The star-studded pair of Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka missed out on qualifying by one stroke when they left the Zurich Classic in New Orleans over the weekend.
Lowry won this tournament two years ago, playing alongside Rory McIlroy, who is absent this year. The Masters champion’s absence forced Lowry to team up with five-time major champion Koepka.
The two shot a 66 on Thursday’s four-ball, and a 69 on the foursome, putting them at 9 under at the halfway stage and one point away from the cut mark of 10 under.
Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex shot a 7-under 65 on Friday and shot up the leaderboard, moving into a share of second place after 36 holes.
Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex shot a 7-under 65 in Friday’s foursome to move into a share of second place.
American pair Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer closed out their round of 70 with back-to-back birdies to maintain their lead at 16 under, one spot ahead of the Fitzpatrick brothers and the other two.
Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick had a six-stroke lead over Smalley and Springer heading into Friday’s foursome, but they played their worst rounds of the day to close the gap to one stroke heading into Saturday.
The victory in New Orleans caps off a memorable few months for the Fitzpatrick family, as Matt moves up to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) following his victory at the Valspar Championship and last week’s win at the RBC Heritage, where he defeated world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff.
Alex was also in great form, winning his first DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. The Sheffield-born brothers participated in the tournament last year, but missed out by two strokes.
Fitzpatricks is tied for second with Davis Thompson and Austin Eckrot, Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge at 15 under.
The Brit is more interested in Aaron Rai, who is tied with American partner Sahit Segala at 12 under, but Matt Wallace and Marco Penge are one stroke behind at 11 under.
What is the structure and format of the event?
The Zurich Classic is the only team event on the PGA Tour calendar, with teams competing in a four-ball format in the first and third rounds. Each golfer plays his or her own ball and the lowest score for each hole is counted.
The second and final round shifts to a foursomes format, with players taking turns taking shots using only one ball. The total strokes are the team’s score for each hole, and players take alternate tee shots throughout the round.
After the first two rounds, the top 33 teams and ties will advance to the weekend. If there is a tie after 72 holes, a sudden death playoff will be held to determine the winning team.
What is the prize?
There’s a lot at stake this week, with PGA Tour chiefs increasing the prize money for the Zurich Classic from $9.2 million (£6.83 million) to $9.5 million (£7.05 million).
The winner will share 14.45 per cent of the prize money, which is expected to be around $1.372 billion (approximately £1.02 million).
Players on the winning team also receive 400 FedExCup points each, but no OWGR points.
Champions will also qualify for some of the biggest tournaments of the 2027 season, including The Players Championship and PGA Championship. They will also receive an exemption to play in the Zurich Classic for the next two years.
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