Riding one of the finest tee-to-green performances in the history of competitive golf, Henrik Stenson continued his now-four-month run as the game’s hottest player by sweeping to a six-shot runaway victory at the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, in Dubai.  Playing over the 7,675-yard Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, Stenson accomplished a feat likely unique in the annals of professional golf, hitting 17 of 18 greens on each of the event’s four days, and thus leading the field with a surrealistic GIR of 94.4%.  And while the rare skeptic may note the enormous nature of many of the Earth Course’s putting surfaces, it must be equally noted that Stenson wasn’t just hitting large targets; he was mostly taking dead aim, especially on Sunday when he posted a key birdie by stiffing a 5 iron at the 476-yard 12th, and nearly put the ultimate exclamation point on things at the par-5 18th, where his fairway metal second came within inches of going into the cup for an albatross.  In the end, it all added up to a closing 64, a 25-under-par 263 aggregate and one of the more dominant big-event performances in recent memory.  The victory also allowed Stenson to manage what history will likely rate a very rare feat, for it clinched an overall victory in the E Tour’s lucrative four-event Final Series little more than a month after the 37-year-old Swede won the PGA Tour’s $10 million FedEx Cup playoffs, demonstrating his dominance on both sides of the Atlantic.  While Stenson’s final afternoon proved a pleasant walk in the park, he actually was challenged over the first three days as his 54-hole total of 199 was only good enough for a one-stroke lead over another hot European, 23-year-old Victor Dubuisson.  But as Stenson methodically ticked off four outgoing birdies to turn in 32, the talented Frenchman could only just keep pace with an opening 34 before making three back nine bogeys en route to a Sunday 71 and third place.  That left second to be claimed by England’s Ian Poulter, whose weekend rounds of 66-66 might well have challenged in most other events, but relegated him to little more than a big runner-up paycheck (in both this event and the Final Series bonus pool) on this memorable occasion………………Though it officially counted as a part of the new, wraparound 2014 schedule, 24-year-old Harris English claimed his second PGA Tour victory of calendar 2013 at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, riding a final  round 65 to a four-short victory over Brian Stuard in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.  In an event plagued by enough rain to cause both Friday and Saturday’s rounds to be finished the following mornings (and lift, clean and place rules to be in effect), English opened with a 68 before pressing into contention with a weather-interrupted, bogey-free second round 62.  A third round 68 then left him one behind 54-hole leader Robert Karlsson, and an early bogey at the par-4 2nd got his final round off to a disappointing start.  But having gained valuable experience from winning the FedEx St. Jude Classic back in June, English was able to retain his focus and quickly mount a charge, birdieing four of his next six to joing the heart of the battle, then opening a multi-shot lead with additional birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th.  Despite battling his driver much of the day, Karlsson still remained in contention at this point (largely due an earlier eagle at the par-5 5th) but soon wilted under the sort of back nine pressure that a swing-related slump had recently kept him isolated from.  Indeed, a bogey, bogey, double-bogey run at holes 12-14 ultimately dropped him to a tie for sixth, leaving third-year player Stuard to claim solo second via a closing 65………………Thirty-five-year-old Hideto Tanihara struggled somewhat in the late going but eventually hung on to card a final-round 73, good enough to record his 10th career Japan Tour victory at the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters.  Tanihara actually celebrated his 35th birthday on Saturday and he presumably had an enjoyable evening, for at that juncture he had just ridden five outgoing birdies to a third-round 67, and held a two-shot lead over up-and-coming 20-year-old star Masahiro Kawamura.  But Tanihara never really got going on Sunday, carding a single early birdie to turn in 35 before ill-timed bogeys at the 378-yard 15th and the 462-yard 16th brought him home in 37, for a disappointing 73.  Unfortunately, Kawamura fared little better on Sunday, posting his own bogeys at the 16th and the par-3 17th just when two pars would have boosted his chances nicely.  In the end, he would birdie the 517-yard 18th when an eagle was needed, and thus was relegated to a tie for second with 22-year-old Ryo Ishikawa (who also birdied the closer – after being derailed by bogeys at the 14th and 17th) and 36-year-old veteran Tomohiro Kondo who, after bogeying the 15th, rallied with birdies at the 17th and 18th to pull within one…………………Chinese veteran Wen-Chong Liang claimed his third career Asian Tour title at the inaugural Resorts World Manila Masters – and then promptly donated half of his US$135,000 winner’s check to relief for victims Typhoon Haiyan, which recently had killed thousands elsewhere in the Philippines.  The 35-year-old Liang was bothered by an old hand injury early in the week but still posted rounds of 67-69-67 to take a one-shot 54-hole lead over American David Lipsky and Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, then fell out of that lead on Sunday by offsetting a pair of early birdies with a bogey at the 5th and a double-bogey at the par-4 9th.  Playing a back nine upon which he had recorded nary a single bogey all week, Liang then managed to crawl back into the mix with birdies at the 11th, 13th and 15th, yet still found himself trailing Thailand’s Prom Meesawat – who closed with a bogey-free 65 – going to the last.  A clutch birdie at the par-5 18th drew him even, however, and Liang would go on to win on the first hole of sudden death when Meesawat’s second drew a nasty lie in a fairway bunker………………Returning to his homeland for the height of its professional golfing season, 2013 Masters champion and world #2 Adam Scott figured to be the favorite in each event in which he participated – and after he successfully defended his title at the Australian Masters, the very real possibility began to loom that he might, in fact, win them all.  Scott arrived at Royal Melbourne fresh off a victory at the Australian PGA Championship and wasted little time in taking command by posting rounds of 67-66-66 to grab a four-stroke 54-hole lead.  But perhaps surisingly, he struggled a bit on Sunday, turning in even par 35 and birdieing the par-4 11th, but then stumbling badly with a double-bogey at the the par-3 14th to fall one behind hard-charging American Matt Kuchar.  Kuchar promptly bogeyed the 16th, however, and when Scott birdied the par-5 15th at nearly the same time, he’d once again drawn even.  And so the pair remained until the par-4 18th where the normally steady Kuchar took two shots to extricate himself from sand en route to a double-bogey, allowing Scott to clinch a two-stroke win a few minutes later.

PGA Tour - OHL Classic at Mayakoba  -  Harris English  (263)
European Tour -  DP World Tour Championship  -  Henrik Stenson  (263)
Japan Tour - Mitsumi Sumitomo Taiheiyo Masters  -  Hideto Tanihara  (275)
Asian Tour - Resorts World Manila Masters  -  Wen-Chong Liang  (272)
Australasian Tour - Talisker Masters  -  Adam Scott  (270)
LPGA Tour - Lorena Ochoa Invitational  - Lexi Thompson  (272)
JLPGA Tour - Itoen Ladies  -  Sakura Yokomine  (206)
Euro Senior Tour - Fubon Senior Open  -  Paul Wesselingh  (207)

Former University of Georgia star and Sea Island resident Chris Kirk won for the second time on the PGA Tour, holding his game together over an exciting back nine to edge a charging Tim Clark and a fading Briny Baird by one at the McGladrey Classic.  In truth, the finish was more about Baird’s late-round struggles, which began at the par-5 15th where, having birdied the 13th and 14th, he stood poised to take complete command as he faced a 40-footer for eagle.  Instead, Baird three-putted for par, Kirk rolled in a 20-footer for a scrambling par of his own, and what seemed destined to become a two- or three-stroke lead remained only one.  Kirk would eventually tie with a clutch birdie at the par-3 17th, leaving the outcome to be determined at the 470-yard finisher, where Baird promptly topped his second out of a fairway bunker en route to a bogey, allowing Kirk to clinch the title with a routine par.  Waiting on the range for a possible playoff was Clark, who’d began Sunday’s round five strokes off the lead before uncorking a nine-birdie round of 62 that was marred only by a bogey at the par-4 14th………………In the penultimate stop in the European Tour’s four-event Final Series, touted 23-year-old French prospect Victor Dubuisson broke through for his first career E Tour win, dominating the field for three days before hanging on late to claim victory at the Turkish Airlines Open.  The 2010 European Amateur champion, Dubuisson opened with rounds of 67-65 before a flawless nine-under-par 63 on Saturday gave him a five-shot lead over Ian Poulter, with a quartet that included world number one Tiger Woods, the world’s hottest player Henrik Stenson, Raphael Jacquelin and Alejandro Canizares sitting six back.  Having never stood in anything resembling such a position, Dubuisson might have been forgiven for playing somewhat tentative golf on Sunday, and while his opening run of nine straight pars hardly represented a collapse, it did leave the door marginally ajar for any number of players who were charging under sunny, windless conditions.  Indeed, after Dubuisson offset a birdie and the 10th with a bogey at the 14th, Woods and reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose were well within striking distance.  The biggest Sunday charge, however, came from Wales’ Jamie Donaldson, who stood six under on the afternoon before acing the 180-yard 16th to move within one, then reaching the 558-yard 18th with a chance to take the lead alone.  But Donaldson could only two-putt for birdie and moments later, Dubuission holed a 25-footer for a birdie at the 17th to reclaim the lead, then birdied the last to win in style………………Twenty-eight-year-old Ashun Wu of China struggled during the final round of the inaugural Heiwa PGM Championship, but on a day when no one among the top 10 finishers could break 70, he was able to hold on – barely – for his second career Japan Tour victory.  After opening with rounds of 67-66-65, Wu took a took a seemingly commanding four-shot lead into the final round, and under the tougher Sunday conditions, his even-par front nine did little to dim his prospects.  But three bogies (partially offset by a birdie) over holes 11-14 quickly brought the field back into play, and Wu really opened the door for South Korea’s Hyung-Sung Kim with disastrously timed double bogey at the 426-yard 17th.  But standing on the edge of a meltdown, Wu righted the ship enough to par the short par-5 18th, allowing Kim’s closing birdie only to pull him within one………………Mohammad Siddikur, Bangladesh’s sole true representative on the world golfing stage, won for the second time on the Asian Tour, barely surviving a rocky Sunday afternoon to edge homestanding Anirban Lahiri and S.S.P. Chowrasia by one at the 50th playing of the Hero Indian Open.  Siddikur began with blazing rounds of 66-66-67 to open an imposing four-shot 54-hole lead at the Delhi Golf Club, then seemed on his way after carding early Sunday birdies at the 2nd and 5th – but then things became tumultuous.  A run of four bogeys from holes 6-11 gravely threatened his lead before birdies at the 13th and 14th seemingly re-secured it.  A disastrous triple-bogey 7 at the par-4 15th, followed by a bogey at the 16th might well have broken his spirit but, still tied for the lead, he instead proceded to hole a clutch 14-footer for birdie at the 17th to pull back in front.  Lahiri, for his part, could never quite get over the bar, parring the final seven holes when but a single birdie had been required.  Chowrasia’s defeat, meanwhile, was even more heartbreaking as he missed a five-foot birdie putt at the last that would have forced sudden death………………Jacques Blaauw began the 2013 Sunshine Tour season as just another name in the South African pack, but after claiming his third victory of the year at the Nedbank Affinity Cup, he was clearly becoming a force to be reckoned with.  Blaauw opened the mid-week Sun City event with a 64 before ceding a bit of ground with a second-round 69.  He then edged closer with an outgoing 35 on Thursday before a birdie at the 432-yard 14th pulled him within one of Ulrich van den Burg, whose closing 67 had made him leader in the clubhouse at 14 under par.  A deft pitch to two feet at the 462-yard 16th allowed Blaauw to draw even, and by the time he reached the 18th tee, England’s Steve Surry had also completed play at 14 under.  That meant that Blaauw needed a birdie at the reachable 530-yard closer to avoid a playoff, and his chances seemed reasonable after he found a greenside bunker in two.  But now dangerous weather had entered the area and play was suspended, forcing Blaauw to wait nealy an hour before returning to the course and promptly getting up and down to claim victory………………With few of the country’s biggest stars coming home to play in the Australian PGA Championship, the event’s two biggest entries – by miles – were reigning Masters champion Adam Scott and visiting American Rickie Fowler – and in the end, it would be their names which would sit atop the leaderboard.  On Sunday afternoon it would indeed come down to a two-man battle, and while Scott had seemed in command since Friday, Fowler’s outgoing final-round 32 brought him within one through 11 holes.  A weather delay then popped up as the pair stood on the fairway of the par-5 12th and when play resumed, Scott promptly stuffed a 266-yard 4 iron to within a foot, with the ensuing tap-in for eagle extending his lead to two.  Both Scott and Fowler added two birdies over the closing six but Fowler’s were offset by a pair of bogeys, which resulted in Scott’s cruising home to a four-shot margin of victory.

PGA Tour - McGladrey Classic  -  Chris Kirk  (266)
European Tour - Turkish Airlines Open  -  Victor Dubuisson  (264)
Japan Tour -  Heiwa PGM Championship  -  Ashun Wu  (273)
Asian Tour -  Hero Indian Open  -  Siddikur Rahman  (274)
Sunshine Tour -  Nedbank Affinity Cup  -  Jacques Blaauw  (201)
OneAsia Tour -  See Australasia (Below)
Australasian Tour - Australian PGA Championship  -  Adam Scott  (270)
LatinoAmerica -  Lexus Peru Open  -  Julian Etulain  (275)
LPGA Tour -  Mizuno Classic  - Theresa Lu  (202)
JLPGA Tour -  See LPGA (Above)

Twenty-nine-year-old Dustin Johnson didn't wait long to extend his impressive streak of claiming at least one PGA Tour victory in every season since joining the Tour directly out of college.  Having previously logged a total of seven victories since 2008, he grabbed his first 2014 triumph while the calendar still read 2013, riding some inspired golf - and a well-timed eagle at the 70th hole - to a three-shot triumph at the newest of the World Golf Championship events, the WGC-HSBC Champions in China.  After opening with a 69, Johnson siezed the halfway lead on the back of a Friday 63, then appeared on the verge of running away on Saturday before double-bogies at both the 10th and the par-5 18th clipped a potential seven-shot lead down to three.  An opening bogey on Sunday added another brief flash of doubt, and on a day where benign conditions allowed a number of world-class players to make a run, Johnson actually trailed Ian Poulter by one through 12.  Back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th put him back on top, however, setting up the coup de grâce: a chip-in eagle at the short par-4 16th, where a smart 3 iron off the tee had left him little more than 30 yards from the pin.  Poulter, meanwhile, played nearly flawless golf during a seven-birdie round of 66, save for an untimely bogey at the par-4 15th.  Nonetheless, the defending champion managed to hold solo second, one shot ahead of Graeme McDowell (whose own 66 might have been better had his putter not cooled down the stretch) and two up on Sergio Garcia, who closed with a Sunday-low round of 63………………Yuta Ikeda began his Japan Golf Tour career with a flourish, winning four times in both 2010 and ’11, and marking himself as one of the nation’s elite young stars.  But the 25-year-old fell noticeably from that perch during single-win 2011 and ’12 campaigns, and in 2013 had finished no better than a T5 at the Kansai Open - that is, until he broke through for a playoff victory over South Korean S.K. Ho to capture the Mynavi ABC Championship.  Ikeda – as well as 24-year-old Yoshinori Fujimoto – trailed the veteran Ho by one after 54 holes and, behind the combination of an early Ho stumble and four birdies of his own, opened up a four-shot lead through 11 holes on Sunday.  Ikeda would add birdies at the 13th and 15th, yet saw his lead shrink to two as Ho recorded four straight birdies at holes 12-15 – and then saw it dissolve altogether upon his bogeying both the 17th and the par-5 18th.  But having thus given away sure victory, Ikeda rallied immediately on the first playoff hole (the 525-yard 18th) by getting home in two and recording a two-putt birdie to nail down the victory………………Thirty-nine-year-old Tjaart van der Walt, a veteran of worldwide play, finally broke through for his first major tour victory at the Cape Town Open, closing with a one-under-par 71 to walk away by six shots.  Van der Walt began the final round with a two-stroke lead over 36-hole leader Hennie Otto, and Otto pulled briefly within one after birdieing the 3rd before collapsing with three bogeys over his next four holes.  At the same time, van der Walt carded birdies of his own at the 6th and the 9th to open a comfortable lead, then played the back nine in even par to enjoy a relatively stress-free finish.  Second place was taken by Michael Hollick, who closed with the day’s low round of 68 to finish on 280, while Otto hung on for third despite his closing 76.

WGC - WGC-HSBC Champions  -  Dustin Johnson  (264)
Japan Tour - Mynavi ABC Championship  -  Yuta Ikeda  (269)
Sunshine Tour - Lion of Africa Cape Town Open  -  Tjaart Van der Walt  (274)
LatinoAmerica - Arturo Calle Colombian Classic  -  Jose D. Rodriguez  (270)
LET - China Suzhou Taihu Open  -  Gwladys Nocera  (201)
JLPGA Tour - Hisako Higuchi Ladies  -   Bo-Mee Lee  (201)
Champions Tour - Charles Schwab Cup Championship  -  Fred Couples  (287)
E Challenge Tour - Dubai Festival City Challenge  -  Shiv Kapur  (272)

Thirty-one-year-old Ryan Moore had to work overtime to claim his third career PGA Tour victory, but in the end he emerged victorious in Malaysia’s CIMB Classic on the first hole of a Monday morning playoff with fellow American Gary Woodland.  An official part of the Tour schedule for the first time, the event drew a limited field of 77 players from the PGA and Asian circuits, and initially saw Keegan Bradley jump out to a commanding four-shot lead at the halfway point behind rounds of 65-65.  But after turning in 35 on Saturday, Bradley stumbled badly on the back nine, carding three bogeys and a double bogey en route to a 41 and, eventually, 10th place.  That left the door open for Moore and Chris Stroud to share the 54-hole lead on 12-under-par 204 as the field embarked on a long Sunday of golf that was twice interrupted by rain delays totaling over three and a half hours in length.  Early on, the spotlight belonged to 24-year-old Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the Asian Tour’s runaway Order of Merit leader, who made four quick birdies in a bid to become the first native of Thailand to win an official PGA Tour event.  A bogey at the par-5 10th derailed Aphibarnrat’s run, however, and he would ultimately share third place with Stroud, who narrowly missed holing as birdie chip at the 634-yard 18th to get to the magic number of 14 under par.  Moore managed a clutch up-and-down at the same green to remain at 14 under, leaving Woodland to narrowly miss a 10-foot birdie putt that would have won the title in regulation.  But with floodlights already in use as the players finished, officials ruled that the playoff would wait until Monday morning, when Moore promptly birdied the 18th to claim victory......................Despite one of the more up-and-down finishes of the 2013 season, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano claimed his seventh career European Tour title at the BMW Masters, barely holding off Italy's Francesco Molinari and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee by one.  Played over the heavily bunkered Jack Nicklaus-designed Lake Malaren Golf Club, the event was the first in the E Tour's inaugural four-tournament Final Series - though it included a number of players (mostly Chinese) who had nothing whatsoever to do with the Series' "Road To Dubai" bonus pool.  One such entry was American Luke Guthrie, who opened with a fine 67 (good enough for a three stroke lead in windy conditions), then maintained at least a piece of both the 36- and 54-hole leads with subsequent rounds of 71-72.   But on a calm and sunny Sunday, Guthrie bogeyed the first hole and could never really mount a charge thereafter, ultimately posting a 71 and tying for fourth.  This left the door ajar for a variety of more experienced E Tour stars and for a while it looked as though Molinari might steal the day, his superb final-round 64 highlighted by an incoming 30 that included an eagle at the 544-yard 13th, then five consecutive birdies immediately thereafter.  Jaidee would soon match his 278 aggregate, however, posting four back nine birdies of his own en route to a closing 66.  But in the final hour it would be Fernandez-Castano who took the limelight, particularly after a birdie at the 15th moved him two strokes in front, and a seemingly superfluous chip-in birdie at the par-3 17th extended the margin to three.  But the 33-year-old Spaniard injected a bit of life into the proceedings by finding two bunkers at the 471-yard 18th, ultimately two-putting from six feet to hang on and claim the title by a single stroke..................Forty-two-year-old Daisuke Maruyama ended a four-year Japan Tour victory drought in his native prefecture of Chiba by defeating South Korea's I.J. Jang by three strokes to claim the rain-shortened 42nd edition of the Bridgestone Open.  Following opening rounds of 68-67 at the Sodegaura Country Club, Maruyama stood tied for the lead with defending champion Toru Taniguchi and Eun-Shin Park before heavy rains washed away Saturday's golf, shortening the event to 54 holes (and reducing the purse by 25%).  On Sunday, the 23-year-old Park fell quickly from the chase by bogeying five of his first nine holes (he would ultimately tie for 16th) while 19-time Japan Tour winner Taniguchi held his ground for 14 holes before a bogey at the 15th and a double-bogey at the 16th threw him back to a tie for seventh.  Maruyama, meanwhile, began his round with a bogey to fall one behind and actually played up-and-down golf all day, carding seven birdies and four bogeys en route to his closing 68. 

PGA Tour - CIMB Classic  -  Ryan Moore  (274)
European Tour - BMW Masters  -  Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano  (277)
Japan Tour - Bridgestone Open  -  Daisuke Maruyama  (203)
Asian Tour - See PGA Tour (Above)  
LPGA Tour - Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship  -  Suzann Pettersen  (279)
LET - Sanya Ladies Open  -  Lee-Anne Pace  (203)
JLPGA Tour - Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies  -  Sakura Yokomine  (204)
Champions Tour - AT&T Championship  -  Kenny Perry  (203)
E Challenge Tour - National Bank of Oman Classic  -  Roope Kakko  (274)

It had been nearly 16 months since Webb Simpson’s breakthrough triumph at the 2012 U.S. Open, but during a week in Las Vegas in which the scores were exceptionally low, Simpson posted by far the lowest, returning to the winners circle at the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open.  He began with a Thursday 64 over the friendly TPC Summerlin layout but surprisingly sat well off the lead – that because J.J. Henry managed to card an 11-under-par 60, while Argentina’s Andres Romero nearly matched him with a 61.  Neither would factor into the action late, however, and in Romero’s case, the decline was spectacular: he carded a second-round 81, with the 20-stroke differential being both mind-boggling and enough to make him miss the cut.  Simpson, on the other hand, fired a Friday 63 to move out in front, then added a Saturday 67 to build his lead to four going into the final round.  On a golf course obviously prone to yielding low numbers, a round anywhere near par would surely have left him ripe to be overtaken, but Simpson instead gained momentum early with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes, then added one more at the 9th to go out in 32 and blow things wide open.  A three-birdie, one-bogey inward half made things largely a formality, leaving Simpson to coast home with a 66 and a six-shot victory………………Twenty-three-year-old Jin Jeong, a South Korean native currently playing out of Melbourne, claimed the first victory of his professional career at the ISPS Handa Perth International, defeating England’s Ross Fisher on the first hole of a playoff.  Jeong began the final round at the venerable Lake Karrinyup Country Club one behind less-touted Australian Brody Ninyette, then dug himself into a hole by four-putting the 322-yard 1st hole for an opening double bogey.  But the former British Amateur champion quickly got himself back on track with birdies at the 4th and 5th to turn in even par 36, then posted a flawless three-under-par 33 coming home to post a 10-under-par 278 total.  Fisher, meanwhile, had begun Sunday three strokes behind Ninyette before going out in 35, then charging home with an inward 33 of his own to draw even.  The playoff was contested over the tough 444-yard 18th, and while Jeong was making a routine par, Fisher saw his approach run off the back of the green into a tricky spot, setting up an awkward chip to 13 feet and, two putts later, a decisive bogey………………Thirty-seven-year-old Masanori Kobayashi labored for nearly a decade on the Japan Golf Tour before claiming his first victory in 2011 but he has since made an annual habit of it, first adding the 2012 Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open, then stepping up in class to claim the 2013 Japan Open.  Kobayashi played steady golf over the first few days, carding three consecutive rounds of 69 on the Ibaraki Golf Club’s East Course to stand second, three shots behind Koumei Oda, after 54 holes.  The final round was delayed until Monday by torrential rains, but two of those strokes disappeared immediately when play resumed as Oda bogeyed the 1st hole and Kobayashi promptly birdied the par-3 2nd.  Eventually a Kobayashi birdie at the 8th brought the two men level, and another birdie at the 10th moved Kobayashi in front for the first time.  That one-stroke margin remained when both players birdied the par-5 15th, and then expanded via an Oda bogey at the 17th and, ultimately, a final Kobayashi birdie at the last..................Life may truly have begun at 40 for Australian Scott Hend, who won for the third time on the 2013 Asian Tour at the Venetian Macau Open, edging India’s hard-charging Anirban Lahiri by three.  The week began inauspiciously for Hend, whose opening 74 left him in a tie for 74th place, six shots off the lead.  But from then on he played exceptional golf, getting back into the fray via a Friday 64 that included eagles on both back nine par 5s, then adding a seven-birdie, one-eagle 63 on Saturday to vault into a four-shot 54-hole lead.  His primary pursuer going into the final round was Hall-of-Famer Ernie Els, who duly made three early birdies to pull within two.  But a bogey at the 9th dampened Els’ momentum, and in the end it would be the 26-year-old Lahiri, who began the final round eight shots in arrears, that would mount the final charge.    This he managed by opening birdie-eagle en route to a course record-setting 62, but with Hend never wilting during his closing 67, the margin simply proved too great for Lahiri to overcome………………Thirty-eight-year-old Ulrich van den Berg claimed his first Sunshine Tour victory in three years at the weather-delayed BMG Classic, running away from the field by five strokes at the venerable Glendower Golf Club in Johannesburg.  Heavy rains on Saturday prevented the completion of the second round until Sunday morning, at the conclusion of which 12-time Sunshine Tour winner Hennie Otto led van den Berg by one.  The rain continued unabated for most of the finale and as Otto eagled the 522-yard 8th to go out in 34, van den Berg soon shot past him with a run of four consecutive birdies at holes 6-9.  He then cemented his position by posting three more birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th, making late a bogey at the 222-yard 17th largely irrelevant.  Otto, who double-bogeyed the 10th and later added bogeys at both the 12t h and 17th, would eventually stumble home in 73, good enough to share second with Titch Moore, who carded a closing 70………………In one of the stranger and most controversial tournament endings in recent memory, South Korea’s Sung-Hoon Kang won the Kolon Korean Open by a single shot after apparent winner Hyung-Tae Kim was assessed a two-stroke penalty just as he stood on the verge of victory.  Kim and playing partner Soon-Sang Hoon were notified on the 17th tee – where he held a two-stroke lead - that they would be penalized for having allegedly grounded their clubs in a hazard at the 13th hole.  What followed was a bizarre sequence of events which saw Kim finish bogey-par to potentially win, then return to the 13th hole where a two-hour argument ensued before he accepted the penalty (which was only imposed after a 5-3 vote of the Korean Golf Association rules committee) under threat of disqualification.  This left Kang, the winner a week earlier of the Asian Tour’s CJ Invitational, as a reluctant champion, having avoided what would have been a six-man playoff by birdieing the 561-yard par-5 18th.  Lost in all of the chaos was the performance of world number two Rory McIlroy who, trying to play his way out of a season-long slump, charged home in 67 to finish in the five-man logjam that tied for second.

PGA Tour - Shriners Hospitals For Children Open  -  Webb Simpson  (260)
European Tour - ISPS Handa Perth International  -  Jin Jeong  (278)
Japan Tour - Japan Open  -  Masanori Kobayashi  (274)
Asian Tour - Venetian Macau Open  -  Scott Hend  (268)
Sunshine Tour - BMG Classic  -  Ulrich van den Berg  (201)
OneAsia Tour - Kolon Korean Open  -  Sung-Hoon Kang  (280)
Australasian Tour -  See European Tour (Above)
LatinoAmerica - Aberto do Brasil  -  Alan Wagner  (265)
LPGA Tour -  LPGA KEB Hanabank Championship  -  Amy Yang  (207)
JLPGA Tour - Fujitsu Ladies  -  Na-Ri Lee  (138)
Champions Tour - Greater Hickory Kia Classic at Rock Barn  -  Michael Allen  (197)
E Challenge Tour - Foshan Open  -  Nacho Elvira  (274)