The 2018 tour schedules came to a redemptive end on Sunday. Professionals with a variety of sortings-out came to the fore and raised championship prizes in Dubai, Georgia and Florida. There will be golf over the next six weeks, but the majority of it will feature exhibitions of all sizes and flavors. For now, Tour Rundown revels in the achievements of four figures and bids you until later for 2018.

Chucky Three Sticks snatches third tour win on Sea Island

For every tour upstart column, there is a story on a can’t-miss prospect who nearly misses. Charles Howell III (those III are the Three Sticks in his nickname) was the can’t-miss prospect during his time at Oklahoma State. On tour, he lost two playoffs in his first three seasons, but also claimed victory in Virginia. Over the ensuing 15 years, Howell had a successful career, but only one other victory, to go with two more playoff losses. His best finish in a major championship was a tie for 10th in the 2003 PGA Championship. He hasn’t played Augusta since 2012, so the label Journeyman Pro would not be out of place, nor insulting.

On Sunday at Sea Island, Howell held off Patrick Rodgers, a player with a similar pedigree, with birdie on the second hole of a playoff. The victory was the third of his career, following a 2007 playoff win over Phil Mickelson in Los Angeles. 11 years is a long interlude between victories, and the significance was not lost on the titleist. For Rodgers, the bitter taste of defeat is certainly sated by the knowledge that he is one stop closer to his goal of winning on the world’s toughest tour. Over the course of round four, the victor was tied at the top by Webb Simpson, Cameron Champ and Rodgers, but found his winning formula in a blend of grit and patience.

On Sunday, Charles Howell III ended the longest drought between TOUR wins. He needed two extra holes at @TheRSMClassic to do it.

Highlights from Round 4: pic.twitter.com/pjEsjDV0Pa

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 19, 2018

Willett’s resolve is tested on final day of World Tour Championship

Danny Willett has had a rough couple of years. Not as rough as Justin Rose’s early-career run of bad fortune and form, but fairly similar in a compressed manner. The last time he held or shared the third-round lead, he collapsed in round four in Malaysia 2017. His tenacity paid off on Sunday in Dubai, when the 2016 Masters champion claimed his first professional victory in the 2.5 years since that august occasion. Willett held off a charging Matt Wallace and a harder-charging Patrick Reed for a two-stroke victory.

The victory was Willett’s fifth on the European Tour, and second in Dubai. The Yorkshireman birdied three of his final five holes to hold off Wallace (2 under on back nine) and Reed (4 under on inward half) by 2 shots, on 18 under total. Willett’s long road to victory was fraught with challenge, coalescing into a recovery from a serpentine burn on the final hole at Jumeirah Estates. With the form of a champion, he escaped and strode to victory.

Danny played it…#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/nTlhtoH0NH

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 18, 2018

Thompson takes Tour Championship title in Naples

Lexi Thompson is an immeasurable talent. We know her height, but not her strength. She has earned 10 tour titles, but lost all three playoffs in which she has participated. Over the summer, she took a one-month leave from tour for a recharging of the soul. With the season-ending tour championship on tap, Thompson had yet to hoist a trophy in 2018.

In Naples this week, she set her sights on her own sort of redemption. Thompson wrested the lead from Amy Olson in round two and set sail for the winner’s harbor. Her final-round 70, her only score outside of the 60s all week, was enough to claim a four-shot victory over upstart Nelly Korda. It took Thompson 40 holes to make her first bogey at the CME Group event on Florida’s west coast. She didn’t make another until round four, when she tripled her week-long total. Three bogeys over 72 holes is an undebatable recipe for success. For Thompson, it validated her decision to put self ahead of expectations, and doubtless sends her into the off-season in a proper frame of body and mind. In the year-long race for tour supremacy, world number one Ariya Jutanugarn rode a final-round 66 to victory.

Abraham Ancer Aces Australia Open Assessment

We couldn’t let 2018 drift away without one last run at alliteration. Abraham Ancer is a rising star for whom success was neither predicted nor obvious. He has played professionally for five years, working his way from Odessa College and the University of Oklahoma, to the Web.Com tour, and now the PGA Tour.

Ancer’s first trip Down Under resulted in the first important victory of his career. After positioning well with matching 69s on Thursday and Friday, Ancer made nine birdies at The Lakes in Sydney on Saturday, signing for 65 and the overnight lead. His third 69 of the week was enough to secure a five-shot win over the home country’s Dimitrios Papadatos, and a boundless amount of confidence as the off-season beckons. With the victory, Ancer also qualified into the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Highlights from the final day at #AusOpenGolf ??@PGAofAustralia @TheLakesGC @Abraham_Ancer https://t.co/SNGTh6aqUG

— #AusOpenGolf (@AusOpenGolf) November 18, 2018