Harrington is the lone Irish player in the field in Mexico, as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry take time out before the Arnold Palmer Invitational, while Séamus Power (who is not yet exempt into the API, the fourth of the PGA Tour’s signature events this season) is expected to play in next week’s Cognizant Classic.

Leona Maguire is also crisscrossing time zones this week, playing in the Honda Thailand Championship in Chonburi on the LPGA Tour, the first of the Asian Swing events that also features tournaments in Singapore and China.

On the DP World Tour, there are two Irish players – Conor Purcell and Dermot McElroy – competing in the Magical Kenya Open in Nairobi.

Word of Mouth

“Part of playing late in the day on Sunday is distractions. You get drones, fans, there’s all kinds of stuff going on ... I think having the ability to refocus is always one of my strengths” – Scottie Scheffler on outside noise being part and parcel of the final day at golf tournaments. Scheffler’s tied-third place finish behind Ludvig Aberg in The Genesis further strengthened his lead over Xander Schauffele in the world rankings.

By the Numbers: 6,097

That’s the number of days which Justin Leonard had gone without winning, dating back to his 2008 FedEx St Jude Championship win on the PGA Tour. On Sunday, the 52-year-old snapped that winless streak with a victory in the Chubb Classic on the Champions Tour, as he birdied five of his last seven holes for a closing 68 for 201 (-15) and a four-stroke margin over runner-up Billy Andrade.

On this day: February 18th, 2007

Charles Howell III didn’t make things easy for himself en route to finally claiming a second career win on the PGA Tour, finally getting his hands on some silverware with a play-off win over Phil Mickelson in the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Howell turned pro in 2000 and won his breakthrough event in the 2002 Michelob Championship, only to find it difficult to add to his CV: he’d had nine runner-up finishes since that tour win before finally getting over the line again, defeating Lefty at the third playoff hole after making up a three-shot deficit in the final round.

In shooting a final round 65 for a total of 16-under-par 268 to tie Mickelson, Howell finally claimed career win number two with a par on the par 3 14th, the third hole of sudden death. “I said a prayer before I hit the putt. I said, ‘It’s time, let’s go in’.”

The Social Game

That feeling of being in the mix on a Sunday is why we work so hard. It wasn’t my day but my game is in a good spot. Congratulations to @justinleonard02! Huge thanks to @robwattsperformance and @arizonasportsclink for our work in @theabacoclub the week before the @chubbclassic. And to @philkenyonputting for the tempostik+ and @labgolfputters for the new OZ1 putter – Darren Clarke, after finishing third behind Justin Leonard in the Chubb Classic on the Champions Tour.

Congratulations to Ludvig Aberg on winning The Genesis Invitational. Thank you @GenesisUSA and all the players who participated this week. To the City of San Diego, thank you for the hospitality at Torrey. My @TGRLiveEvents and @tgrfound teams had a short runway to relocate the event and I’m proud of what they were able to accomplish with the help of many. Our support continues to go out to those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. See you next year at Riviera for the 2026 Genesis Invitational – Tournament host Tiger Woods.

The drive for excellence knows no bounds. Congratulations to our newest Merecedes-Benz brand ambassador @luddeaberg on his victory at Torrey Pines – German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz’s social media account gives Aberg the checkered flag.

In the Bag

Ludvig Aberg - Genesis Invitational

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees – Rounds 1,2,3);Titleist TSR2 R4 (9 degrees – Round 4)

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)

7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (21 degrees)

Irons: Titleist T100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50, 54 and 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot Versa #1

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Know the Rules

Q In stroke play, a player swings at and misses a wrong ball. What is the ruling?

A The player gets two penalty strokes but the actual missed stroke does not count. This situation is covered by Rule 6.3c: Since the player made a stroke at a wrong ball, they get the General Penalty, but the stroke does not count.