Three rounds of 61 were posted this week on three of the world’s major tours. Each of those golfers held the lead at one point, yet none of them came away with a trophy. Lots of different ways to unpack that slice of information, but the easiest way to understand it is is this: you need more than 18 great holes to win a tournament, but you only need a few bad holes to lose one. With most of the fall behind us, our attention once again turns to warmer climates. From Mexico to Florida to the middle east to Iberia, winners were crowned and cups raised aloft. Let’s run it all down together in this week’s edition of Tour Rundown, with bonus coverage from last week.

PGA Tour: WWTC in Mayakoba is Hovland’s third tour title, second in Riviera Maya

Víctor Tierrasanta has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Viktor Hovland (holy land in Danish) might consider just such a name switch, after his third PGA Tour title in a Hispanic land. Hovland successfully defended his 2020 win at El Camaleon, winning by four shots over Mexico’s favorite son, Carlos Ortiz. Matthew Wolff started the week off with fireworks, posting 61 with 10 birdies. He held the lead through Friday evening but came apart a bit on Saturday with 74. His Sunday 65 moved him twelve rungs up the leader ladder into a tie for fifth.

Hovland played his strongest golf of the week through the middle rounds, which are beginning to define winners as they never have before. The 36 holes that come at the center of an event show who can bring their best golf on consecutive days. Hovland went 65-62, then closed with 67 that could have been lower, had he been pressed. Two sloppy bogeys on the inward half kept him out of the mid/low 60s for a third consecutive day, but it was more than enough to distance him from playing partner Talor Gooch (74 for T11) and keep Ortiz and others at bay. After Ortiz, Justin Thomas came third at -18, with Scottie Schefler in 4th at -17.

Another birdie for Viktor Hovland.

He leads by four with one to play. pic.twitter.com/6ZSIuXakIc

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 7, 2021

Ladies European Tour: ASLI at Royal Greens to the Original Ko

Lydia Ko is the OG Ko, having earned that moniker at a young age when she took over women’s golf for a time. As she grew into the professional sport, she kept winning. The winning stopped, but the desire never ebbed. This week, Lydia Ko reclaimed the game that made her the role model for many, winning on the Ladies European Tour by a healthy five shots. Atthaya Thitikul, one of the generation of young Thai golfers, claimed a second-place finish that was not nearly as close as it appeared if a five-shot margin can be considered close. Down by four to begin the day, Thitikul went out on Sunday in 32 and lost ground to Ko. The Kiwi Ko posted eagle at the ninth hole to turn in 31, extending her advantage. Two more birdies, at 10 and 13, expanded the gulf to seven. A game Thitikul scratched three closing birdies onto her card to secure a five-shot advantage of her own (over third-place finishers Carlota Ciganda and Alice Hewson) but there would be no chasing down the champion.

Bread and butter for Lydia Ko ? ?#RaiseOurGame | #SaudiLadiesIntl pic.twitter.com/w4q2F6TgTZ

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 7, 2021

European Tour: Portuguese Masters in Vilamoura finally to Pieters

The tournament at Vilamoura went from the other tournament with a 61, to the tournament that no one seemed prepared to win, to a fifth tour title for Thomas Pieters of Belgium. To recap, Italy’s Nino Bertasio opened with a round of ten-under, survived Friday with 69, stumbled on Saturday with 74, and rebounded on Sunday with 67 to finish in a tie for fifth position. France’s Mathieu Pavon coasted through the first nine holes on Sunday, turning in three-under 32. His birdie at ten increased his lead, but his triple-bogey eight at the par-5 12th brought him crashing to earth. From there on, it was birdie-bogey-birdie-par-bogey-par for 70, and a minus-17 finish. Pavon will regret the back-nine par-5 holes, which he played in 4 over par on the weekend.

Enter Nicolai Højgaard, who played the first 17 holes in magnificent fashion on Sunday. He stood minus-eight on the 18th tee, 18-under for the tournament. Knowing that he needed one more birdie, he flew too high, creased the sun, and made bogey. Højgaard finished in a tie for second with countryman Lucas Bjerregaard, whose 67 brought him into a tie with Højgaard and Pavon for second stage on the podium. The stage was set for third-round leader Pieters to snatch a victory, and his birdie at the 17th gave him a two-shot cushion at the last. He converted a long putt for par at the last for a 68, a 19-under total, and his first win since 2019.

The moment @Thomas_Pieters captured his fifth European Tour title ?#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/bQO2Rovm8w

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 7, 2021

PGA Tour Champions: TimberTech in Boca Raton is first Champions Tour win for Alker

The song Southern Cross is an appropriate descriptor for Steven Alker’s journey through professional golf. On Sunday, the New Zealand-born professional saw the Crux constellation for the first time, ending a seven-year lull on top of the podium. Alker last lifted a loving cup in Cleveland in 2014, when he won on the Korn Ferry Tour (back when it was called the Web.Com Tour.) He is also the owner of the longest playoff-win record, an 11-hole affair at the same event. Now a member of the senior corps, Alker began a remarkable run of tournaments with a Monday qualification at the Boeing Classic. He tied for 7th there, and continued to make the following week’s field with top-ten finishes. His unanticipated run qualified him for the post-season series, and he made good on his opportunity this week at Broken Sound.

Tim Petrovic grabbed the headlines with his Saturday 61, but a Sunday 74 undid all his good work, and dropped him to a tie for fourth. Charging on Sunday was Jim Furyk, who made a run at Aker with a 71. Six closing pars did Furyk in; birdies were needed today. Charging harder was Miguel Ángel Jiménez, whose 66 followed only Mike Weir’s 65 for low round of the day. Jiménez began the day with a bogey at the par-5 opener, but from that point on, it was full steam ahead for the birdie engine. In the end, Alker’s clean inward half of three birdies and six pars was the recipe for an initial tour title and a new life in the senior game.

Clutch. He can smell a title! pic.twitter.com/If651h2b6e

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 7, 2021

Last Week’s Two Winners

When fewer than three major events are played across the globe, Tour Rundown takes a hiatus and recalls those winners the following week. On October 29, England’s Bronte Law edged Mexico’s María Fassi by one shot in the first Moonlight Classic, on the Ladies European Tour. Played over the Faldo course at Emirates Golf Club, the women competed after dark, beneath the glow of a spot-lit layout. Law made eagle at the 16th, to Fassi’s birdie, and the pair parred out for the final margin.

On the 31st, Australia’s Lucas Herbert took advantage of Danny Lee’s back-nine misfortune and reached 15 under par at Port Royal in Bermuda. His par at the last took the top spot over from fast-finishing Patrick Reed, who moved up 15 places on the final day. Overnight leader Taylor Pendrith stumbled to 76, tumbling to a fifth-place tie. Lee overcame a double-single-single, three-hole stretch of bogeys to close with birdies at 15 through 17. Had he dropped another at the last, he would have caught Herbert. Instead of a second career win for Lee, or a first for Pendrith, it was Herbert who secured his inaugural PGA Tour title at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Giving it the FULL BRONTE @brontemaylaw ???#RaiseOurGame | #MoonlightClassic pic.twitter.com/AEyESKAR40

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) October 30, 2021