It’s a busy season of team golf, for sure. After last week’s enthralling Ryder Cup, attention turns to the amateur squads as they compete in the World Amateur Golf Championships. This week, the ladies went to a skirmish, with the USA winning the Espiritu Santo trophy, thanks to a double tie-break with Spain and Korea, in the most unusual of ways. Each team tied at 18 under par. The sorting hat called for the non-counting score (they play best two of three each day), and the USA and Spain remained tied, with 71. The next step was the day-three, non-counting score (every shot matters!), and the USA came out on top by one, 72 to 73. After taking a step back and a deep breath, that’s a great lesson for all. I and other philomaths at Tour Rundown applaud this tie-breaking method.
On to the tours of the world, as October arrives. In the words of U2, October, when the trees are bare, of all they wear. It’s also my birth month, and it’s a decade birthday this year, so I’m gazing back and looking ahead with great enthusiasm. The LPGA took a South Pacific sojourn to O’ahu for the Lotte. The men traipsed from St. Andrews to Mississippi, with stopovers in Florida and Oklahoma. Much golf to review, even as the NFL ramps up its season with games in Europe. It’s a great time of year to be anywhere, so let’s lace up the kicks and run it all down.
PGA Tour @ Sanderson: Did not see this one coming
In the guys that don’t normally contend, junior division, no one saw Carlton, err, Steven Fisk coming. Why not? The Sanderson is one of those tournaments where golfers make a name for themselves. Until Sunday, Fisk did not have a top three or two, never mind a top one, finish. He had one top-five placing to his credit, which is amazing in and of itself. Now, the Georgia Southern alumnus might just be the second-most successful graduate of the Statesboro school. He’ll have to go a way to top Jodie Mudd, but he’s only 28.
Fisk and Garrick Higgo were the top two players after 54 holes, and the two went at it for the final 18. Higgo played stellar golf, posting 68 to finish solo second. His tumble turned at the turn, when he went bogey-bogey at ten and eleven. Fisk played those holes in minus-one, so a three-shot swing was in the offing. To Higgo’s credit, he ran four consecutive birdies on the inward half, but Fisk was able to notch four birdies of his own over the closing five holes. When it’s your day, it is your day.
LPGA @ LOTTE: Hwang takes Hawaii with closing birdie run
Hwang You-min surpassed the cut last summer at Erin Hills’ U.S. Open. Although she struggled over the weekend, there was a growing sense that her game was good enough to contend on the LPGA circuit. This week in Hawaii, Hwang surpassed all plans and expectations and won her inaugural title on the U.S. circuit.
Hwang stood even on the day, in full consideration of a top-10 finish, when she reached the 13th tee. A birdie there certainly lifted her spirits, and she followed it with a par at 14. Players like Hyo Joo Kim, Minami Katsu, and Nelly Korda were destined for totals of 14-under par or better. Hwang started a run of four closing birdies on 15, a par 3. She saved additional strokes at 16 and 17, both par-four holes. Finally, Hwang played four shots along the 18th to reach 17-deep. Kim finished on minus-sixteen, while Katsu came third at fifteen under par.
DP World Tour @ Dunhill Links: Big Mac runs 66s to title
Rober MacIntyre wishes to prove that he will inherit the helm of European leader, from the likes of Fleetwood, Rose, and McIlroy. The Scot is as gritty as they come, and might one day become the first from the Kingdom since Paul Lawrie to win a major title. MacIntyre earned a fourth DP World Tour title this week in the kingdom of kingdoms, St. Andrews. After opening with 66s at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, the lad from Oban tacked a third consecutive, minus-six performance at the Old Course. Not right away, mind you. The entire field was reduced to spectators on Saturday, as nature brought winds of hurricane force to the auld towne. The round was cancelled.
Fortunately for planners and participants, the winds abated on Sunday, and play resumed. Tyrrell Hatton and others gave chase, but the closest they could pull was four shots adrift. MacIntyre was in complete control on day three, and he closed on minus 18 for a four-shot win over Hatton.
Korn Ferry Tour @ Compliance Solutions: Fifth musketeer wins in Oklahoma
Adrien Dumont de Chassart should not feel slighted in the least that D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis receive the majority of attention for their swordplay and swashbuckling endeavors. ADC might not have wielded a sharp sword, but his irons served as rapiers in their own right. How else to describe the work of a fellow who opened 61-61? Someone else tossed a 59 on day one, for goodness’ sake, and ADC tossed him aside like a weak steward.
The Belgian ADC followed his opening 122 with a ho-hum 129 (64-65) and … let me be clear … NO ONE challenged him. Ever. Not once. Zecheng Dou placed second at -26, but his closing four-under-in-last-five-holes brought him within seven shots of Adrien DdC. If ever there was to be a dominant performance on any of the world’s tours, at any moment this year, it was to be this week. A tip of the chevalier hat to Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who extinguished the flame of opposition with ease and grace, and earned the right to lift the champion’s trophy at the Compliance Solutions.
ADDC ???
He knocks it close for a chance to move to -33. The Korn Ferry Tour scoring record to par is -31. pic.twitter.com/t17ymDEZP0
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) October 5, 2025
PGA Tour Champions @ Furyk & Friends: More friends than Furyk
In the Guys that don’t normally contend, senior division, aka, the PGA Tour Champions, we had quite the tilt on Sunday. Matt Gogel began the day in first place, but lost a thruple of strokes to par on the day to drop to a quintet of third-place podium denizens. His solo third effort was undone when he made one final bogey at the 54th hole.
Cameron Percy came to life after a ho-hum outward nine. He made to trio of birdies over the closing half, separating himself from the chasing pack by three shots. Unfortunately for Percy, a pair of gloves got the better of him and the field by another two strokes. On this day, Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey was unstoppable.
It’s a safe bet that Gainey is the first-ever winner on PGA Tour Champions to list Central Carolina Technical College on his resume. The Sumter, South Carolina school is not known for its production of pro golf alumni. As if that weren’t enough, Gainey wears two, not one, gloves, when he competes at golf. Sunday saw the double-glover win for the first time since the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020. Gainey produced five birdies and an eagle on Sunday. His lone bogey came on the par-three fourteenth, where he reached fairway and could not get up and down to save par.
An eagle from @TwoGlovesGolf ???
Tommy Gainey is looking the be the first event qualifier to win a PGA TOUR Champions event since 2021 ? pic.twitter.com/VPoBh8yMRr
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 5, 2025
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