Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry opened with a bogey-free 11-under 61 to take a share of the lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
“It was nice,” said Lowry. “Any day you go out and play the round of golf we did, you’re going to have a good time. We enjoyed it. We both played nice golf. We both made some nice birdies and contributed to the team, and I think we’re very happy with the day, and quick turnaround before tomorrow.
“Looking forward to getting out in foursomes tomorrow. Should be fun, as well. It’s a format that’s tougher, but it is an enjoyable format.”
“You know that you sort of need to get off to a good start [in the better ball format], and thankfully we did,” continued McIlroy. “We were 4-under through 4, which was really nice to see, and from there you’ve got some momentum and you’re just trying to keep it going.
“But for the most part today, we kept both balls in play. We were having two looks basically on every hole at birdie, and that’s the way you need to play better ball. Everyone thinks it’s maybe a bit more gung ho than that, but as long as you have two balls in play off the tee, two balls on the green, I think you’re always going to do pretty well in this format.”
Three other teams, Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak, Ben Kohles/Patton Kizzire and Aaron Rai/David Lipsky also stayed bogey-free to form a four-way tie marking the first time with more than two teams sharing the lead after any round since the event went to a team format in 2017.
Three sets of brothers are competing as teams in this year’s event: Matt &Alex Fitzpatrick (T44/-6), Nicolai & Rasmus Højgaard (T67/-4) and Parker & Pierceson Coody (T67/-4).
This is the seventh year the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is being played in a two-man team format. It was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Teams will play Four-Ball in the first and third rounds, and Foursomes (alternate shot) in the second and final rounds.
Each player on the winning team will receive 400 FedExCup points, $1,286,050, a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR (through 2026) and entry into the three remaining Signature Events.
