Tiger Woods has delivered a lot of things to golf since stepping onto the PGA Tour in late summer of 1996. For one, the way he performed in his prime on the heat of Sundays lulled most all of us into believing that winning on Tour is easy.

It isn’t easy winning anywhere, regardless of the tour, from a WGC event at Trump Doral to Puerto Rico and on to South America, as the Web.com Tour ventures to Brazil and Chile for two stops. Winning isn’t easy especially today, with standout players suddenly arriving from all corners of the globe.

Believe it or not, there are 17 countries represented among the current top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, with non-traditional golf countries such as France, India and Austria now stepping into the mix.

J.B. Holmes, who had played so well into Sunday, watched a five-shot lead and a trophy slip through his hands Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. When he watched Dustin Johnson pass him to win, Holmes told the world that God is good, always, but his putter wasn’t.

And his five-shot lead didn’t stick around very long Sunday.

“Very rarely does somebody have that big lead and hold it through the whole day,” he said. “The guys are good out here.”

They’re good in a lot of places. Phil Mickelson and others may thumb their collective noses at opposite-field events contested during the limited-field WGCs, but the fields offer an incredibly diverse mix, and lots of two-way traffic. There are veteran players trying to find a spark to rejuvenate careers (as Alex Cejka did, winning in his 287th start), and there are young players who are on the way up and just vying for a tiny piece of the big pie.

Brandon Hagy, a long-bombing, 23-year-old standout from Cal, held the lead at the midway point in just his third PGA Tour start, and Sam Saunders, 27, had his first crack at joining his grandfather, Arnold Palmer, as a PGA Tour winner. Palmer won the Canadian Open in his 30th PGA Tour start; Saunders, who was part of a five-man playoff and seemed to have the advantage after ripping a 3-iron from the right trees to the front apron of the par-5 18th hole, was making his 32nd.

For perspective, Palmer took home $2,400 for his first victory, in 1955; Saunders walked away with $198,000 after tying for second. Saunders had failed to make the cut in seven consecutive starts, and then nearly won. He was excited to get to Tampa.

One thing about golfers: You lose a whole lot, but there’s always an opportunity awaiting next week. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey departed Puerto Rico Sunday night for South America and a Web.com Tour start in Brazil. The former McGladrey Classic winner said, “I’m hoping to catch lightning in the bottle again. There’s always that chance.”

Jerry Kelly, who has played WGCs and opposite-field events, was in Puerto Rico, and was disappointed that he and his fellow competitors didn’t score better despite steady winds. There were 12 Champions Tour players on hand, so sure, the tournament has to go deep to fill a field. Still, he thought the older players in the field kind of talked themselves down too much. Didn’t give themselves enough credit.

“Opposite-field event, I don’t care. Everybody’s a great player, and when you start talking like that, you kind of start talking yourself out of the greatness,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of guys out there who probably talked themselves out of playing well.”

Puerto Rico has been something of a springboard for young players. Jordan Spieth, then 19, opted for PR over a Web.com event in 2013, finished second, got into Tampa with his top-10 finish and soon earned enough money for special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. He was off and running. Last March, Chesson Hadley won Puerto Rico en route to being the Tour’s Rookie of the Year.

No fewer than half a dozen players had a shot at winning on Sunday, trying to get their hands on that giant lottery ticket that is a two-year exemption on Tour. Scott Brown, the 2013 champion, had a chance, as did four others (Saunders, Tim Petrovic, Jon Curran, Emiliano Grillo) who fell short to Cejka, the gritty 44-year-old, in the one-hole playoff.

Perhaps the arrival worth noting was that of Grillo, the 22-year-old Argentine who moved inside the top 100 in the world (No. 96) with his runner-up finish. He moved from Buenos Aires to the U.S. at 16 to attend the IMG Academy, turned pro young and makes his home in Florida. He has competed against the likes of Spieth and Justin Thomas for years. He’s quite polished for his age, having competed on the Euro Tour for four seasons, and decided to forgo three starts in South Africa, where he’s had success, to compete in Puerto Rico.

He was one shot out of the lead after 54 holes at Trump International. When asked that evening where his next worldwide start would be, he grinned and said, “Tampa, hopefully.” He has become a consistent player in Europe, finishing second in Dubai last season, tying for fifth in Qatar this year, and won the Argentine Open by six shots in December. The PGA Tour is where he wants to be. And on Sunday, a Tour card was his for the taking.

Grillo played brilliantly in the heavy wind and occasional rain, showing why he ranked second on the European Tour in greens in regulation last season by hitting some creative knockdown shots to give himself several good opportunities. But he kept failing to convert with the putter, though in fairness, he struck a couple of makable putts in sideways rain. (“That’s my weakness,” he said Saturday. “The putting.”) No miss was more painful than a 3-foot tiddler for par on the 72nd hole to win the championship. He pulled the putt a tad, and his ball rimmed around the left side of the cup and out. He was 3 feet from achieving his dream, and now must regroup. Tough game.

Grillo said that had he been told Thursday morning that he’d have a chance to be part of a Sunday playoff, he’d have been pleased. But early Monday he flew from San Juan to Tampa and this week’s Valspar Championship mostly shocked, not sure what to make of all the emotions churning inside.

“Well, it’s sort of a mix,” he said. “It gives me the confidence I can win out here as well, but I’m still looking for my first win on the big Tour … it’s one shot, and you know, it feels like I should have won this tournament by four or five shots.

“It is what it is,” he would say with a shrug, citing the old players’ hymn. Yes, it is what it is. And for those golfers trying to win, be it anywhere, here’s what it is: one tough assignment.