The groups of Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler, and Sean O’Hair and Brandon Matthews, every shot an 11-under 61 in the Four-ball format on Thursday to tie for a one-shot lead via the first spherical of Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The 40-year-old O’Hair has 4 PGA TOUR wins, the final in 2011. Matthews, 28, has by no means completed increased than thirty fifth.
The spotlight of their spherical, if not the total day, was Matthews’ eagle on the par-4 twelfth gap. He launched a 313-yard drive into the fairway, then holed a wedge from 135 yards.
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Zurich Classic is about staff work
“Sean played really a stress-free round of golf himself, and that took a lot of pressure off me,” Matthews mentioned. “I could attack little bit more.”
Clark and Hossler mixed for 11 birdies — seven by Hossler — at the TPC Louisiana.
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While the 28-year-old Hossler and 29-year-old Clark don’t have a PGA TOUR victory between them, each have a number of top-20 finishes this season. Clark completed fifth at the Valspar Championship. Hossler tied for eleventh at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“Our games complement each other,” Clark mentioned. “We both are good putters, both have a good short game, and then I kind of fade it and he kind of draws it. So, it’s a good mix.”
Matt Fitzpatrick, recent off final weekend’s victory at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, mixed along with his youthful brother, Alex, for a 62 — tied with 4 different groups.
“It’s as much fun as I’ve had on the golf course in, well, about four days, to be fair,” Matt Fitzpatrick mentioned.
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Also taking pictures 62 had been the groups of Sungjae Im and Keith Michell, David Lipsky and Aaron Rai, Luke List and Henrik Norlander, and Michael Kim and Seung-yul Noh. Noh gained at the TPC Louisiana in 2014, earlier than the match turned a staff occasion.
Rai on kind
Rai carried his staff with an eagle and 7 birdies.
Six groups had been two photographs off the lead, together with the tandem of Sahith Theegala and Justin Suh. There had been greater than a dozen eagles throughout the area on a dry, sunny and breezy day — two by Theegala on seventh and 18th, each par 5s. Theegala additionally made a 69-foot birdie from the fringe on the par-3 ninth.
The 24-year-old Alex Fitzpatrick is a former Wake Forest participant who turned professional final June and performs totally on the Challenge Tour in Europe. To play the Zurich Classic, he wanted a sponsor exemption, which match organizers gladly granted to make sure the participation of his 28-year-old brother, who can also be the defending U.S. Open champion.
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Alex, who may earn a PGA TOUR card with a win, pulled his personal weight round the Pete Dye-designed, 7,425-yard course in-built cypress swamps exterior New Orleans.
The Fitzpatrick brothers every made 5 birdies, with Alex making three straight throughout the English tandem’s last 5 holes.
“He played great on the back nine, and he bailed me out a few times,” Matt Fitzpatrick mentioned.
Play switches to the tougher Foursomes format for Friday’s second spherical at the Zurich Classic. After the reduce, the format will once more go to Four-ball for the third spherical and again to Foursomes for the last spherical.
The staff of Sam Burns and Billy Horschel was amongst 16 groups that shot a 64. Burns and Horschel had been runners-up at the Zurich Classic a 12 months in the past, ending two photographs again.
Burns twice reached par-5 greens in two (on the seventh and 18th). But he missed each eagle putts. Their eight birdies had been highlighted by a 30-foot putt from Horschel.
“It was a good round, but also a frustrating round,” Burns mentioned. “Other than the putt Billy made on 3, we didn’t really make many putts. I would say we played better than what we shot.”
Defending Zurich Classic champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele began slowly and had been 1-over via six earlier than birdies on six of their subsequent seven holes. But they alternated bogeys and birdies on their last 4 holes to complete at 5-under.
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