A mighty new event on the LPGA circuit, combining team and match play, debuted in San Francisco. For those mourning the end of the PGA Tour’s match-play tournament, take heart. This one combined singles and partner play and kept dozens of golfers active through the end of play on Saturday. The top four teams (16 golfers in total) advanced to play on Sunday. We’ll tell you more about it, further along. The PGA Tour gathered in Charlotte, while the DP World Tour got down to business in Italy’s capital, Rome. The Tour Champions settled matters in suburban Atlanta, while PGA Tour Latinoamérica had a go at the center of the Earth. Should be a Tour Flydown, with all the distance between venues, but we’ll continue to call it Tour Rundown, and catch you up on what went down.

LPGA @ Hanwha International Crown: Thailand races to convincing win

The LPGA is certainly onto something here. Eight four-person teams representing their countries met over four days of competition. Three days of round-robin play sent four teams through to the Sunday morning semifinals. Lower seeds Australia (7) and Thailand (6) dispatched their heralded rivals Sweden (4) and USA (1) and met in the finals. In the end, it was more of the same.

On Thursday, Thailand lost zero matches in partner play. On Friday, the partnerships remained steady, and Thailand won them all again. On Saturday, for a third consecutive day, Thailand’s pairings of Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya Thitikul, alongside the Jutanugarn sisters swept the table. At this juncture, the golf world took serious notice.

Sunday morning welcomed a change in matches (two singles and one doubles) format. Thitikul dispatched the USA’s Lexi Thompson, while Tavatanakit lost a spirited battle with Lilia Vu. The match hinged on the sisters once more, and Ariya and Moriya came through with a one-up win over Nelly Korda and Danielle Kang. On the other side of the bracket, Australia seized the leader’s role with three wins before the 17th tee.

Sunday afternoon watched a battle of titans. The tables were turned as Thailand romped to a three-zero victory, with none of its wins reaching the penultimate tee. TPC Harding Park proved to be an ideal setting for team match play, and Thailand’s foursome will long remember its win in the inaugural playing of the International Crown.

Bang! ?

Ariya Jutanugarn chips in to win the final match for Thailand! ??@Intl_Crown | @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/uSieiSM5fj

— LPGA (@LPGA) May 8, 2023

PGA Tour @ Wells Fargo Championship: Clark “wyns” initial tour title

I’ll put this out there: if Matt Fitzpatrick wins next week, I will debut my #WrongRon (love to Ron Balicki) service. I picked Wyndham Clark to win last week but was a wee bit early with my prescience. This week, I had Fitzy, so … you know the rest.

Wyndham Clark and Christian McCaffrey graduated the same year from Valor Christian in Denver. Both went on to play D1 sports and, while McCaffrey caught the NFL spotlight early, Clark took a bit longer to ascend to PGA Tour royalty. Now, he’s here. Clark opened with rounds of 67-67, then jumped to the top of the board with 63 on Saturday. That number included eight birdies and zero bogies. On the week, Clark amassed four bogies, including one on his opening hole on Sunday.

Fortunately for the Colorado native, no one made a move on day four. No one, that is, until Clark on the inward half. Five birdies from holes eight through fifteen staked him to a clear advantage over pursuer Xander Schauffele. When X posted a bogey at 17, the podium was Clark’s.

Dialed in ?@Wyndham_Clark leads by four with four to play @WellsFargoGolf. pic.twitter.com/NQZQbs2mBf

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 7, 2023

DP World Tour @ DSA Italian Open: Meronk signals readiness with Rome conquest

They don’t come much taller than Adrian Meronk. The guaranteed selection for Europe’s Ryder Cup team in Italy claimed a third DP World Tour title, over the host course for the September biennial event. Meronk began the day one back of France’s Julien Guerrier. Guerrier came unglued with bogey at his opening two holes and, while he made a pair of offsetting birdies, two more bogies cascaded him to 73 and third place on his own.

Romain Langasque made a valiant attempt to secure the title for France, but three bogies midway through the back nine lowered his ship to 12 under par, two clear of Guerrier. Meronk also had his struggles on the inward side, but balanced birdies, bogeys and pars at three each, and capped his effort with a birdie at the last, to ease past Langasque to victory. When we meet Marco Simone golf club again, the stakes will be different. For Meronk, he’d love to be a difference-maker once again.

Nerves of steel.@AdrianMeronk secures his second win of the season ?

#DS80OpendItalia pic.twitter.com/kqz8rnThn1

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 7, 2023

PGA Tour Champions @ ME Classic: Ames claims second in Atlanta

In 2017, Stephen Ames won his first veteran’s circuit event at the Mitstubishi. He held off one of the senior rodeo’s all-time greatest by four shots. That gentleman was Bernhard Langer. In 2023, Ames sealed another four-shot win, over another all-timer in Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Not a bad pair of wins to remember, when the playing days are eventually over.

Over the entirety of the weekend, the winner was able to stay a shot or two ahead of his competition. When they went low, he went lower. Rounds of 65 and 64 kept Ames in the lead through Sunday. On day three, his card was clean, if a little higher. Three birdies over the final round were enough to maintain a comfortable distance. Ken Tanigawa was three back of Ames, heading into the final day. He was unable to mount a charge and fell to solo third position. While there was a 66 farther back in the field, only Jiménez was able to match Ames’ 68, and he eased past Tanigawa into second spot.

With his son as caddie, Ames capped the week in style, with the put that you may see below. The victory was Ames’ fourth on PGA Tour Champions, and moved him from 8th to 4th in the season-long, Schwab Cup challenge.

Finishing like a champion ?@StephenAmesPGA makes a long putt for par to seal the win @MEClassicGolf. pic.twitter.com/QJISC8yp6B

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 7, 2023

PGA Tour Latinoamérica @ KIA Classic: Hakula charges to comeback win

If you read the social headlines on Saturday, misplaced headlines like seizes control and takes charge were applied to the leader, Garret Reband. The American had played stellar golf over three days, but no competitor was prepared to hand him the winner’s check. When Reband struggled early on Sunday, then signed for a 75, the clubhouse gate was wide open.

First came Rafael Becker, who posted nine birdies and an eagle in his 63. Unbelievably, Becker also had a double and single bogey on his card. He reached 14 under par and tied Brent Ito for third position. Next was Julián Etulain, who offered a clean card of five birdies and another eagle. His efforts brought him to 15-under par. Were they enough? No. Toni Hakula, a UTexas alumnus, found a way to ease past Etulain for a one-shot win. Despite a bogey at the par-five 17th hole, Hakula found his way to par at the last for his second career win on PGA Tour LA.

Gustavo Silva finished in a tie for 29th, but will always remember the swing that gave him an ace and a first-round 65.

#TiroDelDia #ShotOfTheDay ??

Hoyo en Uno de Gustavo Silva ?? en el par-3 del hoyo 13 del @qtgc. #KiaOpen23 #KiaOpen ?? pic.twitter.com/2nDrXwMjMq

— PGATOURLA (@PGATOURLA) May 5, 2023