Though a winner of the McGladrey Classic back in November of 2013, Chris Kirk arrived at the second event of the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs in middling form, having logged but a single top-25 finish (a T19 at the British Open) since late May's Memorial Tournament.  An opening 73 in the Deutsche Bank Championship did little to suggest that this week would be different, but Kirk turned things around with a topsy turvy second round 66 which included eagles at the 298-yard 4th and the par-5 18th, and thus moved back to within five of co-36-hole leaders Ryan Palmer (who'd opened with a 63, the week's low round) and Jason Day.  He then would go on to play blemish-free golf for the duration, initially birdieing both the 17th and 18th to come home with a third round 64 and move within two of 54-hole leader Russell Henley - though his charge was little noticed as he stood tied with Day (who shot 69) and world number one Rory McIlroy, who matched Kirk with a bogey-free 64 and commanded the great majority of post-round attention.  But McIlroy never found the right gear in round four, posting four bogeys between holes 5-12 en route to a 70 that would ultimately drop him to a tie for 5th.  Instead Monday's news was initially dominated by Geoff Ogilvy, who began the Labor Day finale five shots in arrears before birdieing six of his first 13 holes to sprint into the lead.  But Ogilvy couldn't advance any further, finishing on 271 and leaving the stage clear for Kirk, who methodically reeled off five birdies between the 3rd and 16th holes to move to 15 under.  The lone man with a chance to catch him, Billy Horschel, then chunked his second at the 18th into a water hazard, leaving Kirk to make a routine par 5 to clinch the two-shot victory..................In only his second tournament since returning from back surgery, South African Hennie Otto spent much of the week atop the leaderboard before ultimately nailing down his third European Tour victory and his second career triumph in the Italian Open.  The 38-year-old Otto opened with a bogey-free round of 67 before taking command on Friday, carding six outbound birdies to turn in 30, then adding an eagle at the 531-yard 12th and birdies at the both the par-3 13th and the 593-yard 15th to move to 10 under par on the day.  Any chance of 59 was dashed with a bogey at the 465-yard 17th, but a birdie at the last brough Otto home in 62, staking him to a three-shot lead.  Thereafter his play cooled and it was a matter of hanging on, particularly after a double-bogey at the par-5 9th slowed his Saturday progress - though his 71 still managed to hold a two-shot 54-hole lead.  But on a Sunday in which his closest pursuers, Wiesberger and Scotland's Richie Ramsey, could manage no better than 70 and 72 respectively, Otto played solid methodical golf, birdieing the 1st and the 7th to turn in 34, then adding two more birdies at the 12th and 15th that would ultimately proved the margin of victory..................Veteran Hiroyuki Fujita claimed his second Japan Golf Tour title of 2014 and the 17th of his career with a come-from-behind playoff triumph at the RZ Everlasting KBC Augusta.  With opening rounds of 71-66, Fujita found himself very much in the mix at the halfway mark, trailing 36-hole leader Hyung-Sung Kim by three, before a disappointing Saturday 74 dropped him all the way to 17th place, six behind Kim.  His hole deepened further after bogeying the par-4 2nd on Sunday before the 45-year-old Fujita got hot, logging eight birdies over his final 17 holes (built around nine consecutive one-putts  at holes 9-17) to post a 276 total.  Though a slew of players had chances to catch him down the stretch, this number was eventually matched only by 36-year-old Chinese star Wen-Chong Liang, who closed with rounds of 67-69.  But Liang, who has never won in Japan, couldn't quite get over the bar in the playoff, with Fujita closing him out on the fifth extra hole..................Previously known for shooting an 11-under-par 59 under lift-clean-and-place conditions at the rain-deluged 2013 Nelson Mandela Championship, 30-year-old Colin Nel broke through for his first career Sunshine Tour victory in another weather-shortened event, the Wild Waves Challenge, in Port Edward.  A former NAIA All-American at Oklahoma City University, Nel easily played the best golf over the first two days of the mid-week event, carding back-to-back 65s to take a three-shot lead over Jared Harvey and Ulrich van den Berg.  But Friday opened with winds gusting as high as 40 miles per hour, causing a delay of over three hours and eventually prompting officials - mindful of a similar forecast for the next 48 hours - to cancel play.  This left Nel, a local product whose previous best Sunshine Tour finishes were a trio of fourth places, to be declared the winner..................Breaking a victory drought which dated to a win at the European Tour's 2010 Avantha Masters, 28-year-old Queensland native Andrew Dodt charged home with a final round 67 to claim his second win as a professional at the Isuzu Queensland Open.  Dodt was an afterthought for most of the week at the Brookwater Golf & Country Club, playing his first nine in 38 on his way to an opening 72, then double-bogeying the first hole on Saturday en route to another 72, which left him six shots behind Tom Bond after 54 holes.  But on a Sunday upon which nobody else bettered 69, and none of the realistic contenders broke 70, Dodt charged home with four late birdies for a 67, eventually edging Bond by two.

PGA Tour - Deutsche Bank Championship  -  Chris Kirk  (269)
European Tour - Open D'Italia  -  Hennie Otto  (268)
Japan Tour - KBC Augusta  -  Hiroyuki Fujita  (276)
Sunshine Tour - Wild Waves Challenge  -  Colin Nel  (130)
Australasian Tour - Isuzu Queensland Open  -  Andrew Dodt  (281)
LPGA Tour - Portland Classic  -  Austin Ernst  (274)
LET - Scottish Ladies Open  -  Trish Johnson  (209)
JLPGA Tour - Nitori Ladies  -  Jiyai Shin  (208)
Champions Tour - Shaw Charity Classic  -  Fred Couples  (195)
Euro Senior Tour - Travis Perkins Masters  -  Colin Montgomerie  (204)
Web.com Tour - Hotel Fitness Championship  -  Bud Cauley  (268)
E Challenge Tour - Northern Ireland Challenge  -  Joakim Lagergren  (271)

Breaking a two-and-a-half-year, 48-tournament drought, Hunter Mahan won the first event of the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs, claiming a two-shot victory at The Barclay’s, played at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.  Ultimately prevailing over a crowded leaderboard on Sunday, Mahan began the week in style, trailing first round leader Bo Van Pelt by one after carding a five-under-par 66.  His fortunes slipped slightly on Friday following a three-birdie, three-bogey 71, but a 68 on Saturday put him in the clubhouse only one stroke behind co-54-hole leaders Jason Day and Jim Furyk.  For Furyk, the final round turned into another frustration-filled Sunday, for even after birdieing the 2nd and 3rd holes, he could manage no better than a closing 70, leaving him alone in eighth place; it was the eighth straight time he has failed to convert a 54-hole lead.  Day, for his part, did somewhat better.  Looking for his second PGA Tour victory of an injury-slowed 2014, he turned in two-under-par 33, bogeyed the par-4 11th but then added back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th to finish with 68 – good enough for a three-way tie for second.  Joining him there were Cameron Tringale (who might have tied Mahan with a 72nd-hole birdie, but instead made bogey) and the least likely contender of all, Stuart Appleby, who closed with a sparkling 65 to land his first top-three finish since winning the Greenbrier Classic in 2010.  Amidst this crowded competition, Mahan separated himself by logging three straight birdies at holes 15-17, allowing him the luxury of a slightly sloppy bogey at the last to still win by two………………Wales’ Jamie Donaldson won for the third time on the European PGA Tour – and clinched a spot on his first Ryder Cup team – at the inaugural playing of the D+D Real Czech Masters, closing with Sunday 68 to edge countryman Bradley Dredge by two outside of Prague.  Donaldson needed a top-seven finish to clinch the coveted Ryder Cup berth and demonstrated his determination early, taking the first round lead with an eight-birdie, two-bogey 66, then maintaining a slim one-shot margin over France’s Gregory Bourdy after posting a Friday 69.  He then began his third round with an eagle at the 538-yard 1st, but a double-bogey at the long par-4 8th and two late back nine bogeys eventually saw him home in 71 – good enough only to stand two shots behind Dredge, who followed opening rounds of 68-70 with a bogey-free 66 on Saturday. But in a final round which also saw Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and South Africa’s Merrick Bremner factor into the mix, Donaldson quickly retook the lead by birdieing the first three holes, leaving him two ahead of Dredge at the turn.  Both men then played the final nine in 35, and with neither Kjeldsen or Bremner being able to match that number, Donaldson walked home to raise the trophy.

PGA Tour - The Barclay's  -  Hunter Mahan  (270)
European Tour - D+D Real Czech Masters  -  Jamie Donaldson  (274)
LPGA Tour - Canadian Pacific Women's Open  -  So Yeon Ryu  (265)
JLPGA Tour - CAT Ladies  -  Momoko Ueda  (210)
Champions Tour - Boeing Classic  -  Scott Dunlap  (200)
Euro Senior Tour - English Senior Open  - Cesar Monasterio  (202)
Web.com Tour - Winco Foods Portland Open  -  Carlos Ortiz  (270)
E Challenge Tour - Rolex Trophy  -  Byeong-Hun An  (269)

It had been nearly four and a half years since Colombia’s Camilo Villegas had found the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour, and as he sat five strokes back on a very crowded Saturday night leaderboard, the 2014 Wyndham Classic didn’t seem likely to be the event that would end the drought.  But Villegas came out firing on Sunday, logging four birdies and an eagle over his first eight holes at the Sedgefield Country Club, turning in 29 and injecting himself very much into the championship mix.  The first round leader with a bogey-free 63, the 32-year-old Villegas had played somewhat disappointing golf during middle rounds of 69-68, and that form returned over his final nine when, with a chance to push himself well out in front, he managed but a single birdie over the final nine.  Thus in the clubhouse with his second 63 of the week, Villegas waited for 45 minutes in the hope that he might still end up in a playoff – a wait which must have become progressively more optimistic as, one by one, the other contenders all stumbled.  Among those who came up shy, the most prominent were Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson (who needed only a par 4 at the tough 18th to force a playoff but left his approach short, then three-putting from off the fringe), Nick Watney (who needed a birdie for to tie but instead drove out-of-bounds and carded a six) and Heath Slocum, who finished two shots back with bogeys at both the 17th and 18th………………Marc Warren’s form had certainly been on the upswing coming into the inaugural Made In Denmark tournament, for his last three starts had included a third at the Scottish Open, a T39 at the Open Championship and a T15 at the PGA Championship.  But in Denmark, the 33-year-old Scot finally put it all together, playing some outstanding weekend golf to claim his third career European Tour victory, and his first since the 2007 Johnnie Walker Championship.  Warren initially stood seven shots off the pace at the halfway mark but made a major move in the third round when, in winds gusting as high as 30 mph, he birdied four of his final six holes to post a Saturday-low 66, good enough to join Wales’ Bradley Dredge atop the leaderboard, three shots ahead of the pack.  Sunday thus essentially shaped up into a two-man battle, but with Dredge bogeying three of his first five holes, Warren was quickly in the driver’s seat, gaining a three-shot lead by the turn and playing steady enough golf that Dredge was never able to move closer than two thereafter………………Australian Steve Jeffress managed rather a rare feat at the inaugural playing of the Fiji International, being the first man off the tee on Thursday morning and the last to hole a putt on Sunday afternoon - that final stroke being for a birdie to clinch victory in this lucrative event co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour.  Jefress was around the lead all week after beginning the tournament with rounds 69-70-69, good enough to tie him for a two-shot 54-hole lead with 20-year-old Jake Higginbottom.  In the Sunday finale, Higginbottom moved out to a two-stroke lead at the turn before bogeying the 10th and 13th to fall back into a tie.  Another bogey at the par-3 15th, combined with a clutch Jeffress birdie, buried Higginbottom's chances, with the final margin extending to four strokes when the 38-year-old Jeffress birdied both the 17th and 18th.

PGA Tour - Wyndham Championship  -  Camilo Villegas  (263)
European Tour - Made In Denmark  -  Marc Warren  (275)
OneAsia Tour - See Australasian Tour (Below)
Australasian Tour - Fiji International  -  Steven Jeffress  (278)
LPGA Tour - Wegman's LPGA Championship  -  Inbee Park  (277)
JLPGA Tour - NEC Karuizawa 72 Tournament  -  Bo-Mee Lee  (203)
Champions Tour - Dick's Sporting Goods Open  -  Bernhard Langer  (200)
Euro Senior Tour - SSE Scottish Senior Open  -  Mark Davis  (211)
Web.com Tour - News Sentinel Open  -  Martin Piller  (262)
E Challenge Tour - Vacon Open  -  Mark Tullo  (264)
Symetra Tour - Eagle Classic  -  Marissa Steen  (202)

Rory McIlroy came into the PGA Championship hot, having backed his epic Open Championship victory at Hoylake with a two-shot triumph at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in his next start, climbing back into the number one sport in the Official World Ranking in the process.  Thus he arrived at Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club as the strongest Major championship favorite since Tiger Woods - and seemingly very much at home with the expectations.  McIlroy's performance in Thursday's opening round did little to suggest the the oddsmakers were wrong, for playing over a rain-softened Valhalla layout that would yield low scores all week, he posted a five-under-par 66 that left him one shot off the lead held by England's Lee Westwood and a pair of Americans, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer.  What made McIlroy's round notable, however, was that it might have been quite a bit lower, for after turning in three-under-par 32, he hooked his second at the par-5 10th out-of-bounds en route to a double-bogey, then followed that with a bogey at the 210-yard 11th.  But where many a golfer might have lost their momentum entirely after falling back to even, McIlroy instead responded with four straight birdies at holes 12-15, then added one more at the par-5 closer to push himself resiliently back into the mix.  Friday saw McIlroy play in the morning and it was then that he began taking control of the tournament, piecing together an up-and-down 67 that included four birdies and an eagle (at his ninth hole, the par-5 18th) and finishing with a tournament-leading nine-under-par 133 total.  His margin was only one, however, for hot on his heels were the ever-competitive Jim Furyk (68) and three-time Major championship runner-up Jason Day, who posted the day's low round (65) by logging five birdies, plus an eagle at the 597-yard split-fairway 7th.  Following more morning rain, Saturday would prove to be the lowest scoring round in PGA Championship history, ultimately producing a 54-leaderboard that was both deep and star-studded.  McIlroy may not have loved his round of 67 but on a day when a number of stars might well have shot past him, he gamely rallied late in the back nine to birdie the 15th, 16th and 18th and maintain a one-shot lead.  Now his closest pursuer was Austrian upstart Bernd Wiesberger, who carded a flawless 65 that included birdies on the final three holes, and moved him into air far more rarified than anything he'd experienced on the European circuit.  Two back was Rickie Fowler (playing with great confidence as he sailed around with a bogey-free 67) while three behind were Phil Mickelson (67) and Day, who played uneven golf en route to a 69.  Sunday morning witnessed still more rain, with play delayed nearly 90 minutes and questions emerging as to whether the round could be completed before darkness.  As things ultimately unfolded, players like Ernie Els, Jimmy Walker and Furyk all made some early noise, but the real challengers proved to be Mickelson, Fowler and Henrik Stenson.  Trying gamely to salvage an otherwise disappointing year, Mickelson charged to an outgoing 31 and by the 12th tee stood 15 under par.  Fowler, meanwhile, bogeyed the 2nd but bounced back with four birdies in five holes and, with one more at the par-5 10th, also stood on 15 under.  Stenson, for his part, turned in 30 and, with a birdie at the island green 13th, joined them at -15.  McIlroy, meanwhile, had stumbled to an outgoing 36, leaving him, quite surprisingly, three off the pace.  But at a moment when almost any sane golfing mind might well have concluded that his run of form was cooling, McIlroy instead mounted an epic charge, ripping a 281-yard 3 wood to seven feet en route to eagling the 10th, then adding a birdie at the 13th which, combined with each of his opponents carding one untimely bogey, saw him nose improbably back ahead.  A wayward drive at the 17th threatened to pull him back, but a 9 iron from a fairway bunker dropped 11 feet from the hole, with the ensuing birdie putt extending the lead to two.  Yet there was still some drama left.  With darkness rapidly setting in, Mickelson and Fowler followed standard Tour etiquette in allowing McIlroy and Wiesberger to drive off quickly behind them at the last, guaranteeing all four players the option to finish even if the horn sounded.  McIlroy's tee ball then narrowly missed right-side water before things became confusing when PGA of America officials then instructed Mickelson and Fowler to stand aside while the final pair hit their second shots - an odd suggestion in any circumstance.  In the end, Mickelson narrowly missed holing a long pitch to tie, Fowler missed his long eagle putt as well, and when McIlroy took two putts from 33 feet for his five, the championship was his.  Fowler, for his part, became the only player in history to finish among the top five in all four of a season's Major championships without winning one.  McIlroy, meanwhile, deeply solidified his hold on world number one status, and also became only the fourth player in the last century (joining Jones, Nicklaus and Woods) to win four Majors by age 25.  Most importantly, however, he gave great legitimacy to the notion that he may now, in fact, be a dominant player with the ability to win on a scale similar to Woods and Nicklaus.

PGA Tour - PGA Championship  -  Rory McIlroy  (268)
LPGA Tour - Meijer LPGA Classic  -  Mirim Lee (270)
JLPGA Tour - Meiji Cup  -  Jiyai Shin  (202)
Web.com Tour - Price Cutter Charity Championship  -  Cameron Percy  (267)
E Challenge Tour - Norwegian Classic -  Benjamin Hebert  (273)
Symetra Tour - New England Charity Classic  -  Sadena Parks  (208)

Any notions that Rory McIlroy might be complacent following his dominant victory at the British Open were dispelled quickly at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational as the 25-year-old Northern Irishman threw his game into gear on the weekend and cruised to a two-shot victory over the same man he battled hardest at Hoylake, Sergio Garcia.  McIlroy stood five shots off Marc Leishman’s lead after an opening round 69, then posted a 64 that might well have given him the halfway lead under normal circumstances.  On this occasion, however, it would only be good enough to trail by four as Garcia uncorked a stunning Friday 61 – a truly remarkable round in that he turned in one-under-par 34, then birdied the 10th and parred the 11th before charging home with seven straight birdies to become the ninth man in PGA Tour history to card a 27 on a par-35-or-greater nine.  It also set up what appeared to be a two-man battle on the weekend between Garcia and McIlroy, and that storyline grew as both men turned in 32 on Saturday before Garcia’s lead expanded to five prior to rain causing a three-hour delay in play.  Uponing returning to the course, however, McIlroy birdied both the 17th and 18th to cut the margin to three after 54 holes.  But as it turned out, the prospect of a serious head-to-head battled faded quickly on Sunday as McIlroy – who predicted he’d need a 63 to win – birdied four of his first five holes which, combined with Garcia playing the same stretch one over, moved him into the lead for good.  McIlroy then played even-par golf thereafter and, with nobody mounting a serious charge, marched methodically home to victory.  The win lifted him back into the number one spot in the OWR for the first time since March of 2013, a re-ascendency which few in the golf world could reasonably dispute……………… In danger of losing his PGA Tour card for the first time in his long and successful career, 37-year-old Australian Geoff Ogilvy instead righted his ship in comprehensive fashion by claiming is eighth PGA Tour title at the newly renamed Barracuda Championship, in Reno.  In the Tour’s only event to be contested using the modified Stableford scoring system, the 2006 U.S. Open champion played solid golf throughout the week, racking up point totals of 16, 7, 12 and 14 over four days of play to salvage his season, gain entrance to the upcoming PGA Championship and guarantee his exempt status on Tour through 2016.  Ogilvy was chased down the stretch by Justin Hicks who, while looking for his first PGA Tour victory, led the entire field on Sunday by carding 18 points.  But as Hicks drew close early in the final nine, Ogilvy responded by grabbing five points with an eagle at the 518-yard 13th, then added birdies at the 367-yard 14th and the 616-yard finisher to ultimately stretch his margin of victory to five.  Though he’d only previously logged two top-25 finishes in 2014, Ogilvy’s form had been on the upswing since before the U.S. Open, and he acknowledged improved putting as reason he was able to convert this into a long-awaited victory.  Despite not winning, Hicks held his game together down the stretch to finish a career-best second while John Huh and another player returning from a papable dip in form, Jonathan Byrd, shared third...............Twenty-four-year-old Satoshi Kodaira landed his second career Japan Tour victory at the Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open, closing with a workmanlike 68 to overcome a three-shot 54-hole deficit and claim the title.  The winner of the 2013 Japan Tour Championship, Kodaira began his week disappointingly, trailing by eight after an opening-round 72.  A second round 68 still left him trailing a trio of halfway leaders by six before Kodaira lifted himself back into the mix on Saturday with a stellar 64, a round which included seven birdies, one bogey and an eagle at the 526-yard par-5 7th.  Now standing three back of Ryutaro Nagano and Thailand's Thanyakon Khrongpha, Kodaira methodically posted three front nine birdies to turn in 33 on Sunday, allowing him to catch Khrongpha and pull within one of Nagano.  A birdie at the par 5 13th then got him to 16 under par, a number which, after Kodaira closed with five straight routine pars, proved enough to win by two.................. Forty-two-year-old veteran Keith Horne won for the sixth time on the Sunshine Tour by cruising to a three-shot victory at the 54-hole Vodacom Origins of Golf event at St. Francis Bay.  Horne took control of the tournament early by opening with a course record-setting 65 over the Jack Nicklaus-designed St. Francis Links, a flawless round which included seven birdies and no bogies, and which staked him to a two-shot lead over Titch Moore.  A second round 71 was a bit uneven, however, leaving Horne tied with 24-year-old second-year player Erik van Rooyen, who had posted a pair of fine 68s that included an eagle at the 443-yard 18th hole in round one.  Remarkably, the players' 136 total stood them five shots clear of the field, setting up a two-man battle in Friday's finale.  Under windy and rainy conditions, Horne bolted out of the gate quickly, recording birdies at the first three holes, then adding another at the 5th before eventually turning with a four-shot cushion over the far less-experienced van Rooyen.  The much tougher back nine would extract four bogeys (against a single birdie) from Horne but under difficult conditions, van Rooyen could only manage to do one stroke better, allowing Horne to cruise home to a relatively easy victory.

PGA Tour - WGC-Bridgestone Invitational  -  Rory McIlroy  (265)
PGA Tour - Barracuda Championship  -  Geoff Ogilvy  (49 pts)
Japan Tour - Dunlop Srixon Fukushima Open  -  Satoshi Kodaira  (272)
Sunshine Tour - Vodacom Origins of Golf  -  Keith Horne  (207)
Champions Tour - 3M Championship  -  Kenny Perry  (193)
Web.com Tour - Stonebrae Classic  -  Tony Finau  (258)
E Challenge Tour - Azerbaijan Challenge Open  -  Moritz Lampert  (272)
Symetra Tour - Credit Union Classic  -  Veronica Felibert  (201)