- Rory returns to the top of the world rankings
- Kurt falls agonisingly short for Find me 100 followers
- Traders in heaven in Mallorca
- Paul the last man standing when the music stops
Having begun the fourth round of the CJ Cup trailing by a stroke, Jon Rahm was matched at a low of 1.9720/21 after a great start on Sunday which saw him birdie three of the first five holes. Instead of making a fourth from inside 20 feet at the sixth,however, he three-putted for bogey and that was the end of that.
Rahm was always up against it after the bogey at six and a string of pars didn't help his cause. A birdie at the par five 12th put him back in with a shout but a bogey at the par three 14th soon followed and we were left with three men fighting out the finish - the pre-event favourite, Rory McIlroy, KH Lee and my 180.0179/1 Find Me a 100 Winner pick, Kurt Kitayama.
Pre-event 200.0199/1 chance, Lee, was matched at a low of 6.611/2 but he was always chasing after he failed to birdie the straightforward par five 12th, following a poor drive, and we were left with a shootout between Rory and Kurt.
Kitayama was matched at a low of 3.052/1 after a fine drive at the par four 13th but the event was decided at the 14th and 15th holes.
McIlroy and Kitayama were still tied on the 14th tee after a pair of pars at 13. Given only 45% of the field had hit the green on the tricky par three 14th, I was happy when Kurt's tee-shot landed safely on the surface. But that was as good as it got for the Californian.
Rory knocked his to tee-shot at 14 to 13 feet, holed the birdie putt to take the lead and followed that with two more at 15 and 16 to seize control.
Hopes were raised for us Kitayama backers when he drove the par four 15th green, and I still don't really know how the ball stopped where it did.
Rory's drive had found the sand adjacent to the green from where he got-up-and down for birdie but Kitayama three-putted for par and that was effectively the end of the contest.
Kitayama didn't hit a bad first putt, but it was so fast down to the hole that it was impossible to stop it. He barely touched his first putt, but it still ran more than six feet past, and he missed the return before tapping in for a disappointing par.
Having birdied the 16th to go three clear, Rory bogeyed both 17 and 18 but Kitayama could only par his way in and Rory won by a stroke.
Rory's successful title defence sees him return to the top of the world rankings for the ninth time. It was his 23rd PGA Tour title.
That some achievement but Justin Ray gives us a handy reminder of just how incredible Tiger Woods' career has been...
In stark contrast to Rory's brilliance, and indeed Kitayama, Lee and Rahm's, the finish to the Mallorca Open was hard watch with a standard of play several rungs below that witnessed in South Carolina.
Pre-event favourite Rasmus Hojgaard had been matched at a low of 2.3411/8 as early as Friday but he wasn't really in the picture with a round to go. The pre-event second favourite Ryan Fox went into round four tied for the lead with pre-event 36.035/1 chance Yannik Paul.
Having already won twice earlier in the season, Fox was the firm 2.767/4 favourite with a round to go but he started the day with a double-bogey six at the first and was pretty poor all day after that.
Fox found his game momentarily around the turn with birdies at eight, 10 and 11 and he should have birdied nine too, but that hole typified his day. He hit his approach to just six feet but made a five instead of a three.
Fox is probably the quickest player on Tour so it's possible that the slow play affected him. I don't think it can be used as an excuse. He played poorly all day.
The final group of Fox, Paul and Marcus Armitage all struggled at the start. All the way through the final round, I was looking to see who was going to pounce from off the pace to take the title.
Jazz Janewattananond, who I backed after round three at [55.0], was matched at a low of 6.05/1, Nicolai Hojgaard hit a low of 5.14/1, and Ewen Ferguson and Dale Whitnell both also threatened. But after a quite dreadful start, with Paul and Fox both performing poorly, Marcus Armitage looked to have taken the event by the throat.
Having bogeyed three of his first five holes on Sunday, and drifted all the way out to 200.0199/1, the 35-year-old Englishman birdied four holes in five around the turn and when he birdied the par four 15th, he went two clear with three to play.
Armitage hit a low of 1.9110/11 as he went to the par three 16th tee but he three-putted the hole for bogey and drove out of bounds at 17!
While all that was going on, Paul Waring, was matched at a low of 3.4549/20 as he sat in the clubhouse with the lead and Germany's Nicolai Von Dellingshausen hit a low of 4.47/2 when he birdied the 72nd hole to join Waring on -14. Both men had been matched at 1000.0999/1.
We looked set for a playoff when Paul bumbled his way to a par five at the 17th to remain on +2 for the day, alongside the clubhouse leaders on -14, but having played fairly poorly all day, the German produced this bit of magic at the last to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
It was a tough watch, especially Armitage's finish, but yet again traders were treated to a dream Sunday on the DP World Tour, where you never quite know who's going to be left holding the trophy when the music stops.
After three weeks in Spain, the DP World Tour hops over the border for the Portugal Masters this week and the PGA Tour takes in the Bermuda Championship.
I may get the Portugal Masters preview out this evening, but the Bermuda Championship preview won't be published until tomorrow.