We’re going to give you a preview of next week’s events, before running down the trio of tournaments from last week. In Naples, Florida, the LPGA Tour season will close at the CME Group Tour Championship. The European Tour will arrive in Dubai for its Race To Dubai finale. Along Georgia’s coastline, the PGA Tour will conclude official 2019 play at the RSM Classic. The weekend before the USA’s Thanksgiving holiday will bring an enviable conclusion to this calendar year’s top-shelf tournament golf.

Back to the present! Three events figured in this week’s touring schedule. The PGA Tour was hosted by Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, at Mayakoba. The European Tour’s penultimate event took place at Gary Player’s joint in South Africa. Finally, the Silver City of Argentina, Buenos Aires, hosted the 2nd-last tournament of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica schedule. Without further delay, have a tasty read of our Tour Rundown for Monday, November 18th.

Tri-Eagle Fleet fleeces Kinault for Nebank Championship

Tommy Fleetwood has 5 European Tour wins. Given his Ryder Cup record, we’re always surprised it isn’t a larger total of triumphs. In South Africa this weekend, Fleetwood saved his best for last, a Sunday 65 that took him from 12th place to a tie for 1st at round’s end. Joining him at that number was Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult, 1 of 3 players to post 4 rounds below par (none of them won, sadly.) Fleetwood absolutely decimated the par five holes at GPGC in round 4: 3 eagles and 1 birdie allowed him to figure in 3 bogies (plus 3 more birdies) in his 65. On Kinhault’s part, 68 should have been good enough to claim a  2nd Euro Tour win for 2019, but along came Fleetwood. On playoff hole 1, the Englishman made par to the Swede’s bogey, and matters were resolved. On to Dubai, and the Tour Championship.

For those who love suffering, the Gary Player Golf Club is their cup of tea. The final threesome, consisting of Zander Lombard, Louis Oosthuizen, and Thomas Detry, played its final round in a combined 12 strokes above par. The kikuyu rough usually doesn’t swallow orbs, but it does redirect club heads in an exasperating manner. Same goes for chipping around the green (reference Graeme McDowell’s putter-toe chip on Saturday.) The closing stretch enjoys a dalliance with water, compelling errant shots to lay up in regulation. Purists eschew such disastrous hazards, but there is no denying their ability to change the course of a round in an instant.

Mayakoba held up a day by darkness

Brend0n Todd just became Steve Stricker’s 1st Ryder Cup nightmare. With his 2nd consecutive win on the PGA Tour, Todd jumped to the front of the Ryder Cup list for 2020. His resurrection is the talk of the fall, but will it sustain through September of 2020? Between us, I love this type of story! The Mayakoba event finished Monday morning, thanks to delays and darkness. Todd went to sleep in a tie with Vaughn Taylor, at -20. When things resumed, the Bermuda champion was able to finish with pars for a 264 on the week. Unfortunately for Taylor, no birdies and one crushing bogey came his way. Taylor fell into a tie for 2nd with Carlos Ortiz, the home-country favorite, and Adam Long. Both Long and Ortiz finished cleanly, but each lacked that one birdie extra to catch Todd. Cone to think of it, perhaps Stricker looks forward to having Todd on his team. Like Todd, Stricker traveled the comeback trail on multiple occasions, and played his best golf after dealing with swing demons. Here’s to Wisconsin in 2020, and the appearance of Brendon Todd in RWB and stars and stripes.

Open de Argentina to Celia in playoff

After rounds of 69-67-63, not much good was happening for Augusto Nunez on Sunday. He was even par through 10, still in the lead, when the wheels fell off. The coming 5 holes brought 2 bogies and 2 doubles, and the Argentine hope was dashed, as he tumbled to -6 and a 7th-place tie. With the door wide open, Colombia’s Ricardo Celia and the USA’s Brandon Mathews took full advantage. They clawed their way to -11, one shot clear of Jarod Wolfe, and away they went to a playoff. After two turns across the 18th, the duo dropped to the par-3 17th. Celia ended it there, with a delightful birdie for the win. The title moved the Colombian from 55th to 13th in the Order of Merit standings, giving him an outside shot at a Korn Ferry Tour promotion. More than likely, a 2nd consecutive victory at the tour championship next month will be needed. Surprising, too, was the final-nine collapse by Nunez. More was expected from the OOM leader, but the stumble confirmed that even the finest professional golfers are human.