In the PGA Tour’s sole team event, Davis Riley and Nick Hardy shot a 65, the second lowest final round, to win the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a final score of -30. Davis hit his tee shot on the 207 yard par 3 14th hole to within a few inches setting up a tap-in birdie and holed a 33 foot putt from off the green on the par 3 17th hole for another birdie. It was the first PGA Tour win for both Davis and Nick and includes a two-year tour exemption.
The host course is TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana. The course opened in 2004, has hosted the Zurich Classic since 2005, and is yet another course designed by Pete Dye. Going back to the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, five of the last seven weeks on the PGA Tour have been on Pete Dye designed courses. It is a testament to the incredible golf course designer that Mr. Dye was.
Tournament host Fore!Kids Foundaton and title sponsor Zurich Insurance Group have raised over $18 million for over 40 charities in southeastern Louisiana. Fore!Kids Foundation provides healthcare, education and hope for over 200,000 children each year. Checkout the volunteer opportunities at this year’s Zurich Classic and prayerfully consider donating your time at next year’s tournament!
By switching to a team format in 2017, the tournament has built up excitement in a format the players enjoy. The players play fourball in the first and third rounds, with each player playing his own ball and the team taking the lowest score of the two players for each hole. The players play foursomes in the second and fourth rounds, with the players playing one ball as a team and alternating shots.
Does team golf sound like fun to you? A great team event that high handicap and beginner golfers can join in on are golf scrambles. Almost all golf charity events and golf business outings are in the scramble format. Each person plays his own ball for each shot with the team taking the best shot of the foursome on each shot. There is a decent chance the team will take one of your shots, no matter what your skill level.
ESPN+ on course commentator John Maginnes made the comment that the first and third rounds of the tournament, the fourball rounds, are like the honeymoon of a marriage. You’ll see a lot of birdies and not many bogies being recorded for the team. The second and fourth rounds, the foursome rounds, is marriage when the kids are sick, and your mother-in-law is coming to visit. For the record, I love my mother-in-law. 😊 These rounds are much more difficult to score in, as the team is playing one ball instead of two, so both players need to be on their game every shot.
When playing fourballs, with each player playing his own ball and taking the best score, one player can carry the other for quite some time if they are playing well. In foursomes, players need to be there for each other, picking each other up from the other’s mistakes. You’ll see the real character of the teams when neither player has their game during foursomes.
Marriage is a lot like that. It will be filled with many good times. At times you may have a season of struggles, but Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Mark that God has joined husband and wife together as one.