The second week of professional competition in 2024 joined a DP World Tour event in Dubai, with the PGA Tour’s second tournament of the new year. At this time of year, even the professionals still show the cobwebs from holiday time off with family. Drives go askew, approaches clank off edges, and putts miss low and high. In Dubai, two stalwart members of the European Ryder Cup side played gritty golf to the final putt, with plenty of birdies and a few of those miscues. In Hawaii, we met a Taiga named after a Tiger, along with a pack of other, hungry beasts. Ultimately, three of them locked horns in extra time, but which came away with the title?

PGA Tour @ Sony Open:

On Thursday afternoon, as the skies greyed, the temperature dropped, and the winds whipped, no one expected anyone to challenge Taylor Montgomery’s morning 64. For Cam Davis to convert five birdie putts over his final six holes was implausible, yet so it went. Unfortunately for Cam, Thursday was his Huzzah. Middle rounds of 70-70 saw a fleet of golfers sail past. Davis ultimately tied for 30th on 9 under par.

Despite the number of known commodities (Matsuyama, Aberg, Theegala, Fitzpatrick) in the field, the majority of challengers throughout the week on O’ahu fit the category of needing a breakthrough. Carl Yuan, Byeong Hun An, Grayson Murray, Erik Cole, and even the aforementioned Taiga Semikawa, came to Wai’alae in search of affirmation. With all the new metrics on the PGA Tour, reshuffling happens nearly every week, and a win can mean much more than a two-year exemption.

Scoring during the middle rounds was not as electric as day one thanks to an uptick in wind presence. By Sunday, the lead was 14 under par, but a bus full of challengers sat within a handful of strokes. Carl Yuan got it going early on day four. The man of one thousand swings was 6 under through 11 holes but gained but one more shot coming home. His T4 finish was his best ever. More on that T4 later. Also getting hot was former winner Russell Henley. The UGA Bulldog had the fanbase on 59 Watch, as he reached minus eight on the day through 13. Like Yuan, the closing stretch was humbling, and a plus-one, final five brought Henley back to Yuan and T4.

When Byeong Hun An ripped a 3-iron inside 15 feet for eagle on hole 18, then converted a two-putt for birdie, Henley and Yuan were finished. An stood at 17 under par. Behind him were Keegan Bradley, also at that number, and Grayson Murray, at -16. Birdie for Bradley meant victory, but his approach was too far away, and he settled for par. Murray pitched from 80 yards to two feet, converted, and joined An and Bradley in extra holes for the win.

The overtime session took precious little time to resolve itself. Three unfortunate drives led to two awkward approach shots and a lay-up.  A pitching contest would ultimately sort out the winner and runners-up. Murray flinched first, leaving his 106-yard pitch nearly 40 feet from the hole. Bradley escaped the left bleachers to 17 feet, and An cozied up to four feet. Sometimes, however, Flinchers win.

Putting first, Grayson Murray calibrated speed, elevation, tilt, and grit perfectly. His fourth stroke ended four inches beneath the putting green, in the hole for birdie. Bradley’s putt stayed left of the hole, and An’s missed right. In a matter of a few minutes, Grayson Murray moved from afterthought to two-time PGA Tour winner, nearly seven years after his first victory.

Bringing the drama ??

An incredible call from @SiriusXMPGATOUR on Grayson Murray’s playoff victory @SonyOpenHawaii. pic.twitter.com/Z2tAFN7ymT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 15, 2024

DP World Tour @ Dubai Invitational: Star-Crossed golfers paired in final round

Rory McIlroy began his 2024 with a magnificent 62 at Dubai Creek Resort. On day two, with an opportunity to build a sizable lead, he struggled to a score of 70. A quadruple-bogey seven on the par-3 eighth featured balls in the water from tee and drop zone. McIlroy recovered with three birdies on the inward half and maintained his lead.

On day three, England’s Tommy Fleetwood emerged from the pack of pursuers with an unblemished, eight-under round of 63. The many-time, Ryder Cup star seized the lead from McIlroy, and entered round four with a single-shot advantage. A few other challengers sat within five shots of the lead, but no one anticipated any result beyond a Rory-Tommy duel. And that’s what they received.

To be fair, South Africa’s Thristan Lawrence played himself into contention with a spectacle of a round. Seven birdies against zero bogies brought him to 18 under par on the week. His pairing with countryman Zander Lombard certainly had to help in the comfort category. His work would garner him a second-place tie. Meanwhile, in the final twosome, McIlroy also made seven birdies on the day, with Fleetwood counting five.

Either one could have separated from the other. Rory stumbled each time he got on a roll. Birdies at three and five were followed by a drive in the water and bogey at six. Three consecutive birdies from 11 to 13 were followed by a tee ball to two feet…and a soul-crushing three-putt. Finally, two more birdies at 15 and 17 saw yet another tee ball sail left into the water, for a third bogey of the round.

All of this would have been manageable for Rory, on another day. He would have matched Lawrence and gone into extra holes. Fleetwood’s one-shot advantage on the day stood up as he played conservative golf through 15 holes. His tee ball flew long at the final par three, and he failed to get up and down for a day-first bogey. It was at this point that the Ryder Cup hero was expected to break. Stardom in team events, but constant misfortune in individual ones.

Fleetwood didn’t break. Down one shot to his playing competitor with two holes to play, Fleetwood drained a massive, thirty-odd feet putt for birdie at 17, with McIlroy five feet away for a birdie of his own. On 18, after McIlroy rinsed his tee ball, Fleetwood scorched his driver to fairway center, putting all the world’s pressure on his opponent. Sensing opportunity, the Englishman ripped a wedge to some fifteen feet, then dropped the birdie to neutralize McIlroy’s bogey putt. For the first time since November of 2022, Fleetwood had the honor of hoisting a victor’s trophy.

Birdie-birdie finish.@TommyFleetwood1 wins in Dubai! ?#DubaiInvitational pic.twitter.com/pVB4zVhJVE

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 14, 2024