With Phil Mickelson not making the journey to Shanghai this year, it was up to Bubba Watson to provide a degree of golfing excitement/unpredictability for far eastern fans and this he did spectacularly, winning the WGC-HSBC Champions in near-miraculous style.  Watson stood in contention throughout the week but did so in a decidedly up-and-down manner, trailing Graeme McDowell by four after an opening 71 that included five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey, then remaining four behind McDowell at the halfway mark following a more orthodox seven-birdie, two-bogey 67.  McDowell’s third round 71 allowed the top of the leaderboard to tighten considerably, with Watson pulling within two via a 69 which included five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey - on the back nine alone.  This set up a wild Sunday afternoon which saw no less than six world-class players have a chance to win down the stretch under conditions challenging enough that among the realistic contenders, only South African Tim Clark could break 70.  McDowell,for his part, never got going, playing even par golf through 13 holes before a bogey at the par-5 14th dropped him back to 10 – one shot shy of what would ultimately be needed.  By this time, however, it seemed to be Watson’s tournament; indeed, with six birdies and three bogeys on his card, he arrived at the 16th with a two-shot lead.  But after laying up at the driveable par-4, he missed the green with a lob wedge and made bogey, then left his ball in a greenside bunker at the 212-yard 17th en route to a double bogey, dropping him to nine under par and seeming extinction.  But utilizing his immense power, Watson reached a greenside bunker at the 538-yard 18th in two, then miraculously holed the ensuing 60-yard blast for a closing eagle and an 11-under-par finish.  Of all the stars giving chase, only Clark could find the birdie needed at the last to match him, but the ensuing playoff would last only one hole as Watson birdied the 18th from 20 feet to clinch a victory whose final scorecard included 26 birdies, one eagle, 10 bogies and four double-bogeys over 73 holes……………… Twenty-six-year-old Canadian Nick Taylor needed a final round 63 in the September’s Web.com Tour Championship just to gain one of the final spots on the 2014-15 PGA Tour, but he wasted little time in cementing his status there by winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in just his 13th Tour start.  A light-field event played opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions, the Sanderson Farms was making its debut both in a fall schedule slot and at the Country Club of Jackson, but the venue certainly proved suitable for the former University of Washington star and 2007 Canadian Amateur winner.  Taylor opened with a five-under-par 67 on Thursday to trail Denmark’s Sebastian Cappelen by two, then stood two behind 36-hole co-leaders John Rollins and David Toms after carding a five-birdie, two-bogey 69 on Friday.  Rollins remained in control on Saturday via a four-under-par 68, good enough to keep him two ahead of William McGirt (who matched the day’s low round with a 66), three up on Jason Bohn and 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, and four ahead of a group which included Taylor, who played steady golf in posting a third round 70.  But Taylor would waste little time pressing himself into the mixd on Sunday, making five birdies on the way to turning in 32, the pulling as many as three ahead with a run of birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th.  With Rollins fading to a 73, and only one other serious contender (Bohn, who shot 69) breaking 70, Taylor had the luxury of bogeying the last while as he became the first Canadian to win on the PGA Tour since Mike Weir in 2007………………Breaking a victory drought which dated to April of 2011, 37-year-old Tomohiro Kondo claimed his sixth career Japan Tour title by cruising to a four-shot victory at the Heiwa PGM Championship in Kasumigaura.  Kondo opened his week relatively quietly with a three-under par 68 on Thursday, good enough only to stand tied for 14th, four behind tri-leaders Shunsuke Sonoda, Hideto Tanihara and Australian Brad Kennedy.  Among this trio, only Tanihara would remain atop the board on Friday, his 68 tying him with Korean Hyun-Woo Ryu on 10 under par, while Kondo added a 66 to quietly edge within two.  However, Kondo would make his real move on Saturday,  turning in 34 before carding six back nine birdies en route to a 64, enough to push him two strokes ahead of Tanihara, Kennedy and 25-year-old Yoshinori Fujimoto, who also shot  64.  Two early birdies padded Kondo’s Sunday lead, and after giving them back with bogeys at the 5th and 7th, he pushed his engine into another gear, logging five subsequent birdies to come home in 66 and win going away………………Playing on home turf in New Delhi, local hero S.S.P. Chowrasia ended a three-year victory drought by prevailing in the Panasonic Open India in a three-way playoff with countryman Rahil Gangjee and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera.  For most of the week Chowrasia was an afterthought, as he stood four off the lead following an opening 70, seven in arrears after a Friday 71, and five back after three late birdies lifted him to a Saturday 69 – and at least onto the periphery of contention.  The pace-setter, meanwhile, was the 36-year-old Gangjee, whose opening rounds of 66-68 gave him a two-shot lead over Australian Wade Ormsby, with that margin slipping to one (over four players) following a Saturday 71.  He then stumbled slightly on Sunday with three early bogeys before charging back with two quick birdies and an eagle at the par-5 14th, ultimately finishing with a 71, for a 272 total –good enough to tie Perera (who made three late birdies to shoot 70) and Chowrasia, who’d posted eight birdies while charging home with the day’s low round, a six-under-par 66.  Their playoff lasted but a single hole, with Chowrasia quickly holing a 15-foot birdie putt at the 18th to clinch the title………………After breaking a five-year victory drought in September at the Wild Coast Vodacom Origins of Golf event, 27-year-old Louis de Jager continued his fine run of form by beating Vaughn Groenewald and Danie van Tonder in a sudden-death playoff for the Nedbank Affinity Cup.  De Jager was actually a late arrival to the party as he trailed first-round leader Dean Burmester by three after and opening 68, then Ruan de Smidt by four after the latter logged eight birdies during a flawless second round 64.  But de Smidt would fall to a 74 during Thursday’s finisher, leaving the door open for both Vaughn and the touted van Tonder, who each closeed in 66, for 212 aggregates.  De Jager, meanwhile moved into the hunt with four front nine birdies, but after bogeying the 462-yard 16th, he needed clutch birdies at the 470-yard 17th and the 530-yard 18th to join the playoff.  Van Tonder was eliminated when he couldn’t match his opponents’ birdies on the first replay of the 18th hole, leaving de Jager to raise the trophy after holing an eight foot birdie putt on the second go-round – his fourth consecutive birdie under dating back to the last two holes of regulation.

PGA Tour - WGC-HSBC Championship  -  Bubba Watson  (277)
PGA Tour - Sanderson Farms Championship  -  Nick Taylor  (272)
Japan Tour -  Heiwa PGM Championship  -  Tomohiro Kondo  (264)
Asian Tour - Panasonic Open India  -  S.S.P. Chowrasia  (276)
Sunshine Tour -  Nedbank Affinity Cup  -  Louis de Jager  (204)
LatinoAmerica - Aberto do Brasil  -  Rafael Becker  (262)
LPGA Tour - Mizuno Classic  -  Mi Hyang Lee  (205)
JLPGA Tour - See LPGA (Above)
E Challenge Tour - Dubai Festival City Grand Finale  -  Benjamin Hebert  (276)

One must assume that growing up in Puyallup, Washington, Ryan Moore surely never guessed that he’d find his competitive nirvana some 8,000 miles away in Malaysia.  Yet there Moore was, one year removed from defeating Gary Woodland in a playoff for his third PGA Tour victory, returning to the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club to claim his fourth, successfully defending his title at the CIMB Classic in a three-shot triumph.  Not surprisingly, Moore was in the mix all week, opening with rounds of 68-69-67 to join Kevin Na atop the leaderboard after 54 holes, one stroke ahead of fellow American Billy Hurley III and Spain’s Sergio Garcia.  Hurley, for his part, was not up to the Sunday task, carding two bogeys over his first 17 holes en route to a 73, and a tie for eighth.  Garcia, on the other hand, turned in three-under-par 33 to remain right in the mix before a run-in with a palm tree led to a double-bogey at the par-5 10th.  He would add two subsequent birdies to close in 69, to finish on 14-under-par 274.  That number would eventually be matched by last year’s runner-up Woodland, who carded six birdies over his first 17 holes and actually appeared capable of winning as he stood on the tee of the 634-yard 18th at 15 under – only to three-putt for a bogey to fall back to 274.  Thus in the end it came down to Moore and Na, with the latter actually taking the lead with three early birdies, then eventually trailing by one upon missing a two-footer for par at the 16th that would have kept him even.  Rattled, Na then drove into the top of a palm tree at the 17th and took a double-bogey to end his chances - though a birdie at the last brought him home on 274 as well.  This cleared the road nicely for Moore who, in crunch time, stuffed approaches close to birdie both the 14th and 17th, allowing him a pleasant walk home at the last………………In one of the wilder finishes of the 2014 season, Germany’s Marcel Siem claimed his fourth career European Tour title at the BMW Masters in China, defeating France’s Alexander Levy and England’s Ross Fisher on the first hole of sudden death.  For three days conditions were benign in Shanghai, and Siem was something of an afterthought on a crowded leaderboard, trailing by four shots at the halfway mark, then falling five behind on Saturday after Levy uncorked a bogey-free 63 to move four shots ahead of the field.  But heavy winds arrived on Sunday and just that quickly, the week’s proceedings were turned on their head.  Indeed, on a day when the venerable Miguel Angel Jimenez carded an eye-popping 88, Levy stumbled badly, going out in 38, then adding a double-bogey at the par-5 13th and three subsequent bogeys to post a 78 – and yet remarkably he wasn’t dead.  Having gone out several groups earlier, Siem managed four birdies over his first 11 holes, and he stood two ahead through the 16th before finishing bogey-bogey to join Levy on 272.  And earlier still there had been Fisher, who began the day a robust 11 shots back, then made five early birdies to turn in 31 en route to the day’;s low round, an impressive 67 – and he too stood on 272.  Had Levy won, the playoff, it would have been his third victory of the season.  Had Fisher won, he would have set a new tour record for the largest fourth-round comeback.  But with rather less history at stake, Siem promptly chipped in for birdie on the first playoff hole and quietly carried away the trophy………………Thirty-seven-year-old Ryuichi Oda ended a five-year drought to claim his second career Japan Tour victory, a five-shot triumph at the Mynavi ABC Championship in Hyogo.  Oda stood two shoots off the lead on both Thursday and Friday after opening with rounds of 68-67, then charged into a share of it (with veteran South Korean star S.K. Ho) behind a Saturday 66 that included birdies on five of his first 10 holes.  On a Sunday which saw very low scoring, Ho made two early bogeys and never quite righted the ship, coming home in a 71 which dropped him into a tie for sixth.  Better challenges were fielded by the season’s leading money winner Koumei Oda (who closed with a 64), veteran Hideto Tanihara (65) and recent Japan Open champion Yuta Ikeda (65) - but in the end these were all rendered moot by Oda, who played a nearly perfect round that included seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 15th, all of which added up to a dazzling 62 and the runaway victory.  The unrelated Koumei Oda and Tanihara shared second, while Ikeda and another veteran, five-time J Tour winner Tomohiro Kondo, tied for fourth………………Keith Horne won for the seventh time on the Sunshine Tour and for the second time in 2014 at the Vodacom Orgins of Golf Final, the closing event in the six-event tour-within-a-tour that fills much of the circuit’s winter schedule.  Attributing some of his success to being better rested after not going abroad to play the European Tour early in the year, Horne grabbed the first round lead by carding eight birdies en route to seven-under-par 65 over the Pezula Estate’s Championship Course, then trailed 36-hole leader Erik van Rooten by one after a Thursday 71.  However the less-battle-tested van Rooyen faded with a 72 in the Friday finale (eventually finishing in a six-way tie for fourth), leaving Horne to do battle with Ulrich van den Berg, who began the final round three back but played his first 14 holes in seven under par to move into the lead.  Horne, meanwhile, bogeyed the 421-yard 2nd but held together nicely thereafter, methodically posting six birdies over the next 16 holes, including at the 311-yard 17th and the 526-yard 18th, the latter off a two-foot tap-in that provided the margin of victory………………Twenty-five-year-old Victorian Ryan Lynch closed with a five-under-par 67 to record his first career Australasian Tour victory, a one-shot triumph at the Western Australia PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie.  Lynch played solid, steady golf over the first three days, posting rounds of 68-69-72 but still trailing 54-hole leader Chris Gaunt by an imposing six shots.  Thus beginning the final round with lots of distance to cover, he wasted little time in making a move, recording birdies at the 1st, the 6th, the 8th and the 9th to turn in 32 and stand 11 under par – though victory likely still felt like a reach as the 39-year-old Gaunt balanced three birdies against two bogeys in turning in 35, to stand at -14.  Birdies by Lynch at the 10th and 13th then narrowed the gap before an untimely  Gaunt bogey at the 15th drew the pair even.  Both men recorded nervous bogeys at the 17th, but after Lynch parred the three-shot 18th to post a 67, and a 276 total, Gaunt caved in, bogeying the last to hand Lynch the title.

PGA Tour - CIMB Classic  -  Ryan Moore  (271)
European Tour - BMW Masters  -  Marcel Siem  (272)
Japan Tour - Mynavi ABC Championship  -  Ryuichi Oda  (263)
Asian Tour - See PGA Tour (Above)
Sunshine Tour - Vodacom Origins of Golf Final  -  Keith Horne  (203)
Australasian Tour - WA PGA Championship  -  Ryan Lynch  (276)
LatinoAmerica - Lexus Peru Open  -  Julian Etulain  (274)
LPGA Tour - Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship  -  Inbee Park  (266)
JLPGA Tour - Hisako Higuchi Ladies  -  Momoko Ueda  (206)
Champions Tour - Charles Schwab Cup Championship  -  Tom Pernice Jr.  (269)
E Challenge Tour - National Bank of Oman Golf Classic  -  Max Orrin  (281)

Twenty-seven-year-old Robert Streb began the 2014 McGladrey Classic in inauspicious style, snap-hooking his opening drive into a bush and carding a 1st-hole double-bogey – but after Streb successfully gathered himself, things shaped up rather nicely thereafter.  He would eventually birdie three of his final four holes to card a Thursday 69, then added a Friday 66 to stand four shots behind halfway leader Russell Henley on Friday night.  Saturday saw Streb eagle the par-5 15th en route to a 68 that left him five behind Will MacKenzie and Andrew Svoboda, and that margin grew to six after he bogeyed the opening hole on Sunday.  But from that point forward Streb was near-perfect, rattling off nine birdies (including four straight at holes 14-17) as he carded a closing 63, good enough for a 14-under-par 266 total.  Svoboda, meanwhile, fell away midway through the final nine, leaving MacKenzie (68) and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge (65) to match Streb’s total some 90 mintes later, forcing a three-way playoff.  MacKenzie was eliminated after he bogeyed the first extra hole (the par-4 18th) before Streb seized the title by stuffing an 8 iron in close at the par-3 17th, then holing the biggest putt of his career to claim victory..................Dramatically reshaping what had otherwise been rather a disappointing year, 24-year-old Dane Thorbjorn Olesen weathered a concerted Sunday charge by France's Victor Dubuisson to hang on and win the ISPS Handa Perth International by three shots.  Having logged but a single European Tour top-10 finish since January, Olesen started the week in strong form, posting eight birdies during a bogey-free 64 that tied him for the Thursday lead with Australian John Wade.  A second round 69 left him one being England's Peter Whiteford at the halfway mark before Olesen heated up again on Saturday, making six birdies over his first 14 holes to extend the lead to four before a bogey at the 533-yard 15th ultimately saw him home in 67, good enough to hold a three-stroke 54-hole lead over South Korean Sihwan Kim.  But while Kim (and his immediate pursuers, James Morrison and Peter Uihlein) would all fade on Sunday, world number 22 Dubuisson mounted a charge.  Beginning the day eight shots in arrears, the 24-year-old birdied the 1st and the 7th to turn in 34, then reeled off four birdies at the 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th en route to a bogey-free 66 and a 274 total.  Playing well behind him, Olesen struggled somewhat with his driver but scrambled well when he needed to, most notably on a pair of par 5s, the 612-yard 7th and the 553-yard 11th, where he recovered from wayward tee shots to record much-needed birdies.  An Olesen bogey at the par-3 12th allowed Dubuisson to creep within one before the touted Dane responded with a bounce-back birdie at the 453-yard 13th and, eventually, the clinching birdie at the 533-yard 15th..................In a pitched battle which ultimately came down to the final hole, 36-year-old Koumei Oda claimed his eighth career Japan Tour title with a one-shot victory at the Bridgestone Open.  Oda was in the heart of the hunt all week, taking a one-stroke halfway lead with rounds of 67-65, then posting a Saturday 69 to extend the 54-hole margin to three over Azuma Yano.  But things would become interesting on Sunday as Oda turned in 35, while 18-time J Tour winner Hiroyuki Fujita was roaring home ith a 64 to post a 270 total.  Thus trailing by one entering the homestretch, Oda pulled ahead with clutch birdies at the 15th and the par-5 16th, then fell back even with an untimely bogey at the 231-yard 17th.  But with everything at stake, he then recorded the decisive birdie at the 569-yard 18th to edge Fujita by one..................India's 27-year-old Anirban Lahiri claimed his second Asian Tour victory of 2014 and his fifth overall by racing home with a closing 66 to take the Macau Open by a single shot.  It initially appeared to be Lahiri's week when he opened with a 61 over the shortish Macau Golf & Country Club course, but this blazing round (which included an eagle at the par-5 18th) was only good enough for a one-shot lead over Australia's red-hot Scott Hend, who was coming off a victory in Hong Kong and posted a 62.  Conditions toughened on Friday, however, and as Lahiri backed off with a 73, Hend posted a 70 to share the lead with fellow Aussie Adam Groom, then added a Saturday 67 to lead Lahiri by two through 54 holes.  An early Hend eagle at the par-5 2nd pushed the lead to four, and as he soon added birdies at the 7th and 8th, Hend looked to be on his way.  But Lahiri played near-perfect golf on Sunday, carding six birdies to post a 267 total - an aggregate which proved just enough when the powerful Hend missed a four footer for par at the par-5 closer to miss out on a playoff and hand Lahiri the title..................South Korea's Seung-Hyuk Kim began 2014 ranked 748th in the world, and stood 603rd as recently as May, but he continued his meteoric rise up the world ranking by winning for the second time in four worldwide starts, claiming a two-stroke victory in his native Korea Open.  Having already won the circuit's SK Telecom Open, as well as the Japan Tour's Tokai Classic in early October, Kim started slowly here with an up-and-down round of 73 before jumping into the mix via second-round 68 that in included an eagle at the 352-yard 12th.  He then managed an even-par 71 in a fog-delayed third round not completed until Sunday, before eventually sealing a Monday victory by turning in one-under-par 35, then reeling off nine straight pars coming home - anchored by par putts of 20 and six feet at the 16th and 17th - to edge PGA Tour regular Seung-Yul Noh by two.  Korean amateur Jeong-Woo Ham, who held a two-shot lead through 54 holes, remained atop the board until a double bogey at the 12th (plus later bogeys at the 15th and 17th) saw him home in 75, good enough for a tie for third.

PGA Tour - McGladrey Classic  -  Robert Streb  (266)
European Tour - ISPS Handa Perth International  -  Thorbjorn Olesen  (271)
Japan Tour - Bridgestone Open  -  Koumei Oda  (269)
Asian Tour - Venetian Macau Open  -  Anirban Lahiri  (267)
OneAsia Tour - Kolon Korea Open  -  Seung-Hyuk Kim  (282)
Australasian Tour - See European Tour (Above)
LPGA Tour - Blue Bay LPGA  -  Lee-Anne Pace  (200)
JLPGA Tour - Masters Golf Club Ladies  -  Shiho Oyama  (269)
Champions Tour - AT&T Championship  -  Michael Allen  (201)
E Challenge Tour -  Foshan Open  -  Jason Palmer  (272)

Twenty-seven-year-old Ben Martin had a big final round lead, lost it, then regained it with a late rush to claim his first PGA Tour victory in his 56th start, at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.  An All-American at Clemson just beginning his third full season on Tour, Martin opened with rounds of 68-66 over the TPC Summerlin layout, good enough to place him among a group of eight players two behind halfway leaders Andrew Putnam and Russell Knox, and one back of Andrew Svoboda and Tony Finau.  Martin would extricate himself from the pack on Saturday, however, by carding a near-perfect nine-under par 62, a round which began birdie-par-bogey before concluding with nine birdies over his final 15 holes, five of which came in succession from the 13th-17th.  The result was a two-shot lead over both Putnam and Knox, with Jimmy Walker (who matched Martin with a bogey-free 62) and Svoboda standing three behind.  Martin felt some inevitable nerves early on Sunday, turning in even-par 35, then bogeying the par-4 11th, by which time a charging Kevin Streelman had entered the mix.  Streelman, who set a Tour record by birdieing the final seven holes to win in Hartford in June, nearly matched the feat here, carding five birdies from the 12th through the 17th, enough to take a one-shot lead to the 18th.  But back at the par-5 16th, Martin launched a lightning bolt by holing a 45-footer for eagle, Streelman then missed a five-footer for birdie at the last, and suddenly Martin had retaken a lead he would not surrender - with a birdie at the 18th simply padding his margin of victory………………The eight players who reached the quarter-finals of the Volvo World Match Play Championship included several top international stars, but two such entries were upset forthwith, as France’s Victor Dubuisson lost two down to Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, while Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed (the only American in the field) was upended by South African George Coetzee (the last man invited) 2 & 1.  Meanwhile, the Netherland’s Joost Luiten, still on strong form after a recent win at the Wales Open, cruised past Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal 6 & 5, while the event’s top overall seed, world number five Henrik Stenson of Sweden, locked down the final semi-final spot with a two up victory over countryman Jonas Blixt.  The semi-finals produced a bit more drama with Ilonen and Luiten squaring off in a match which saw the Fin jump out to an early two-hole lead, then fall behind as Luiten birdied the 8th, 11th and 13th to climb back on top.  But Ilonen responded with a run of his own – a winning par at the par-3 14th, then birdies at the 15th and 17th – to clinch victory.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, Stenson each time drew even after falliing behind on four separate occasions , ultimately closing out Coetzee with a birdie at the par-5 18th to win one up.  In Sunday afternoon’s all-Scandinavian final, Stenson then jumped to a one-up lead with a birdie at the 4th but soon fell deeply in the hole after Ilonen captured the 5th, 8th, 11th and 12th (only two with birdies) to move three up.  Stenson tried gamely to rally by birdieing the par-5 13th and 15th, but in the end he still reached the par-4 17th two down, then saw Ilonen slam the door by carding one last birdie to claim his fifth career E Tour triumph by a 3 & 1 margin………………If only a handful of elite names were present at the Hong Kong Open, one of them at least injected some life into things over the first 36 holes as Hall-of-Famer Enie Els opened 66-65 to take a two-stroke halfway lead.  Saddled with an ongoing hip problem, however, Els shot 71 on Saturday to fall to sixth, then a Sunday 69 to ultimately tie for fifth.  This left room for a pair of Australians with solid Asian Tour pedigrees to move atop the Saturday leaderboard, with Marcus Fraser bouncing back from an opening bogey to post a 66 and grab the lead on 11-under-par 199, while long-hitting Scott Hend carded his second 67 in three days to trail by one.  Fraser would struggle to a closing 72 and fall off the pace, and Hend also stumbled somewhat in the early going, turning in even-par 34.  But Hend would settle down on the inward half, adding three birdies to close with another 67 and a 267 total, good enough to tie Filipino Angelo Que, who’d birdied four of his last seven holes to finish with a solid 66.  Que, however, made bogey on the first playoff hole (the 410-yard 18th), leaving Hend to become the event’s first Australian champion since Greg Norman in 1983, and to gain exempt status on the E Tour throughout 2015………………Back in 2009 and ’10, Yuta Ikeda was reaching his mid-20s and emerging as an elite player on the Japan Tour, winning four times in each season and looking like viable competition for Ryo Ishikawa as the nation’s next international star.  But Ikeda’s stock slipped somewhat in the ensuing three years (he logged but a single win in each) and if his victory in 2014 Japan Open was, once again, his first triumph of the season, it must also rate as the most prestigious in his career to date.  Ikeda began the week in fine form, posting an opening six-under-par 64 to trail veteran Thail star Prayad Marksaeng by one, and remained one back at the halfway point after both men added 68s on Friday.  But while Marksaeng carded two late bogeys to slip to a 70 on Saturday, Ikeda shot a 66 to jump out to a three-shot lead over both Marksaeng and 27-time Japan Tour winner Shingo Katayama – a cushion he would ultimately need all of on Sunday when, seemingly cruising safely along, he bogeyed the 14th and double-bogeyed the par-3 16th to make matters interesting.  But with neither Katayama or Marksaeng making a strong move, Ikeda managed to add two closing pars, hanging on and in by one………………Merrick Bremner won for the fourth time on the Sunshine Tour in highly dramatic fashion, holing a 25-yard bunker shot to birdie the 451-yard 18th hole at the Glendower Golf Club and win the BMG Classic by one.  Bremner wasted little time in making his presence felt, birdieing his first two holes on Friday en route to grabbing the first-round lead with a six-under-par 66.  A disappointing second round 71 would leave him four strokes behind another South African with E Tour experience, Darren Fichardt, but Fichard stumbled badly on Sunday, bogeying the par-3 6th and double-bogeying the 522-yard 8th to create a dogfight down the stretch.  Fichardt admirably righted himself enough to card birdies at the 10th, 13th and 15th but in the meantime, Bremner had charged, birdieing the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th to draw even.  He then produced his bunker magic at the last to finish on 204, but still had to wait while Fichardt stuffed his approach at the last to five feet, then missed the putt, capping a frustrating day and giving Bremner the title………………Twenty-seven-year-old New Zealander Ryan Fox broke through for his first victory on the Australasian Tour, running away from the field to claim the Western Australia Open by a resounding six shots.  The son of former rugby star Grant Fox, Ryan did much to justify his reputation as a top (if somewhat late-arriving) Kiwi prospect by carding an opening round 64 at the Cottesloe Golf Club, good enough to join eventual runner-up Steven Dartnall in a tie for second, one behind Victoria’s Steven Jones.  A second round 66 moved him into the lead, two ahead of South Australian Paul Spargo, and when Fox carded a Saturday 68 and Spargo his third straight 66, the pair were tied atop the 54-hole leaderboard, three shots clear of Queensland’s Daniel Nisbet.  But while Spargo would crumble to a 74 on Sunday, Fox hit the ground running, logging five birdies (against one bogey) over his first eight holes, then adding to two more at the 10th and the par-5 14th to pull far enough clear that a bogey at the 18th was of no consequence.  

PGA Tour - Shriners Hospitals For Children Open  -  Ben Martin  (264)
European Tour - Volvo World Match Play Championship  -  Mikko Ilonen  (3&1)
European Tour - Hong Kong Open  -  Scott Hend  (267)
Japan Tour - Japan Open  -  Yuta Ikeda  (270)
Asian Tour -  See European Tour (Hong Kong)  
Sunshine Tour - BMG Classic  -  Merrick Bremner  (204)
Australasian Tour - Western Australia Open  -  Ryan Fox  (265)
LatinoAmerica - Mexican Open  -  Oscar David Alvarez  (271)
LPGA Tour - KEB-Hanabank Championship  -  Kyu Jung Baek  (278)
LET - Cell C South African Open  -  Lee-Anne Pace  (211)
JLPGA Tour - Fujitsu Ladies  -  Sun-Ju Ahn  (205)
Champions Tour - Greater Hickory Kia Classic  -  Jay Haas  (196)
E Challenge Tour - Shankai Classic  -  Johan Edfors  (201)

Having stated his desire to play in the 2015 Presidents Cup when it makes its visit to his native South Korea in exactly one year’s time, 28-year-old Sang-Moon Bae got his crusade off to a flying start by winning the first event of the 2014-15 PGA Tour campaign at the Frys.com Open, in Napa.  From the moment he tied for the first round lead with a six-under-par 66, Bae looked very much like a contender, and a second round 69 did little to diminish his form.  He took firm control of the event on Saturday, however, moving himself squarely to the front with five consecutive birdies at holes 2-6, then, following bogeys at the 7th and 13th, adding a birdie at the 15th, an eagle at the par-4 17th (where the tee was set at 292 yards) and a closing birdie at the par-5 18th, good enough for a 65 and a four-shot lead over rookie Zac Blair.  Initially Sunday looked like more of the same, as Bae turned in one-under-par 35 and stood a robust six shots ahead through 10 holes.  But a trio of three-putt bogeys (partially offset by a birdie at the 12th) brought him back within sight of the field, and especially within the sights of Steven Bowditch, who played his final 10 holes six under par to close with 67, and a 275 aggregate.  At the par-5 16th, Bae looked like perhaps giving one more back after his third finished over the green, but a clutch up-and-down kept his lead at two which, following routine pars at the 17th and 18th, would ultimately prove his margin of victory………………In an event shortened to 36 holes by unremitting rains, 24-year-old Alexander Levy became the first Frenchman to win two European Tour events in the same season but claiming a three-shot victory at the Portugal Masters.  Levy began the week in fast form, birdieing five of his first seven holes on the soft Oceanico Victoria course en route to a front nine 30, then came home in 33 to join Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui on 63 – which, surprisingly found them a full three strokes off of the lead.  This was because former Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts simply overpowered the golf course, posing seven birdies over his first 12 holes, then adding eagles at the 315-yard 15th and the 589-yard 17th before narrowly missing an 18-foot birdie putt at the last for 59; instead of becoming the E Tour’s first man to break 60, he instead became the 19th man to equal it.  The rains then came hard on Friday and now it was Levy’s turn for heroics.  Playing early, he methodically carded five birdies on each nine en route to a 10-under-par 61, posting his 18-under-par 124 total before play was called for the day.  Colsaerts would complete a second round 67 on Saturday morning to trail by three, and in the end, save for one initial hole on Sunday before the skies opened up again, that would be all the golf that either man would play for the duration.  With a total of 75 millimeters worth of rain during tournament week, the decision was first made to play only 54 holes, then, after Sunday’s early deluge, that was revised to 36, with Levy being declared the winner………………South Korea's 27-year-old In-Hoi Hur claimed his first career victory on the Japan Tour in grand style, completing a record-setting wire-to-wire victory at the Toshin Golf Tournament in Gifu.  Hur put his stamp on the event early, recording but a single bogey during opening rounds of 64-63, which staked him to a three-shot halfway lead.  He then added a bogey-free 66 on Saturday to extend his lead to four - and it was only that close because Seung-Hyuk Kim, a winner of last week's Tokai Classic - carded a dazzling 61 to move within shouting distance.  Kim put on a bit of Sunday pressure by closing with a 67 but Hur was not to be headed, opening with three birdies over his first six holes en route to turning in 33, then methodically coming home in 34 (punctuated by a birdie at the par-5 closer) to win by four..................Port Elizabeth area native Titch Moore captured the inaugural playing of the Sun Boardwalk Golf Challenge, birdieing the final hole to claim a one-shot triumph over countryman Roberto Lupini and England’s Steve Surry.  Originally scheduled for 54 holes, the tournament was shortened to 36 after heavy winds blew away Thursday’s second round, meaning that former Big Easy Tour star Lupini began the final round with a two-stroke lead after posting a wild Wednesday 68 that included eight birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-4 13th.  But facing a chance to log his first Sunshine Tour victory, the 31-year-old Lupini never quite got it going, bogeying the 4th and 5th holes to surrender his lead, then playing one-under-par golf thereafter to finish with a 73, and a 141 total.  Moore, meanwhile, moved into the lead with a birdie at the 4th en route to turning in one-under-par 34, then strung together eight straight back nine pars before his timely birdie at the Humewood Country Club’s 401-yard finisher saw him home in 140………………Nineteen-year-old Hao-Tong Li, a professional on the developmental PGA Tour China, broke through for his first major tour victory at the OneAsia circuit’s China Masters, cruising to a four-shot triumph over his home course at the Nanshan International Golf Club.  Coming off an eight-shot runaway win on the PGA Tour-sponsored developmental circuit a week earlier, Li tore out to a fast start in Shanghai, following an opening 68 with a bogey-free Friday 65 that opened up a three-shot lead over New Zealand’s Nick Gillespie and Garrett Sapp of the United States.  Though both pursuers fell off the pace on Saturday, Li’s 72 left the door somewhat open as Korean Yi-Keun Chang (65) and Australian Rhein Gibson (69) each closed within one.  But on a windy Sunday which saw gusts up to 40 miles per hour, Li played his first 10 holes even par, stumbled briefly with a double-bogey at the par-3 11th, then stepped on the gas with birdies at the 14th, 15th and 17th to pull away to victory.

PGA Tour - Frys.com Open  -  Sang-Moon Bae  (273)
European Tour - Portugal Masters  -  Alexander Levy  (124)
Japan Tour - Toshin Golf Tournament  -  In-Hoi Hur  (260)
Sunshine Tour - Sun Boardwalk Golf Challenge  -  Titch Moore  (140)
OneAsia Tour - Nanshan China Masters  -  Hao-Tong Li  (275)
LatinoAmerica - Mazatlan Open  -  Tyler McCumber  (278)
LPGA Tour - Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia  -  Shanshan Feng  (266)
JLPGA Tour - Stanley Ladies  -  Sun-Ju Ahn  (202)
Champions Tour - SAS Championship  -  Kirk Triplett  (202)
Euro Senior Tour - Dutch Senior Open  -  Ian Woosnam  (208)