Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka (-6) find themselves teetering on the edge at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after opening the tournament with a 66 at the TPC Louisiana. The score looks very short in the fourball (best ball) format. They sit in 50th place and will have to mount a comeback this Friday in the foursome (alternate shot) to have at least a chance of making the cut, provisionally set at -8. Needless to say, their chances of winning have become much more difficult, since the leaders, Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer (-14), are already eight shots clear.
The Zurich Classic is the only team event of the year on the PGA Tour, it’s a team affair, but it is undeniable that in this opening round Brooks Koepka was far more responsible for his pair’s poor result than Shane Lowry. The American contributed just one birdie all round, a return far from sufficient in this format. The Irishman, without posting an outstanding round, held his own as best he could and at least managed to give them some chance of making the cut.
Smalley and Springer are the leaders with an almost perfect performance. They have gelled perfectly. They posted a 58 with a great start from Smalley, who opened with a four-under spell over the first three holes, and a devastating finish from Springer, carding four birdies in the final four holes.
Smalley and Springer have a one-shot lead over Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat (-13) and are two shots clear of Sam Stevens and Zach Bauchou, Eric Cole and Hank Lebioda, and Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent. Also near the top are two more interesting pairs: Michael Brennan and Johnny Keefer (-11), as well as Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala (-10).
The one who paid the price for playing on the PGA Tour was Alex Fitzpatrick, the recent winner of the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour. The Englishman didn’t even post a score over seven holes, leaving his brother Matthew, last week’s RBC Heritage winner, very much on his own. The brothers finished at -8 after an unexpected bogey on the par-5 18th. Meanwhile, Jacob Skov Olesen stood out with a six-under spell and was the backbone of his partnership with Rasmus Neergaard Petersen.
This Friday is the foursome round, traditionally the one that generates the most movement on the leaderboard. At the end the cut will be set at the top 33 pairs and ties
