Monday 26 October 2015 11:18, UK
From Justin Rose extending the run of English success to those who narrowly missed out in their pursuit of European Tour safety, we look back at five talking points from the weekend's action.
The race is open
Whereas last year's European Tour Order of Merit was sewn up long before the Final Series, as Rory McIlroy's two major wins and victories in both the BMW PGA Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational gave him an all-but unassailable advantage, this year's outcome is far less clear-cut.
Less than 600,000 points now split the top five on the Race to Dubai standings, with Justin Rose the latest player to throw his name in to the mix thanks to a narrow one-shot win over Lucas Bjerregaard at the Hong Kong Open.
Rose was neck-and-neck with the Dane throughout the weekend but could afford to bogey the last and still claim an eighth European Tour title, lifting him above Shane Lowry and within 500,000 of McIlroy at the top of the standings heading in to the final four events of the year.
With enhanced points up for grabs in the season-ending series, starting at this week's Turkish Airlines Open, there are still a number of players in with a shout of topping the money list and earning the Harry Vardon Trophy.
Rule Britannia!
Rose's hard-fought win not only gave the world No 6 a European Tour victory for the fourth season running, but also added to what has already been a season to remember for English golf.
He's now the 11th different English player to win an event on the tour during 2015 and the third in as many weeks, following on from Matt Fitzpatrick's British Masters victory and Andy Sullivan's Portugal Masters success.
That list doesn't include the likes of European Tour veterans Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, while rising stars Eddie Pepperell and Tyrrell Hatton are among those to have come close to a first victory during the season.
The level of varied English success has been far higher than in recent seasons - will we see any further English winners during the Final Series?
Fine margins
The regular-season finale in Hong Kong may have attracted a big-name field, but it was matters further down the Race to Dubai standings that were causing plenty of interest.
A number of players in action were attempting to break in to the top 110 in the rankings and secure their playing rights for next season, with some now facing a trip to Qualifying School next month after narrowly missing out.
Australia's Jason Scrivener finishing in a tie for third rather than outright third saw him miss out on sneaking in, while Ben Evans' tied-11th display in Hong Kong saw him fall agonisingly short on the money list, lying in 111th spot just 1,007.70 points behind Renato Paratore.
If you thought Evans was unfortunate, the margin was convincing in comparison to the cut-off line on the Web.com Tour money list. The difference between journeyman Rob Oppenheim in 25th and Eric Axley in 26th on that occasion? Just 101 dollars.
Beware of the rookie
We're only two weeks in to the new season and we already have two first-time winners on the PGA Tour.
The brilliantly-named Smylie Kaufman finished with a flourish at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to claim an unlikely one-shot win, following on from Emiliano Grillo's play-off triumph seven days earlier.
It's not just in the men's game where the rookies are impressing, with Emily Kristine Pedersen holding on to claim her maiden Ladies European Tour title at the Hero Women's Indian Open.
With recent Web.com Tour graduate Brett Stegmaier finishing one-shot back in Las Vegas and fellow new boy Patton Kizzire also in the tie for second, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a few more new faces on the list of winners over the coming weeks.
Heading for greatness?
All the talk earlier in the year was how much Jordan Spieth has already achieved at such a young age, but the two-time major champion's success has already been outdone in the ladies game by teenage sensation Lydia Ko.
The New Zealander doesn't turn 19 until April but already has ten LPGA victories to her name, including a maiden major at last month's Evian Championship, and has just returned to the top of the world rankings following her latest dominant display.
Ko blitzed through the field during the weekend at the Taiwan Championship to cruise to a convincing nine-shot victory, a sixth win worldwide in what's rapidly turning in to a season to remember for the former amateur world No 1.
If the 18-year-old continues to reach the winners circle as frequently in the years ahead, then we can expect Ko to reach even more new landmarks in what is already a record-breaking career.
