PGA Tour - Travelers Championship  -  Ken Duke  (268)
European Tour - BMW International Open  -  Ernie Els  (270)
Japan Tour - Japan Golf Tour Championship  -  Satoshi Kodaira  (274)
Asian Tour - Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters  -  Pariya Junhasavasdikul  (275)
LPGA Tour - Walmart NW Arkansas Championship  -  Inbee Park  (201)
LET - Allianz Ladies Slovak Open  -  Gwladys Nocera  (279)
JLPGA Tour - Nichirei Ladies  -  Yumiko Yoshida  (205)
Champions Tour - Encompass Championship  -  Craig Stadler  (203)
Web.com Tour - Rex Hospital Open  -  Chesson Hadley  (265)
E Challenge Tour - Scottish Hydro Challenge  -  Brooks Koepka  (266)
Canada - ATB Financial Classic  -  Cancelled (flooding)
Symetra Tour - Four Winds Invitational  -  Cydney Clanton  (208)

"This is the longest U.S. Open course we've played."

With that simple pre-tournament observation, three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington might well have cooled the jets of many who were predicting that the U.S. Open's return to legendary Merion after a 32-year absence would result in record-setting low scores.  And Harrington's point was a valid one, for while the pundits focused on five sub-400-yard par 4s, a seemingly week mid-section and a total yardage beneath 7,000, far less attention was paid to a collection of five very demanding par 4s (led by the 504-yard 5th and the 521-yard 18th) and a trio of truly gargantuan par 3s (Tiger Woods referred to the 256-yard 3rd as "a driveable par 4"), all of which combined to make prognostications of a 20-under-par winner look laughable by week's end.  Of course, one reason for such predictions was the torrential rains which softened up the ancient Hugh Wilson-designed layout in the days leading up to the Open, followed by the heavy thunderstorms which caused a pair of delays (the first extending three hours) during Thursday's opening round.  But given that the rough thus morphed from dangerous to truly ferocious, and that while short holes weren't going to play meaningfully shorter, the longer entries became borderline backbreaking, a reasonable argument can be made that the rains actually toughened Merion - a suggestion perhaps born out by Justin Rose's eventual winning aggregate  of one-over-par 281.  In the end, Sunday would begin with eight legitimate contenders for the title, but that numbner decreased rapidly in the early going.  Among the first to back off were 36-hole leader Billy Horschel (with bogeys at the 2nd, 3rd and 5th) and veteran Steve Stricker, who belied his reputation for accuracy by hitting two balls out-of-bounds at the par-5 2nd en route to a card-wrecking triple-bogey eight.  Next it was Luke Donald who, hitting a driver at the par-3 3rd, beaned a walking scorer, shaking him up and leading to a run of five bogeys and a double-bogey as he buried his hopes with an outbound 42.  And then there was Charl Schwartzel, who curled in a short birdie putt at the 1st to tie for the lead, and seemed likely to remain in the battle to the end - before promptly recording six bogeys and a double-bogey from the 3rd to the 10th holes, eventually shooting 78.  The remaining contenders - Rose, Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan and Jason Day - held up better in the early going, with Day in particular looking capable of improving upon his third-place finish at The Masters by carding three birdies in the first 10 holes to climb to even par.  But bogeys at the 11th and 14th dampened his hopes, and when makeable birdie putts at 15 and 16 stayed out, he eventually ran out of holes.  Mahan too hung tough, standing at one over par for the day and tied for the lead through the 14th before a double-bogey at the sneakily difficult 411-yard 15th led ti his playing the four closers in four over par, leaving him in a tie for fourth.  For Mickelson's part, double bogeys at 3 and 5 (both off three putts), combined with a birdie at the 4th, saw him staggered early, and he might well have fared better in the end had several well-struck putts not narrowly missed soon thereafter.  Then, on the verge of falling from contention, he holed a 75-yard wedge shot to eagle the 10th and hurled himself right back into the lead - a position he would soon relinquish after poor wedge shots led to disastrous bogeys at the 13th and 15th.  In the meantime, Rose had ridden birdies at the 4th, 6th and 7th to an outgoing 35, then, after a three-putt bogey at the 11th, moved into the lead with clutch birdies at both the 12th and 13th.  He made a dissapointing bogey at the 14th after a poor blast from the right greenside bunker, then a three-putt bogey at the 16th when a near-perfect approach rolled back to the front of the green.  When Mickelson missed an eight-footer for birdie at the 16th, it came down to the final two holes with Rose nursing a one-stroke lead.  The 32-year-old Englishman responded with two superb long iron shots, lacing a 2 iron to within easy two-putt range at the 17th, then firing a brilliant 4 iron to the back fringe at the brutal 18th, from where he chipped dead with a fairway metal to finish at plus one.  Unable to birdie the 246-yard 17th, Mickelson then needed an even less likely birdie at the last to tie but, after driving in the rough, he was unable to hole a 60-yard desperation chip and thus was, for a record sixth time, a runner-up at the U.S. Open.  For Rose, who went from 17-year-old amateur phenom to struggling young pro, before working his way to becoming one of the game's elite ball-strikers, it was, in his own words "A childhood dream come true."

US Open - Justin Rose  (281)
European Tour - Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open  -  Simon Thornton  (279)
Asian Tour - Queen's Cup  -  Prayad Marksaeng  (270)
Sunshine Tour -  Polokwane Open  -  Dean Burmester  (204)
JLPGA Tour - Suntory Ladies Open  -  Rikako Morita  (278)
Euro Senior Tour - Speedy Services Wales Senior Open -  Philip Golding  (145)
Web.com Tour - Air Capital Classic  -  Scott Parel  (266)
E Challenge Tour - See European Tour (Above)
Symetra Tour - Decatur-Forsyth Classic  -  Sue Kim  (206)

Former Tennessee high school star Harris English claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, cobbling together an up-and-down final-round 69 in front of a gallery stocked with high school friends to edge Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings by two.  The 23-year-old English, a former All-American at the University of Georgia, began Sunday one shot behind Shawn Stefani and appeared to have shot imself out of contention after bogeys at the 8th and 9th caused him to turn in 38.  But comeback birdies at 10 and 11 gave him new life and, following an untimely bogey at the par-4 13th, clutch birdies at the 16th and 17th finally moved him in front to stay.  Stefani, meanwhile, hung around the lead early but was sunk by a run of four bogeys from the 8th through the 12th, ultimately carding a disappointing 76 and tying for seventh.  Among the contenders, it was Stallings who, for the second straight week, mounted the biggest Sunday charge, recording birdies at 3, 6, 8 and 9 to claim a lead that at one point swelled to three shots.  But English cut into that with his back nine birdies before Stallings dashed his own hopes with a double-bogey at the 15th and a bogey at the last.  And then there was Mickelson, who shot a third-round 65 to get within site of the leaders, then played his first 11 holes at even par on Sunday before birdies at 14, 16 and 18 lifted him to a share of second.  For Mickelson, one of the rare elite entries this week, it served as a positive tune up for next week’s U.S. Open at Merion…………… Joost Luiten of The Netherlands claimed his second career European Tour victory at the Lyoness Open, darting to a three-stroke lead over a stellar first 54 holes before coasting home with a weather-interrupted final-round 71 in Atzenbrugg, Austria.  The 27-year-old Luiten, who nearly won this same event (before ultimately tying for third) in 2011, birdied five of his first six holes in Thursday’s opening round but was rather less spectacular on Sunday, turning in one-under-par 35 before bogeying the 202-yard 11th, then securing the trophy with a birdie three at the 411-yard 16th.  Two strokes in arrears was Thomas Bjorn of Denmark (who closed in 68) while third place was shared by China’s Wen-Chong Liang (66) and Romain Wattel of France, who played the week’s steadiest golf with rounds of 68-68-69-69.  Luiten’s closest pursuers after the third-round, Spaniards Jorge Campillo and Eduardo De La Riva, struggled on Sunday, carding rounds of 72 and 73 respectively.  Also disappointed on Sunday was defending champion Bernd Wiesberger, who bogeyed the 18th to tie for 14th when a top 10 would have moved him into the top 60 of the Official World Ranking, earning him a late spot in next week’s U.S. Open…………… In one of the more memorable finishes in recent Sunshine Tour history, 26-year-old Jacques Blaauw captured his maiden professional win at the Vodacom Origins of Golf - Eastern Cape, with the margin of victory coming via an eagle at the 442-yard par-4 70th hole.  Blauuw had entered Friday's final round with a one-shot lead, then fallen behind after going out in two-over-par 38 before mounting a final nine charge with birdies at holes 11, 14 and 15.  By this point, he was locked in a close battle with P.H. McIntyre (who closed with a sterling 65) and Danie van Tonder, as well as 14-time Sunshine Tour winner Desvonde Botes, who'd moved into contention with an eagle at the par-5 15th.  But lightning struck at the long par-4 16th when Blaauw spun his 147-yard approach back more than 15 feet into the hole, suddenly thrusting him two ahead with two to play.  Both McIntyre (still looking for his first win after finishing second a week earlier) and Neil Schietekat birdied the par-5 18th to close within one.  But van Tonder, who could have forced a tie with a final birdie of his own, could only par the last, and Botes could only par the final three, leaving Blaauw to raise the trophy by the narrowest of margins.   

PGA Tour - FedEx St. Jude Classic  -  Harris English  (268)
European Tour - Lyoness Open  -  Joost Luiten  (271)
Sunshine Tour -  Vodacom Orig\ins: Eastern Cape  -  Jacques Blaauw  (204)
LPGA Tour -  Wegman's LPGA Championship  -  Inbee Park  (283)
JLPGA Tour - Yonex Ladies  -  Junko Omote  (206)
Champions Tour - Regions Tradition  -  David Frost  (272)
Euro Senior Tour - Bad Ragaz Senior Open  -  Paul Wesselingh  (272)
E Challenge Tour - D+D Real Czech Challenge Open  -  Francois Calmels  (266)  
Canada - Times Colonist Island Savings Open  -  Stephen Gangluff  (277)

Holding off a typically strong field, and battling through some difficult playing conditions, Matt Kuchar rode his standard brand of highly consistent golf to victory at the Memorial Tournament with a 12-under-par 276 total.  Beginning Sunday’s final round two strokes ahead of both Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley, Kuchar never missed a fairway until the 17th as he posted five birdies and a single bogey over the first 15 holes, building a seemingly commanding lead.  But an ill-timed bogey at the par-3 16th left the door slightly ajar, and the 26-year-old Chappell, who birdied the 13th, 15th, 17th and, via a stiffed approach, the demanding 18th, did everything he could to crash through it.  The 34-year-old Kuchar held himself together, however, and needing a par at the last to win, calmly played his approach to 20 feet, then holed the putt to raise the trophy in style.  Chappell’s exciting run home allowed him to claim solo second while Stanley, who was right in the thick of things before bogeying the par-5 11th, carded a 71 to finish third.  Also briefly in the hunt was Scott Stallings, who tied for the day’s low round with a 67 that included five straight birdies from the 4th through the 8th, then one more at the par-4 10th.  Late bogeys at the 16th and 18th would derail him, however, leaving Stallings in a tie for fourth.  Less stellar were the performances of world number two Rory McIlroy (who opened with 78 and ultimately tied for 57th) and world number one Tiger Woods, whose Saturday 79 included a career-worst 44 on the back nine, and who logged a shocking three double bogeys and two triple bogeys – all without a single penalty stroke – en route to tying for 65th…………… Finland’s Mikko Ilonen ended a six-year, 126-start European tour victory drought at the Nordea Masters in Stockholm, his 21-under-par 267 total proving good enough to beat PGA Tour regular Jonas Blixt of Sweden by three.  The 33-year-old Ilonen’s last victory came in this same event in 2007 (when it was played at the Arlandastad Golf Club) and while his fortunes slipped somewhat in the ensuing five years, he arrived at Bro Hof Slott having logged a pair of seconds (at the Trophée Hassan II and the Volvo China Open) and a T12 (at the BMW PGA) in his last four starts.  After opening with a 70, he posted middle rounds of 63-65 to take a two-stroke 54-hole lead over the event’s 2011 champion Alexander Noren, then moved further ahead with birdies at the second and third holes on Sunday, building a lead that would prove insurmountable.  What challenges there were began with Blixt, who started the day four back and briefly pulled within two when an eagle at the par-5 9th saw him out in 32.  But two bogeys and a double bogey from the 11th through the 14th set him back, and it was only late birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th that lifted him into second place.  Noren also briefly challenged after birdieing the 4th, but an incoming 37 ultimately placed him in a tie for third.  Also notable were the performances of last week’s BMW PGA champion Matteo Manassero (who shot 66-65 to lead at the halfway mark before weekend rounds of 71-70 left him tied for fourth) and Australian Andrew Dodt, who managed the staggeringly rare feat of carding two holes-in-one in the same round, acing both the 208-yard 7th and the 175-yard 11th en route to a memorable Friday 65…………… The rise to Japan Tour superstardom of Hideki Matsuyama took another step forward at this week’s Diamond Cup where the 20-year-old rookie strung together steady rounds of 71-69-68-71 to claim his second victory of the young season.  Though tied for the lead going into the final round, Matsuyama was far outshined by his 54-hole co-leader, 58-year-old J Tour legend Tommy Nakajima, whose middle rounds of 68-66 had placed him in position to potentially claim a 49th career win, and his first since 2006.  But after turning in even par on Sunday, Nakajima faded with bogeys at the 15th, 17th and 18th, leaving Matsuyama to coast home two strokes ahead  of Koreans Hyung-Sung Kim (winner of the recent Japan PGA Championship) and Sung-Joon Park, as well as Australian Brad Kennedy.  For Matsuyama, the win marked his fifth top-10 finish in as many 2013 starts, with his last four outings including two wins and two seconds, the latter each finding him only one shot off the winning score.  The victory solidified Matsuyama's place atop the Order of Merit, where he has thus far nearly doubled the earnings of his nearest pursuer, Hyung-Sung Kim…………… Twenty-seven-year-old Merrick Bremner claimed his third career Sunshine Tour victory at the Lombard Insurance Classic, winning, in wire-to-wire fashion, by two strokes over P.H. “Powerhouse” McIntyre at the Royal Swazi Sun Country Club.  The big-hitting Bremner began the event with a sterling nine-under-par 63, then backed it up with a stellar 65 to hold a four-stroke lead after 36 holes.  He began his final round with two straight bogeys, however, opening the door both for McIntyre (in pursuit of his maiden professional victory) and 13-time tour winner Jean Hugo, who’d thrown himself into the mix with a 63 of his own in round two.  Bremner would soon right the ship, however, reeling off seven straight pars on the outward half before coming  home in 33 (including a birdie at the par-3 finisher) to clinch the title.  McIntyre, something of a mercurial player in the past, posted a flawless five-birdie 67 to claim second while Hugo, who began the final round six shots in arrears, carded four front nine birdies to get into the mix before a inward 38 buried his hopes.

PGA Tour - Memorial Tournament  -  Matt Kuchar  (276)
European Tour - Nordea Masters  -  Mikko Ilonen  (267)
Japan Tour - Diamond Cup Golf  -  Hideki Matsuyama  (279)
Sunshine Tour - Lombard Insurance Classic  -  Merrick Bremner  (199)
LatinoAmerica - Dominican Republic Open  -  Ryan Blaum  (279)
LPGA Tour - ShopRite LPGA Classic  -  Karrie Webb (209)
LET - Unicredit Ladies German Open  -  Carlotta Ciganda  (101)
JLPGA Tour - Resort Trust Ladies  -  Mamiko Higa  (207)
Champions Tour - Principal Charity Classic  -  Russ Cochran  (205)
Web.com Tour - Mid-Atlantic Championship  -  Michael Putnam  (273)
E Challenge Tour - Fred Olsen Challenge de Espana  -  Brooks Koepka  (260)

Though the week began shrouded in the controversy of some ill-advised Sergio Garcia comments about Tiger Woods (remarks inadvertently multiplied by Tour CEO George O'Grady) and the disappointment of poor Thursday and Friday weather, the E Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship certainly ended on an exciting note, with Italy's Matteo Manassero prevailing in a three-way playoff with Scotland's Marc Warren and the event's 2010 winner, England's Simon Khan.  It was a week in which many of the anticipate contenders bowed out early, with two-time winner Luke Donald missing the cut courtesy of a thumb infection, and both world number two Rory McIlroy and the recently hot Graeme McDowell failing to reach the weekend without a similar excuse.  That left the 54-hole lead to be claimed by 30-year-old Alejandro Canizares (a one-time E Tour winner at the 2006 Russian Open), who stood one ahead of a most likely contender, world number 12 Lee Westwood, and two up on Manassero and Warren.  But Westwood, who has never won the Tour's most coveted non-Major title, could do no better than a 73 on Sunday, eventually falling into a tie for 9th.  For Canizares, an even-par 72 was quite respectable under the circumstances, but it was accomplished with two late birdies, leaving him in a tie for fourth, one off the pace.  Manaserro, for his part, made his move early, going out in 32, then marching steadily home with an even-par 37 to post a 278 total.  Warren went the opposite route, going out in even-par 35, carding four straight birdies at holes 10-13, then missing a chance to win the title outright with a bogey at the long par-4 15th.  And then there was Khan, seldom a contender away from Wentworth, who closed with a flawless, bogey-free 66 to grab his spot in the playoff.  Warren was elimated on the first extra hole (the par-5 18th), leaving Manassero to eventually close out Khan with a birdie at the fourth (again the 18th).  The victory was the 20-year-old Manassero's fourth career E Tour triumph (in just 82 starts) and, while giving him a win in each of his first four professional seasons, did much to reconfirm his place among the game's rising young stars...............It was a five-year wait for 39-year-old Thomas Brent "Boo" Weekley, a drought which saw the 2008 Ryder Cup player slip as far as 180th place on the 2011 PGA Tour money list and 618th in the Official World Ranking.  But with a second-place finish at the Tampa Bay Championship and a T6 in New Orleans, the Milton, FL native has spent much of 2013 knocking on the door, and at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial he finally pushed himself in.  Weekley posted consistent rounds of 67-67-66-66 over the famed par-70 Colonial Country Club layout, putting himself in position to win by recording birdies at holes 8-10 on Sunday, then punctuating it with a birdie at the par-3 13th - which, after a subsequent run of five-closing pars, proved the margin of victory.  Several prominent players represented Weekley's primary competition, headed by second- and third-round leader Matt Kuchar, who fell two behind following Weekley's birdie at the 13th and never really mounted another charge, instead birdieing the 18th simply to pull within one and claim solo second.  Third belonged to two-time Colonial winner (and defending champion) Zach Johnson who closed with a 66 - but he too never really had a chance to win, making birdies at the 16th and 17th to pull close.  One man who did have a chance was 28-year-old Scott Stallings, who charged into the fight with a stunning 29 on the outward half, and actually held the lead through 14 holes before a double-bogey at the par-4 15th ended his hopes of victory. 

PGA Tour - Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial  -  Boo Weekley  (266)
European Tour - BMW PGA Championship  -  Matteo Manassero  (278)
LPGA Tour - Pure Silk Bahamas Classic  -  Ilhee Lee  (126)
LET - Deloitte Ladies Open  -  Holly Clyburn (211)
JLPGA Tour -  Bridgestone Ladies Open  -  Rikako Morita  (208)
Champions Tour - Senior PGA Championship  -  Kohki Idoki  (273)
Web.com Tour - Mexico Championship  -  Michael Putnam  (275)
E Challenge Tour - Telenet Trophy  -  Daniel Gaunt  (273)

Twenty-six-year-old South Korean Sang-Moon Bae claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, jumping out to a big front nine lead on Sunday before hanging on down a tense homestretch.  Bae, an 11-time winner worldwide before this week, began the final round one stroke behind Keegan Bradley, who’d led the tournament since Thursday, when he opened with a stunning course-record round of 60.  But Bae carded four early birdies (including three straight at holes 5-7) on a Sunday beset by 40 mph winds  and appeared to be coasting on a four-shot lead before a double-bogey at the 9th and a bogey at the 10th let the competition back into the game.  Most of that competition came from Bradley, who also claimed his first PGA Tour title here in 2010, and who was attempting to become the event’s first wire-to-wire winner since Tom Watson in 1980.  Having scrambled enough to stay close to Bae over the first 14 holes, he finally drew even by holing a 17-foot birdie putt at the 15th.  But at the par-5 16th, Bae holed a five-footer for birdie to re-take the lead before Bradley lipped out a shorter effort to keep pace, then bogeyed the par-3 17th to effectively end his chances...............A loser to Nicolas Colsaerts in last year’s final of the World Match Play Championship, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell returned to claim the title this year, beating Thailand’s ageless Thongchai Jaidee 2 & 1 over the scenic Thracian Cliffs Golf Course in Kavarna, Bulgaria. McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Opn champion, began the final round inauspiciously, quickly falling two down after the 43-year-old Jaidee birdied numbers 2 and 4.  But McDowell drew closer with a birdie of his own at the par-3 7th, then found another gear the match’s crucial stage, logging birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th to lift himself to two up.  Jaidee could do no better than a half at the par-5 16th, allowing the popular McDowell to close him out with another half at the 17th.  The victory was McDowell’s second in five weeks worldwide (coming on the heel’s of the PGA Tour’s Heritage Classic in Aril) and lifted him to seventh in the Official World ranking...............Lacking full status on both the PGA and European Tours at the start of the year, 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein plied his trade all around the globe over the season’s first half, before finally nailing down a full E Tour exemption by claiming the Madeira Islands Open, played off the coast of Portugal.  The 23-year-old Uihlein bested a comparatively light field (the event is co-sanctioned by Europe’s developmental Challenge Tour) in claiming his first professional win but he did so in style, launching himself into contention with a second-round 64 (the week’s low round), then birdieing four of his final eight holes on Sunday to nose in front, eventually closing out a two-shot victory when Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen double-bogeyed the 18th to miss a chance at a playoff............... Beginning Sunday’s final round an imposing nine shots off the lead, Korea’s Hyung-Sung Kim charged home with a final-round 65 (low round of the day by three shots) to claim his second career Japan Tour title at the Japan PGA Championship.  The 33-year-old Kim got off to a blazing start, carding birdies on six of his first eight holes to go out in 29, then came home in even-par 36 to post a 279 total.  Kim then had to watch as multiple challengers attempted to catch him, including Yoshinori Fujimoto (who couldn’t manage a birdie after the 14th hole) and Hiroyuki Fujita, who might have tied but for a bogey at the par-4 15th.  But most disappointed was up-and-coming 20-year-old star Hideki Matsuyama, who held a seemingly commanding four-shot 54-hole lead before bogeying five of his first seven holes on Sunday.  Matsuyama gamely recovered with birdies at the 14th and 15th to draw within one, but he too could not find the one more late birdie needed to catch the victorious Kim.