There’s a runaway winner on the tours, every year, and it’s not Tiger nor Nelly, Scottie, nor Bernhard. It’s the DP World Tour and its content maestros. This week, they borrowed Hannah Rae from St. Andre Golf to be a social media trainer. Have a taste of this appetizer with the Minwoo schtick below, then after composing yourself, check out our Tour Rundown, in conclusive order, from Tuesday through Sunday.

.@Minwoo27Lee

You might have heard of him.#HeroDubaiDesertClassic | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/SEmTdUERXz

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 17, 2025

TGL @ Week Three: Atlanta Drive shuts out NYGC

In his summary of the second week, Matt Fitzpatrick bemoaned the lack of putts a-dropping. With putts come momentum, and that’s what NYGC hasn’t had over the first two weeks. Make no mistake: they hit some bad golf shots. In the team portion of each match, it’s all about ball in play. Add to their self-inflicted misery, the two bombs that Justin Thomas sank for a win and a halve, and nothing went right for the guys from Gotham.

If there’s a silver lining for the team from Brooklyn, the Bronx, and all points in between, they narrowed the margin of defeat, from seven points to four. Next up, in week four, is the debut of the green goblins, the Boston Common Golf, as Rory and his militia take on Tiger and the Jupiter Links GC.

Is it too early to ask for multiple things to happen at once? A little chip-off or putt-off at the green zone end, while the fellows are blasting away at the full-swing end, would add distraction, drama, and a few more points to the tally.

No gimmies here. pic.twitter.com/7C0ibqVHOX

— TGL (@TGL) January 22, 2025

Korn Ferry Tour @ Great Abaco Classic: the new ocho claims first big victory

Would you call a five-shot win a runaway? We will, in order to vibe with the aforementioned, social-media runaway by DP World Tour. Over on Korn Ferry, the second week of the Bahamas Slide saw a Canadian lad load up on the syllables and the birdies. Sudarshan Yellamaraju (yup, eight syllables) blazed over the final 54 holes in 193 strokes, to leave the entirety of the field in the dust.

Hank Lebioda…remember him? Won last week. He had a shot on Sunday, but needed something in the fractions to overtake SuYell. Russell Knox? He has won on the big tours, but even his 65 on day four was worse than Yella-Mon’s closing 64. The lefty was born in India, but emigrated to Canada (and probably got the portside swing from hockey.) From round two to round four, he dropped 19 birdies, two eagles, and a distant, final bogey on Friday’s second hole!

Let’s call him the Almost-Josh Allen of professional golf. The Mississauga (that’s near Toronto) native hoped for some attention from D1 programs but received no attention. So, he turned pro and has been grinding for checks ever since. The 23-year-old had the week of anyone’s dreams, and let’s hope that it wasn’t a flash in the pan. The KFT gets back on a regular, Thursday-Sunday schedule next week in Panama.

Walking after a chip ?

Sudarshan Yellamaraju is now 24-under @BahamasKFTour.

?: @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/7HZuZPbqWj

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) January 22, 2025

PGA Tour @ Farmers Insurance Open: Put a little English on that, will you?

If Harris English wins a second time in 2025, we have a parlay for 2027. We’ll get back to that later. English held off Sam Stevens and a host of windswept golfers, to win the windswept Farmers IO at Torrey Pines. This won’t be the last we see of Torrey this winter, as it was just named the replacement course for Riviera’s Genesis Open. This won’t be the last we see of English, as age 35 is the new 30, and English has a swing that stands time’s test.

The English-man survived, simple as that. Two of his four rounds this week were over-par 73s, and both were on the South course at the San Diego muni. His third-round 66, over the same 18, concluded with three consecutive birdies. While it didn’t win him the week, it positioned him to stave off the competition. Sunday was not a day for making but, rather, for breaking. With the exception of Stevens, whose 68 defied logic, golfers headed north of par figures in droves. Only two scores in the 60s were recorded, but 10 more at 70 and 71. Less than 20 percent of the Sunday scorecards had red ink on them.

English stood 2 over on the day through five holes. It was then that Andrew Novak made the most unlikely birdie putt ever on five, to momentarily take the lead. English was shocked into action, and produced his only birdie of the day. He followed up with a dozen pars to hold off a game Stevens, for his fifth career PGA Tour title. Back to that parley: English won twice in 2013, then won twice in 2021, eight years on. If he wins a second time this year, he’ll have another duo, four years on from the last. That makes 2027 and two titles a lock. Cheers, English!

Shot 2: In the water ?
Shot 4: Off the flag! ??

Sam Stevens escapes the 18th with a par and is in the clubhouse one back of the lead @FarmersInsOpen.

? CBS pic.twitter.com/Nv6jMJuz7O

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 25, 2025

DP World Tour @ Ras Al Khaimah Classic: Lana Alejandro del Rey wins big

For a while, both Björk and del Rey were in the mix in the UAE, so you can forgive me for thinking that I had wormholed my way into an alt-music festival. OK, back to this universe. Alejandro del Rey hadn’t won yet on the DP World Tour, when his post-round, Saturday interview featured some admirable confidence. He acknowledged that he had won in other places before and that he knew how to do it. To toss yet another challenge, he suggested that it was a two-man race, between him and Marcus Armitage.

It ended up being a two-man race, and if the pair had switched scores on Sunday, they would have tied in regulation figures. As Gino D’Acampo proclaimed, if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike. The pair did not switch cards, and del Rey signed for 66, while Armitage posted 68. The overnight, two-shot advantage, was increased to four, and it was three more shots to David Puig in the third, thanks to a day-low 65.

What more can you say about Alejandro del Rey? Part of the Spanish contingent that inhabited Tempe, Arizona, during the 2010s, the Madrid native made but four bogeys over 72 holes of competition, with the last coming on Friday’s ninth green. From that point on, he wrote down 17 birdies and 28 pars. Those numbers are nigh-impossible to beat, on any course, during any week. Now that he’s done it once, will he do it again, possibly when the stakes are higher? Del Rey is a furious golfer, lashing at the ball with the vengeance of a jilted lover. That’s what golf needs in 2025. As he said on Saturday after a stellar iron, buenísimo. 

Del Rey’s up and down to move five shots clear ?#RAKGolfChamps pic.twitter.com/I3R3tQW7qR

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 26, 2025