The format of the Zurich Classic always results in wild swings throughout the week, as teams of two playing Best Ball (Thursday and Saturday) and Alternative Shot (Friday and Sunday) cause serious swings in the leaderboard.
Just as the promising teams of Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick got off to a solid but modest start in the first round, this week’s favorites will be looking to be the kind of teams that can make that kind of swing going forward. The two teams played together for the first 36 holes, and although both had poor performances on Thursday, they were unable to keep up with the blistering scoring pace set by some of the morning group.
The Fitzpatrick brothers, with Matt fresh off a commemorative event victory at RBC Heritage, shot a first-round 64 to finish tied for 26th place, six strokes behind leaders Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer, and tied the tournament record with a 14-under 58 going into the opener.
Normally an opening 64 would be a great job, but in a best ball format it wasn’t Fitzpatricks’ best and the Friars in particular will be frustrated with the way it ended. He showed a solid run in the middle of the back nine, reaching 18th place at 9 under. However, both shots fell into the water on their second shots, resulting in a pretty disastrous bogey on the par-5.
Meanwhile, the pairing of Koepka and Lowry had a very hard time doing ham and eggs when necessary, and Koepka in particular had a hard time. Koepka struggled with his tee shot, couldn’t get into good position to attack the flag, and made just one birdie of the day, his last birdie of the afternoon on the 10th. Lowry, a past champion along with Rory McIlroy, continued his strong run with five birdies on the front nine and caught up with Koepka, but he stalled from there and was unable to make a single birdie on the backside.
After a sluggish opening-round 66, Lowry and Koepka are eight strokes behind the leader at T49 and will have to do some serious work to get into contention with alternating shots on Friday.
leader
1. Alex Smalley & Hayden Springer (-14): Smalley and Springer took advantage of calm winds to take part in the morning waves that ripped through TPC Louisiana. The pair had 12 birdies and one eagle in the opening round, tying the tournament record for a 58. Zurich’s challenge is to maintain this pace of goals throughout the week, with the aim of taking a substitute shot on Friday and heading into the weekend in first place.
contestants
2. Davis Thompson & Austin Eckrot (-13)
T3. Sam Stevens & Zach Bouche, Eric Cole & Hank Lebioda (-12)
T5. Ben Martin & Trace Crowe, Michael Brennan & John Keefer, Billy Horschel & Tom Hoge, Pontus Nyholm & Jesper Svensson, Matt McCarty & Mac Meissner, Stefan Jaeger & Jackson Suber (-11)
T11. Sahit Segala & Aaron Rai, Taylor Pendrith & Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Dunlap & Gordon Sargent, William Mow & Takumi Kanaya (-10)
The teams that advance this week have a chance to win. If he hits 58 in the second round of best balls on Saturday, he can move up the leaderboard. That said, in a week where winning scores are big under par, it’s always good to take advantage of Thursday, with 14 teams able to reach double digits under par on Thursday alone.
Brennan and Kiefer were among them. Two of the PGA Tour’s young rising stars partnered for a successful round despite Brennan’s ill-advised hack from the pond with his shirt off.
Of the 14 teams at 10 under or above, the pair with the best odds going into this week was Rye and Segala, who made a very friendly bounce off Rye’s approach on No. 13 for an eagle and jumped to 10 under.
Friday will decide who can maintain quality with their alternative shots, but all players at 10 under or higher after Thursday will be confident in their future standings.
Updated Zurich Classic odds and picks
Odds from Caesars Sportsbook
- Hayden Springer & Alex Smalley (41/10)
- Davis Thompson & Austin Eckrot (11/2)
- Zach Bouche & Sam Stevens (19/2)
- Matt McCarty & Mac Meisner (12-1)
- Johnny Keefer & Michael Brennan (12-1)
- Hank Lebioda & Eric Cole (15-1)
- Saheeth Segala & Aaron Rai (18-1)
- Jackson Suber & Stefan Jaeger (20-1)
Among the top-tier teams, Thompson and Eckrot look like the pair that can keep the momentum going and go deep into this tournament. Looking further back, Segala and Lai played together last year and should be used to the alternative shot format, but Suber and Jaeger are a team that can rack up birdies and maintain their position even on low-scoring weeks.
