European Tour - DP World Tour Championship  -  Rory McIlroy  (265)
Japan Tour -  Casio World Open  -  Jung-Gon Hwang  (269)
Sunshine Tour - Cape Town Open  -  Jake Roos  (279)
Australasian Tour - BMW New Zealand Open  -  Jake Higginbottom (a)  (281)
JLPGA Tour - JLPGA Tour Championship  -  Bo-Mee Lee  (203)

…That the R&A, co-conspirator with the USGA in burying their heads in the sand with regard to the effects of modern equipment, will be undertaking changes to toughen up the Old Course in preparation for the 2015 Open Championship (the list of planned alterations appears here).  That the Old Course hasn’t been substantially changed since 1949 – and that it remains among the least-altered championship courses on the planet – is apparently of little relevance now.  The game’s governing bodies have spent the better part of two decades abrogating their regulatory responsibilities, and now apparently plan to place a finger bandage on a gaping wound by instituting a putter-anchoring ban which took them a full 20 years to figure out.  And now, to cover for this legacy of non-governing governance, they will make changes to the game’s most sacred playing ground – a move which, as my friend Geoff Shackelford points out, they not-so-proudly tried to bury by announcing it not only on a Friday but also the day after American Thanksgiving. 

It’s good to see that the game remains in such responsible and courageous hands.

European Tour - UBS Hong Kong Open  -  Miguel Angel Jimenez  (265)
European Tour - South African Open  - Henrik Stenson  (271)
Japan Tour - Dunlop Phoenix  -  Luke Donald  (268)
Asian Tour - See European Tour (Above)
Sunshine Tour - See European Tour (Above)
Australasian Tour - Talisker Australian Masters  -  Adam Scott  (271)
LatinoAmerica - Puerto Rico Classic  -  Sebastian Vazquez  (274)
LPGA Tour - CME Group Titleholders  -  Na Yeon Choi  (274)
JLPGA Tour - Saio Paper Elleair Open  -  Miki Saiki  (205)

Men's professional golf may be officially done in North America for 2012 but this coming week offers a trio of significant events in far off corners of the globe.  Tops on the list is the 103rd playing of the South African Open, an event which has drawn varied levels of field over the years (largely dependent upon its spot on the ever-shifting international calendar) and which has been co-sanctioned by the European Tour since 1997.  Foreigners have made the occasional splash here over the decades but by and large the Open's list of champions speaks to the degree of dominance demonstrated domestically by South Africa's four greatest golfers: Sid Brews (a glaring omission from the World Golf Hall of Fame and an eight-time champion between 1925 and 1952), the legendary Bobby Locke (nine times a winner from 1935-1955, the first two as an amateur), Gary Player (unbelievably a 13-time winner between 1956 and 1981) and, most recently, Ernie Els, a five-time champion.  This year's playing will be the second at the Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate, a modern Jack Nicklaus-designed facility located east of Johannesburg (course info here, event website here)...............Next up is the Hong Kong Open, an event which dates to 1959 and which has been co-sanctioned by the European Tour since 2001.  Once again, shifting schedules are an issue, leaving the E Tour in the rather odd position of co-sanctioning two major international events (located some 6,600 miles apart) during the same week.  At least in terms of European stars, Hong Kong figures to be the bigger draw, largely due to the presence of World Number One Rory Mcilroy, who returns to defend his 2011 title.  The event's website is here, while the website of the colorful Hong Kong Golf Club is visible here...............Lastly, this week also offers the 34th playing of the Australian Masters, the newest of Oz's three major summer events, dating to 1979.  Though Gene Littler, Bernhard Langer, Justin Rose and (when the event went on a 2009 appearance fee binge) Tiger Woods have all won here, the overall roster of champions has been dominated by Australians, led by Greg Norman, who hoisted the trophy six times between 1981 and 1990.  Of greatest interest to overseas fans, however, is the event's venue, for it returns for the second time to Kingston Heath, a layout second only to Royal Melbourne as the nation's best.  The event's website is here, while a hole-by-hole tour of Kingston Heath is viewable here.

While the word “slump” would clearly be inappropriate, it has been a quiet 2012 for former phenoms Matteo Manassero and Ryo Ishikawa, but both re-emerged in style over the weekend.  The 19-year-old Manassero won for the first time since April of 2011 by defeating Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff at the Singapore Open, giving the young Italian a rather amazing three E Tour wins while still a teen.  Ishikawa, meanwhile, broke a far longer drought, winning for the first time in exactly two years at the Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters.  The victory was the 21-year-old Ishikawa’s 11th in his homeland, an early career run that began memorably when he claimed the 2007 Munsingwear Open KSB as a 15-year-old amateur.  Prior to this most recent win, Ishikawa had logged only five top-10s in Japan in 2012 (the best a T3 at July’s Sega Sammy Cup), though he did make himself competitive in America for the first time, finishing 2nd at March’s Puerto Rico Open (played opposite the WGC Cadillac) and tying for 9th at Memorial.

Charlie Beljan will grab a spot in PGA Tour history with his epic victory at the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic, having battled a case of acute anxiety that saw him carted from the golf course following a remarkable Friday 64, then recovering to close with a Sunday 69 en route to a two-shot triumph.  But Beljan also managed to save his professional life by jumping from 139th in earnings (and a return trip to Q School) all the way to 63rd – though in the end, the victory made him exempt through 2014 regardless.  Among those who snuck in under the wire, and thus retained a spot on the big stage for 2013, were:

120    David Mathis    $736,765 
121    Harrison Frazar    $730,203 
122    James Driscoll    $687,338 
123    Jeff Maggert    $682,742 
124    Tim Herron    $660,279 
125    Kevin Chappell    $647,510

The 42-year-old Herron jumped from 136th to 14th by shooting 67-69 on the weekend to tie for 9th.  Second-year player Chappell, meanwhile, began the week in 123rd place and after opening 67-69, barely hung on over the weekend with rounds of 72-73, good enough for a tie for 34th.  Beljan and Herron were the ony players who began the week outside the top 125 who successfully played their way in.

On the outside looking in were:

126    Jerry Kelly    $645,701 
127    Rod Pampling    $620,893 
128    Billy Mayfair    $619,961 
129    Trevor Immelman    $617,296 
130    Gary Christian    $616,457

The absolute losers here are Rod Pampling (who finished 124th a year ago and was thus walking a dangerous tightrope), 41-year-old Tour rookie Gary Christian and veteran Billy Mayfair, each of whom must now go to Q School or resort to the Web.com or overseas circuits in 2013.  Jerry Kelly ranks 25th in career earnings and thus can use a one-time exemption for next year.  (Mayfair, a top-50 career earner, already used his one-timer after finishing 157th in earnings in 2009).  Trevor Immelman was largely playing for fun this week as he has one more year left on his five-year exemption as 2008 Masters champion.

PGA Tour – Children’s Miracle Network Classic  -  Charlie Beljan  (272)
European Tour - Barclay's Singapore Open  -  Matteo Manassero  (271)
Japan Tour - Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters  -  Ryo Ishikawa  (273)
Asian Tour - See European Tour (Above)
Sunshine Tour - Nedbank Affinity Cup  -  Trevor Fisher Jr.  (207)
LatinoAmerica – Dominican Republic Open  -  Oscar Fraustro  (278)
LPGA Tour – Lorena Ochoa Invitational  -  Cristie Kerr  (272)
JLPGA Tour - Itoen Ladies  -  Bo-Mee Lee  (204)
Euro Senior Tour - Fubon Senior Open  -  Tim Thelen  (202)

WGC - WGC-HSBC Champions  -  Ian Poulter  (267)
Sunshine Tour - ISPS Handa Match Play  -  Doug McGuigan  (1 up)
LatinoAmerica - Lexus Peru Open  -  Sebastian Salem  (275)
LPGA Tour - Mizuno Classic  -  Stacy Lewis  (205)
LET - Sanya Ladies Open  -  Cassandra Kirkland  (210)
JLPGA Tour - See LPGA Tour (Above)
Champions Tour - Charles Schwab Cup Championship  -  Tom Lehman  (258)

Asia.  Not the Asian circuit per se but the whole of Asia, which may have set a new standard for being the Ground Zero of professional golf this past week.  Consider that the PGA Tour (in its unofficial co-sanctioning capacity with the Asian Tour) was in Malaysia for the CIMB Classic, the European Tour was playing its inaugural BMW Masters in Shanghei, China, the LPGA was in Taiwan for the Sunrise Championship and the LET was in China for the Suzhou Taihu Open.  Toss in domestic Japan Tour and JLPGA events and the game’s six largest tours (by gender) were all encamped in a single corner of the world simultaneously – an uncommon occurrence to say the least……………Nick Watney, who closed with a career-best 61 to win the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, nipping Robert Garrigus and defending champion Bo Van Pelt by one.  Though only an official triumph on the Asian Tour, the win is the second of 2012 for Watney who started the year somewhat slowly before winning The Barclay’s in late August.  Also knocking on the door of relevance (again) was Tiger Woods, who crept within two of the lead on Saturday before three bogeys and a double in a six-hole back nine stretch lowered his colors.  A fine closing 63 saw him home in a tie for 4th - but the pattern continues……………Suzann Pettersen, who has saved her best golf of 2012 for the LPGA’s late, somewhat off-the-radar swing through the Far East.  Last week Pettersen defeated Catriona Matthew in sudden death to win the KEB-HanaBank Championship in South Korea.  This week the mercurial Norwegian was the lone player to card four rounds in the 60s en route to claiming the Sunrise Championship by three over Inbee Park in Taiwan.  After ending 2011 ranked #2 in the world, then slipping noticeably during much of 2012, Pettersen might just end the year right back where she started from – or fairly close……………Oliver Goss, an 18-year-old, became the rare amateur to win on a professional circuit by claiming the Australasian Tour's Western Australia Open on Sunday.  And while the fact that he beat a fellow amateur, Brady Watt, in sudden death to do so is indeed indicative of a less-than-elite field, E Tour veteran Brett Rumford finished third, so there was some international-level talent present............... And lastly, a nod to Korea’s Mi-Jeong Jeon, a rare visitor to America but a player who, with her triumph at this week’s Morinaga Weider Ladies, claimed her 21st career title on the JLPGA circuit.