With the Masters' first-ever November start just three days away, it's a great time to look back on 2020's golf boom, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

By the numbers:

• More rounds: September saw a 25.5% increase in the number of rounds played year-over-year — the fifth straight month to surpass last year's totals.
• More sales: Equipment sales increased 42% year-over-year in the third quarter to just over $1 billion. It was the industry's second-best quarter ever.

The backdrop: When everything shut down in March, major golf organizations formed Back2Golf and began lobbying governors to allow courses to reopen.

• By May, they'd worked with the CDC to devise return-to-play guidelines for the socially-distant sport (i.e. no rakes in bunkers, raised cups).
• In June, the PGA Tour became one of the first professional sports to resume in the U.S.

The big picture: This boom was great for the golf industry in a year when so many businesses were lucky to even tread water, but it should also help grow the sport beyond the pandemic's lifespan.

• The National Golf Foundation estimates the number of junior golfers could increase by 20% (500,000) by year's end, and new or lapsed golfers also increased 20% in H1, per WashPost.

The bottom line: Golf was a physical and mental safe haven for millions of Americans with cabin fever this year, and even moderate retention of the sport's newcomers could help buoy an entire industry for years to come.

ICYMI ... Carlos Ortiz held off Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama to win the Houston Open on Sunday, becoming the first Mexican to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years.

Winners

• The 2018 Heisman race: After putting up video game numbers in college, Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray squared off for the first time as pros — and it more than lived up to the hype. A composed Tua got the win, while Kyler was his usual electric self.
• The 100 Club: Patrick Mahomes became the fastest QB to reach 100 TD passes, while J.J. Watt became the fifth-fastest player to reach 100 sacks.

• Dalvin Cook fantasy owners: Over his last two games, the Viking workhorse has 478 scrimmage yards and six TDs. And he currently leads the NFL in rushing yards (858) and TDs (12) despite only playing seven games.
• The Bills' offense: Josh Allen out-dueled Russell Wilson to give Buffalo a signature win. The Bills have now recorded 20+ first downs in all nine games. The last two teams to do that (2018 Rams, 2017 Patriots) made the Super Bowl.

Losers

• Tampa Tom: Drew Brees and the Saints embarrassed Tom Brady and the Buccaneers on Sunday night. It was the worst loss of Brady's career and the first game in which he threw multiple picks and no TDs since 2009.
• The Chargers' curse: Justin Herbert is in the middle of an all-time great rookie season. There's just one problem: He's on the Chargers, who keep finding new ways to lose.
• Minshew Mania: Jake Luton filled in for an injured Gardner Minshew against the Texans and nearly won the Jaguars the game with a stellar performance that could potentially signal the end of Minshew Mania in Jacksonville.
• Clarity: The Steelers barely beat the Cowboys and the Chiefs barely beat the Panthers, the latest reminder that the NFL is a league of parity. That said, the gap between the elite and non-elite teams is especially small this year.

Sunday scoreboard ... Dolphins 34, Cardinals 31; Saints 38, Bucs 3; Bills 44, Seahawks 34; Steelers 24, Cowboys 19; Titans 24, Bears 17; Ravens 24, Colts 10; Chiefs 33, Panthers 31; Vikings 34, Lions 20; Texans 27, Jaguars 25; Raiders 31, Chargers 26; Falcons 34, Broncos 27; Giants 23, Washington 20

Alabama leapt into the top spot for the first time this season, while Clemson dropped to No. 4 following its double OT loss to Notre Dame, Jeff writes.

• The Crimson Tide have now spent at least one week atop the rankings in 13 straight seasons, extending their own record.
• Wild stat: Alabama has a record 123 appearances at No. 1, and 92 have come under Nick Saban. That would still rank fourth all time, behind only Ohio State (105), Oklahoma (101) and Notre Dame (98).

Elsewhere:

• Notre Dame has now ended three of the six longest regular-season winning streaks in the AP poll era: 36 (Clemson, 2020); 36 (Miami, 1988); 45 (Oklahoma, 1957).
• Indiana is back in the top 10 for the first time since 1969 after beating Michigan, 38-21.
• Northwestern, whose defense has yet to allow a second-half point, is ranked for the first time since 2018.

Heisman watch: Trevor Lawrence had this in the bag before missing two games. Now it's a tight race, with five other QBs joining the fray. In fact, Justin Fields — who has more TDs than incompletions — might be the frontrunner now.

• Lawrence (Clemson): 135/191 (70.7%); 1,833 yds; 17 TD, 2 INT; 71 rush yds, 4 TD
• Fields (Ohio State): 72/83 (86.7%); 908 yds; 11 TD, 0 INT; 57 rush yds, 2 TD
• Kyle Trask (Florida): 125/182 (68.7%); 1,815 yds; 22 TD, 3 INT; 70 rush yds
• Zach Wilson (BYU): 165/220 (75%); 2,511 yds; 21 TD, 2 INT; 158 rush yds, 8 TD
• D'Eriq King (Miami): 143/224 (63.8%); 1,831 yds; 16 TD, 4 INT; 406 rush yds, 2 TD
• Mac Jones (Alabama): 138/177 (78.5%); 2,196 yds; 16 TD, 2 INT; -9 rush yds, 1 TD

Go deeper: There is plenty of happiness in college football — if you know where to look (WashPost)

MLS' 25th regular season has reached its end, concluding a campaign that began in a Disney World bubble, featured multiple coronavirus outbreaks and saw most games played in empty stadiums, Jeff writes.

• Best team: The Philadelphia Union clinched the league's best record with a season-ending victory over the New England Revolution, winning the franchise's first-ever Supporters' Shield.
• Golden Boot: LAFC's 22-year-old forward, Diego Rossi, scored 14 goals, becoming the youngest player to ever lead the league.

What's next: 18 playoff teams — an expanded field to account for the pandemic-shortened season — begin their quest for the MLS Cup on Nov. 20.

• The league determined playoff seeding based on points per game instead of total points to level the playing field after the Colorado Rapids missed a month with an outbreak.
• Of note: Inter Miami and Nashville SC earned playoff spots in their inaugural campaigns, becoming the sixth and seventh expansion teams to do so.

Playoff format:

• Play-in round: Nashville vs. Miami and New England vs. Montreal, with the winners advancing to the first round.
• Rounds 1-3: From Nov. 21 to Dec. 6, a single-elimination bracket will whittle the field from 16 to two.
• MLS Cup Final: On Dec. 12, two finalists will battle it out for the Cup.

Chris Nikic made history on Saturday, becoming the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon — swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running a 26.2-mile marathon, with no breaks in between.

Chris, 21, crossed the finish line in 16 hours, 46 minutes and nine seconds — less than 14 minutes under the official cut-off time at the Ironman event in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Footage circulated on social media of Chris' father, Nick, helping put running shoes on his son's feet before the running portion of the race. His voice cracked as he told him, "You're almost an Ironman buddy! You're two-thirds of an Ironman!"

Just incredible. I've teared up multiple times writing this story and don't think I'll be making any excuses — for anything — this week. Thank you, Chris.

• Location: Village Du Vendée Globe
• Coordinates: 46.5033°N, 1.7952°W

Welcome to Les Sables-d'Olonne, the seaside French town where 33 skippers left port on Sunday to circumnavigate the globe alone in the mythical Vendée Globe race, which occurs every four years.

• Normally, over a million visitors descend upon the town for the start of the "most grueling sailing event ever conceived."
• But this year, with the French government ordering a national lockdown amid the pandemic, the harbor was barren.

The event: The Vendée Globe is the ultimate socially-distanced event. Each skipper will be on their own for the next two to four months, as they attempt to complete the ~25,000-nautical mile voyage.

• The course: Down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope; then clockwise around Antarctica, across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and back up the Atlantic.
• History: The Vendée Globe debuted in 1989 and is considered the ultimate test in solo sailing. A large number of entrants usually retire mid-race, and during the 1996 event, Canadian skipper Gerry Roufs was lost at sea.

The skippers: Some entrants have multimillion-dollar boats and will be competing to win, while others — like England's Miranda Merron — are merely hoping to finish intact.

• Merron "feels fortunate to embark on an adventure where life will narrow down to the essential, especially given the tumultuous state of the world at the moment," writes ESPN's Bonnie D. Ford.
• "She'll bring along one book and a PDF guide to the marine life and birds she'll see ... Aside from that, 'amazing seascapes and skies and ever-changing clouds' are her only entertainment needs."

• 🏁 3rd father-son duo: Chase Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday, taking the torch from teammate Jimmie Johnson, who retired after the race. Chase and his dad, Bill, are the third father-son duo to win NASCAR titles, joining Lee and Richard Petty and Ned and Dale Jarrett.
• ⚽️ $220 million: The British government has agreed to spend $220 million to provide free meals to vulnerable children during the holidays, following a child hunger campaign led by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford.

• 🏈 26 years later: On July 14, 1994, Matt Dunigan threw for a professional football record 713 yards in a CFL game. 26 years later, he was finally able to watch the full-game broadcast after an old VHS tape was discovered.
• 🥊 $365 million: Canelo Álvarez has severed ties with Golden Boy Promotions, voiding his 11-year, $365 million deal with streaming service DAZN — the largest contract ever signed by a professional athlete.

24 years ago today, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield met in the ring for the first time in a bout so highly anticipated it was billed simply as, "Finally."

• Tyson had won the WBA heavyweight title just two months earlier over Bruce Seldon, and this was his first defense of that belt.
• Holyfield was four years Tyson's senior and just one year removed from a forced retirement due to a misdiagnosed heart condition.

The backdrop: Promotion of the fight centered around the theme of good vs. evil, encouraged by the "evil" Tyson.

"It's definitely good vs. evil. He's the good little church boy. I'm the bad, villainous Black man turned Muslim. I'm rotten. I'm mean. I'm a bully. I want to hurt him; my only objective is to hurt him."

The fight: The younger Tyson was the prohibitive favorite, but Holyfield's extensive film study — and, shockingly, superior strength — ultimately proved the difference as he won in an 11th round TKO at Las Vegas' MGM Grand.

The aftermath: They met again the following June in the most infamous bout in boxing history — "The Bite Fight." And now, with both fighters training despite being in their mid-to-late 50s, there have been rumors of a third matchup.

🎥 Watch: Highlights (YouTube)

Andy Reid won his 230th NFL game on Sunday, moving him into fifth on the all-time coaching wins list (including playoffs).

• Question: Who are the only four coaches with more NFL wins?
• Hint: They all have an "L" somewhere in their name.

Answer at the bottom.

Alex Trebek, the host who presided over one of TV's most cherished rituals for 36 years, passed away from pancreatic cancer on Sunday.

"On a show that was usually scheduled between the depressing evening news and a night of reality and crime shows, Alex Trebek did more than teach us trivia and betting strategies.

"He gave us, five days a week, a place to go where it was OK to know things. He was our trusted man with the answers, even in times when reality came to us in the form of a question."

🎥 Watch: Here he is roasting panelists for knowing nothing about sports.