After a fun, low-scoring day of best ball, Sunday’s alternate-shot format sets up an exciting and stressful final 18 holes of the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. However, before we get to the final round, we have to talk about Saturday’s third-round action.
Thanks to a near sub-60 effort, Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn, former teammates at BYU, hold the 54-hole lead at 23 under. They’ll tee off Sunday afternoon one stroke ahead of Luke List and Henrik Norlander and two strokes in front of the Ryan Brehm/Mark Hubbard and Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry teams — we’ll get to the Irishmen in a minute.
Zurich Classic: Sunday tee times, TV info
If you missed any of Saturday’s action, no worries, we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know from the third round of the Zurich Classic, plus a look at some important information for Sunday’s final round.
Patrick Fishburn of the United States and Zac Blair of the United States celebrate on the 18th green during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 27, 2024 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Blair and Fishburn were not messing around on Saturday.
The 123rd- and 326th-ranked players in the world, respectively, got it going early on Day 3, birdieing the par-4 opener and making eagle on the par-5 second. They’d add four more birdies before making the turn with a 7-under 29. With a sub-60 round in reach, Team Blair/Fishburn birdied four of the first five holes on the back nine and walked to the 15th tee box with a two-shot lead.
Fishburn knocked in a lengthy birdie effort on 15, pushing the pair to 12 under with three holes remaining.
However, if there’s such a thing as a disappointing 60, the pair from BYU failed to reach the 59 mark after three straight pars to finish the day.
“Yeah, just kind of rode Fish all day,” Blair told the media. “He played good. Started off super hot. Birdieing on 1, eagle 2, birdie 4, birdie 5. I mean, it was pretty textbook out there for him.”
Has this come outta nowhere? Yeah, kinda.
Blair had missed three straight cuts coming into the week with his best finish coming at the Sony Open back in January (T-30). Fishburn had missed seven cuts in his first nine events this year with no top 20s.
Both players are looking for their first Tour wins.
Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy share a laugh as they leave first tee during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
McIlroy and Lowry slept on the 36-hole lead, but when they teed off for their third trip around TPC Louisiana, they were toward the bottom of the leaderboard. After a par on No. 1 and a birdie on the par-5 second, the Irish tandem played the next four holes even par. A slow start, especially in best ball.
Then they got it going.
Birdies at Nos. 7, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 16 got them in a tie for third at 20 under, just three shots back of the lead.
On the par-3 17th, after McIlroy missed the green right, Lowry played a beautiful, flighted shot into a gusty wind and knocked it inside 10 feet but couldn’t convert.
A hole later, after McIlroy found the greenside bunker with a 5-wood on 18, the Northern Irishman nearly splashed his third in for eagle but settled for a tap-in birdie.
McIlroy and Lowry will tee off Sunday two back of the lead.
Henrik Norlander of Sweden and Luke List of the United States react on the fourth green after a birdie putt during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 27, 2024 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Four ball is a great format to watch if you love birdies. Here are the teams that took it the deepest Saturday in New Orleans.
- Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn: 12-under 60
- Kevin Yu and C.T. Pan: 10-under 62
- Peter Malnati and Russell Knox: 10-under 62
- K.H. Lee and Michael Kim: 10-under 62
- Luke List and Hendrik Norlander: 10-under 62
Buddy, what are you doing? That’s one of the few things you just can’t do when you’re at a professional golf event.
Odds from DraftKings.
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- TV Coverage: Golf Channel/Peacock: 1-3 p.m ET, CBS: 3-6 p.m. ET, ESPN+: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m ET
- Foursomes (also known as alternate shot): Players will decide before teeing up which team member will tee off on odd holes and who will tee off on even holes (for example: Shane Lowry tees off on No. 1, Rory McIlroy tees off on No. 2, Lowry tees off on No. 3 and so on). The players will alternate shots until the ball is holed. Don’t expect the low scores we saw Saturday, this format is difficult.
- Final three tee times: Yu/Pan and Lee/Kim (1:33 p.m. ET), Brehm/Hubbard and McIlroy/Lowry (1:44 p.m.), Blair/Fishburn and List/Norlander (1:55 p.m. ET)
