Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka's partnership came to an end at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after they narrowly missed the cut by a single stroke. Lowry, the champion of this event two years ago when paired with Rory McIlroy, had teamed up with five-time major winner Koepka this year due to McIlroy's absence.
Following an opening 66 in the fourballs, they carded a 69 in the foursomes, leaving them at nine under par, just shy of the cut mark of 10 under. Meanwhile, Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex made significant strides up the leaderboard with a seven-under 65, propelling them into a tie for second place after 36 holes. The American duo of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer maintained their lead with back-to-back birdies, taking them to 16 under par, one stroke ahead of the Fitzpatrick brothers and two other teams.
The Fitzpatrick brothers had started the day six shots behind Smalley and Springer but managed to cut the deficit to just one stroke going into Saturday, thanks to the lowest round of the day. A win in New Orleans would be the icing on the cake for the Fitzpatrick family, given Matt's recent rise to No 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings after victories at the Valspar Championship and the RBC Heritage, where he defeated world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff.
Alex has also been in top form, securing his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. Tied with the Fitzpatricks for second place are Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat, as well as Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge, all on 15 under par. Aaron Rai, paired with American Sahith Theegala, is 12 under, while Matt Wallace and Marco Penge are just one shot behind at 11 under par. The Zurich Classic, the only team event on the PGA Tour calendar, features teams competing in a four-ball format during the first and third rounds, with each golfer playing their own ball and the lowest score on each hole counting.
The second and final rounds adopt a foursomes format, where players alternate shots using one ball, with the total strokes taken resulting in the team's score for each hole. After the first two rounds, the top 33 teams and ties proceed to the weekend, with a sudden-death playoff in the event of a tie after 72 holes. With the prize purse increased from $9.2m to $9.5m, the winning team will share 14.45 percent of the prize, approximately $1.372m, and receive 400 FedExCup points each, along with entry to major tournaments like The Players Championship and The PGA Championship for the 2027 season, and an exemption to play at The Zurich Classic for the next two years.