February brought a decrease in competitions with its arrival. The LPGA are off until the last weekend of the month, while the Tour Champions break until just after the Superb Owl. Even the DP World Tour will rest for a week, mid-month, before resuming a full slate of events. Ditto the Korn Ferry Tour. Light is the descriptor for the month of love, but that’s fine. With loads of golf on arrival from March to November, a break in month the second won’t be missed.

The US PGA Tour began its West Coast Swing at the first Signature event of the year. The No-Cut Crosby, as some call it, references the ancient name of the AT&T, while highighting the absence of a 36-hole dismissal for the lesser achievers. Everyone got a payday along the Monterey peninsula, and a 59 watch took place at storied Pebble Beach on Saturday. The DP World Tour continued its early-season stretch in the middle east, stopping in Bahrain for its eponymous championship. Finally, the Korn Ferry Tour moved west, from the Bahammas to the Americas, for a sojourn through central and south America. Just three events, but plenty of mileage in between. From California, to Panamá, to the island nation of Bahrain, it feels more like a Flydown than a Rundown. Let’s have a look at this week’s Tour Rundown, from three unique locales.

Another one!@Wyndham_Clark is having a special day @ATTProAm.

He’s now 9-under thru 10 ? pic.twitter.com/EKVegdmAKn

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2024

PGA Tour @ The AT&T: Clark claims third title in nine months

When a competitor wins a weather-shortened event, the golfverse ignites with suggestions of woulda, coulda, and other nonsense. When a competitor wins a weather-shortened event on the heels of a third-round, 12-under par 60 over Pebble Beach golf linkage, there might a bit of chatter, but not much. The old gal along Carmel Bay took three days worth of shots, and it was enough for her to wave a white kerchief and cry “enough.”

On Saturday, Clark played a round of golf unlike any other. Eagles at both par-fives on the outward half, were married to four birdies. Their love child was a score of eight-under par 28, and thus did the golfverse blaze with thoughts of 59. Two more birdies at 10 and 11 added kindling and coal and anything else flammable to the hecatomb, but a bogey at twelve drenched (foreshadowing) hopes for a time. The time lasted all of 15 minutes, as the Colordado native and current US Open champion posted another pair of birdies and reached eleven deep. Pars at 15, 16, and 17 could not have looked more like birdies, and the leader arrived at the 18th tee needing eagle for immortality.

He gave it (and us) everything he had. Drive to the edge of doom, long iron to 25-ish feet, and another effort that seemed destined for the hole’s depths, until fate cried “enough.” A score of 60 gave Clark a one-shot advantage over the other 2023 revelation, Ludvid Abert. With everyone salivating at the thought of a young-guns duel, Mother Nature landed. Winds and rains on Sunday saturated the course beyond consideration. She was just getting started, and Monday was abandoned before Sunday drew to a close.

Clark and the rest of the sojourner caravan move inland to Scottsdale, for the greatest show on turf at TPC Scottsdale. The one week a year when rowdy triumphs over formal is at hand, but few will forget the magic of Saturday along the Monterey Peninsula.

Wyndham Clark is dialed today. pic.twitter.com/LuRKZ1WxjT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2024

DP World Tour @ The Bahrain Championship: No fritter from Frittelli

Dylan Frittelli came out of the University of Texas as a heralded golfer bound for stardom. Winning on the tours has come his way, but not at the pace nor the level that pundits predicted. Frittelli has five wins in Europe (2 Challenge and 3 DP World), three in Africa (1 each on Asian, Big Easy, and Sunshine tours) and one in the USA (PGA Tour) on his ledger. The lanky South African took the lead this week in Bahrain, reaching 12-under par to hold a two-shot advantage over countryman Ockie Strydom through 54 holes. Strydom seeks the same, higher validation as Frittelli, ensuring that their pairing should have been a compelling one.

Through nine hole on day four, it was anything but. While Strydom stood two-under par on the 64th tee, the overnight leader could not find the formula that had brought success over three days. Frittelli had eight pars and a bogey to show, and things were getting worse. Zander Lombard and Jesper Svensson gained multiple shots on the lead pair, and when Frittelli went plus-two on the day at the 12th, the resolution appeared to have passed him by.

And that’s the beauty of golf. When you least expect it, the switch flips and the juice returns. Frittelli found birdies at consecutive, par-five holes, midway through the inward half. He gained one shot on Lombard, and two shots on both Svensson and Strydom. Frittelli added an unlikely, third birdie coming home, at the par-three 16th. A modest tee shot to 42 feet was followed by an absolute dagger to the heart of his pursuers. From the bottom of the putting surface, the Longhorn’s aim was true, and the advantage went to two shots.

The final tally saw Frittelli reach 13-under par, two ahead of Sweden’s Svensson and countryman Lombard. Strydom ended on plus-one for the day, in solo fourth position. The DP World Tour moves next door this week, onto the mainland of Qatar for the Qatar Masters.

.@Dylan_Frittelli goes two shots clear with two holes to play ?#BahrainGolfChamps pic.twitter.com/13ApDmaCzK

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 4, 2024

Korn Ferry Tour @ The Panamá Championship: Isaiah, Chapter One

Isaiah Salinda didn’t venture far from home to attend Stanford University. He is a Pacific Coast kid at heart. It should come as no surprise that his first important professional win came just north of the Pacific Ocean. That’s right, north. If you map the location of Club de Golf de Panamá, you find it on the arc of Panamá that curves north, then south. As a result, the Caribbean/Atlantic lies to the north, while the Pacific sits due south. Despite the shift from longitude to latitude, Salinda’s first big V came just a bit away from another Pacific coastline.

Salinda and countryman Will Bateman reached seven-under par by the end of round three, to share the top sport of The Panamá Championship. Their advantage was tenuous, with a handful of golfers within a few shots of the helm. The first ten holes on Sunday offered little indication of how things would resolve. Salinda scratched a stroke from par, while Bateman posted a decade of pars. Salinda drained an unlikely, 50-feet putt for birdie at the difficult eleventh, while his playing companion struggled to a triple-bogey seven. Salinda played the 12th hole to perfection (drive and approach to ten feet, followed by one putt for eagle) to turn a two-shot advantage into a seven-shot margin.

The Californian finished his week at 12-under par, good for an eight-shot win over Bateman (73) Keenan Huskey (64), and Trent Phillips (66). The KFT travels to the capital city of Colombia for this week’s Astara Golf Championship in Bogotá.

A big eagle on No. 12 ?@isaiah_salinda is 11-under with four holes left to play and currently holds a five-stroke lead @ClubGolfPanama. pic.twitter.com/ZQxIDcLQ86

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) February 4, 2024