The star-studded pairing of Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka missed the cut by one shot at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, exiting the team event before the weekend. Lowry, who won the tournament in 2024 alongside Rory McIlroy (absent this year), teamed up with five-time major champion Koepka. After a strong opening 66 in Thursday’s fourballs, they shot a 69 in Friday’s foursomes to finish 36 holes at nine under, one shy of the 10-under cut.
Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick fired a seven-under 65 in Friday’s foursomes to surge into a share of second place after 36 holes. American duo Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer retained the lead at 16 under after back-to-back birdies closed their 70, leaving them one clear of the Fitzpatricks and two other teams.
Matt and Alex had been six shots behind Smalley and Springer going into Friday but produced the lowest round of the day to cut the deficit to a single stroke. Matt Fitzpatrick has enjoyed a stellar few months, rising to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings after victories at the Valspar Championship and last week’s RBC Heritage, where he defeated world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a play-off. Alex also arrives in form, having claimed his first DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. The Sheffield-born brothers entered this event last year but missed the cut by two strokes.
Tied with the Fitzpatricks on 15 under are Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat, and Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge. England’s Aaron Rai, paired with American Sahith Theegala, sits at 12 under, while Matt Wallace and Marco Penge are at 11 under.
How the event works and the format
The Zurich Classic is the PGA Tour’s lone team event. Rounds one and three are fourballs, where each player plays their own ball and the lower 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 also alternating tee shots. After two rounds, the top 33 teams and ties advance to the weekend. A sudden-death play-off decides the winners if teams are tied after 72 holes.
What is the prize?
The prize purse has been raised from $9.2m to $9.5m. The winning team will split roughly 14.45% of the purse, about $1.372m, and each player will earn 400 FedExCup points. No Official World Golf Ranking points are awarded for this event. The champions will also receive spots into key 2027 events, including The Players Championship and The PGA Championship, plus a two-year exemption to play the Zurich Classic.