of second-place Thriston Lawrence. What’s left to settle are individual-event winners, so let’s get to that, beginning with this week at Abu Dhabi.

First came Tommy Fleetwood, with his opening 62. He drifted away, into a jam-up at . Next was Paul Waring, who signed for 61 on Friday, bounding past everyone to the leaderboard’s summit. Day three received a 62 from Thomas Detry, yet Waring preserved his lead, weakly, with a weather-impeded 73. Sunday’s finale promised both much and little, as Europe’s best measured themselves against time, space, and humanity.

Sunday welcomed charges from McIlroy (64), Matthew Wallace (63) and Tyrrell Hatton (64). Wallace and McIlroy were joined at 21-deep by Thorbjorn Olesen, in a tie for third spot. Hatton reached 22-under par as Paul Waring toured the 15th hole, throwing a scare into the double-overnight leader. After pars at 15 and 16, Waring closed in marvelous fashion. Birdies at 17 and 18 gave the Englishman his second career tour title. Six years after winning in Sweden, Waring added a bookend vase to his prize shelf.

“Would you believe it!” @PaulWaringGolf birdies the penultimate hole to take a one-shot lead to the 18 ?#ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/u3IAVpSWUM

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 10, 2024

PGA Tour Champions: Father Time has just enough for 47th senior triumph

It was appropriate that Bernhard Langer passed Hale Irwin for Tour Champions titles at the US Open. A great achievement deserved a major spotlight. With the weight of that accomplishment off his shoulders, Langer took a bit of a break from the lamp, but returned this weekend with a vengeance. The two-time Masters winner went out in 30 shots on Sunday, then survived a bumpy back nine to hold off Richard Green and Steven Alker by one.

After posting six birdies on the front nine, Langer was anything but efficient on the homeward half. He made bogey at 10 and 11, then stabilized the rudder a bit, with birdie at the 13th. His second shot whacked a tree at 17, leading to a third bogey. With the heart of a lion, Langer closed with birdie on 18, reaching 66 on the day and minus-18 for the week. Try as they might, Green and Alker could not chase Langer down. Alker made par at the last, when he needed birdie. Green closed with a pair of birdies, matching Alker for second, one shot behind the winner.

Winning is hard.

Bernhard Langer’s approach on 17 hits a tree.

He’s now tied for the lead heading to 18. pic.twitter.com/rguzFyodv1

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 10, 2024