This week's winners and losers from the golf world

In another entertaining week on the links, Justin Thomas held off buddy Jordan Spieth for the Dell Technologies Championship, a Houston native won big on the LPGA Tour, and an ordinary pitch shot created a lot of buzz.

Here are this week's winners and losers from the world of golf.

Winners:

Pitch shots

It's the most talked about pitch shot in a very long time. Tiger Woods took his first real steps toward a comeback Thursday, releasing a video of himself pitching a ball onto a practice green at his home in Jupiter, Florida. The 14-time major champion hasn't hit a shot since undergoing back surgery in April, but wrote at the bottom of the tweet, "Dr. gave me the OK to start pitching." The next question is: When will he make those swings in competition?

Stacy Lewis

The Houston native pledged to donate her entire paycheck this week at the Portland Classic to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Then she went out and won by one shot. Lewis came into the event without a victory to her name since June 2014, but closed out the tournament with a 3-under-par 69 to hold off In Gee Chun and claim the $195,000 check. Her sponsor, KPMG, matched her donation, while Marathon Oil donated $1 million. "We're going to be able to help people rebuild houses and get their homes back," Lewis said. "That's more important than any win."

Peter Uihlein

Uihlein, a former All-American at Oklahoma State, was destined to jump to the PGA Tour after claiming the U.S. Amateur in 2010 - but he took a different road to the premier circuit in golf. He's played the European Tour since 2012, but locked up his 2017-18 PGA Tour card Sunday, winning the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in the opening event of the Web.com Tour Finals.

Losers:

Charley Hoffman

It's been a year of close calls for Hoffman, and he had to swallow another tough loss Sunday in Boston. The 40-year-old came into the week No. 10 in the American Presidents Cup standings - the final automatic spot - but fell to 11th Sunday evening. Kevin Chappell edged the four-time PGA Tour winner by 0.23 points. Hoffman could still make the team, but has to rely on a captain's pick by Steve Stricker this week.

Russell Knox

Knox fell one spot shy of advancing to the BMW Championship, posting rounds of 72-72-72-71 in Boston to tie for 61st place. The Scotsman entered the week in the 65th spot, but gained 18 just FedEx Cup points this week, coming up two points shy - or one shot away from making it to Illinois.

Sergio Garcia and his Sunday putter

Garcia was 2-under par just 39 holes into the Dell Technologies Championship Sunday, but then his temper got the better of him. After the Masters champion hit a poor second shot at the par-4 fourth with his putter, he smashed his flatstick in rage, eliminating the club from competition for the round. Garcia would use 3-wood, driver, and 3-iron en route to a 4-over-par 75 in the third round, torpedoing any chance of winning the tournament. The Spaniard rebounded Monday, shooting a 4-under-par 67 using the putter he won with at Augusta National in April.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)