Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka missed the cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by one shot, ending their team run before the weekend. Lowry, the 2024 champion (then paired with Rory McIlroy, who is absent this year), partnered with five-time major winner Koepka. After a strong opening 66 in Thursday’s fourballs, the pair carded a 69 in Friday’s foursomes to finish 36 holes at nine under, one stroke shy of the 10-under cut line.
Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick produced the round of the day, a seven-under 65 in Friday’s foursomes, and vaulted into a share of second place after 36 holes. American duo Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer kept the lead at 16 under after closing with back-to-back birdies to finish 70, leaving them one clear of the Fitzpatricks and two other teams.
The Fitzpatricks had been six shots adrift of Smalley and Springer entering Friday but used the lowest score of the day to cut that margin to a single stroke. Matt Fitzpatrick has been in excellent form, rising to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings following victories at the Valspar Championship and last week’s RBC Heritage, where he beat world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff. Alex arrives in form as well, having won his first DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. The Sheffield-born brothers missed the cut at this event last year by two strokes.
Also sitting at 15 under alongside the Fitzpatricks are Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat, and Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge. England’s Aaron Rai, paired with American Sahith Theegala, is at 12 under, while Matt Wallace and Marco Penge stand at 11 under.
Event format
The Zurich Classic is the PGA Tour’s only team event. Rounds one and three are fourballs, where each player plays their own ball and the better score on each hole counts for the team. Rounds two and four are foursomes (alternate shot), with teammates alternating shots using a single ball and alternating tee shots. After two rounds, the top 33 teams and ties advance to the weekend. If teams are tied after 72 holes, a sudden-death playoff determines the champions.
Prize and incentives
The total purse was increased from $9.2 million to $9.5 million. The winning team will split roughly 14.45% of the purse—about $1.372 million—and each player will earn 400 FedExCup points. No Official World Golf Ranking points are awarded for this tournament. The champions will also secure spots in significant 2027 events, including The Players Championship and The PGA Championship, and receive a two-year exemption to play the Zurich Classic.