Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin posted a third-round 61 in Four-ball after opening with a 6-under 30 and closing with a 5-under 31 to take the Zurich Classic of New Orleans lead at 27-under.

“I thought we got off to a really good start today, which was I think good,” said Novak. “In this format, when you tee off you don’t have the lead anymore. Everybody is past you. It’s four ball. It was nice to get our ahead of it, get off to a good start, get momentum going. After the rain delay Ben got hot and made some good putts, and overall just a great day.

“It’s funny,” added Griffin. “If we go back three weeks ago we played in Houston and had a big rain delay after nine almost exactly like today. I came back and was playing horrible. Still made the cut, but it was nice to kind of come out of this rain delay this time three weeks later and play a little bit better.

“I thought we ham and egged it really well. Andrew got hot on the front nine. Kind of after I made birdie on the first I didn’t need to do a whole lot on the front. Then the back I saved him when he needed me.

“So tomorrow we are going to be grinding it out. May not hit the best shots from time to time, but there will be opportunities for chip-ins and we’ll be excited about it.”

A win on Sunday would mark the first career PGA Tour victory for both American players. Novak is making his 100th career start this week, while Griffin is making his 90th start. Each player has two career runner-up finishes on Tour.

Novak is coming off a playoff loss to Justin Thomas at last week’s RBC Heritage, one of three top-three finishes in thirteen starts this season (3rd/Farmers Insurance Open, T3/Valero Texas Open).

Griffin has had three top-10s this season (T4/Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, T4/Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, T7/The American Express).

Americans Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III, both making their tournament debuts, posted the low round of the day with a 12-under 60 in Four-ball and are tied in second place at 24-under.

Capan, in his rookie season, has one top-25 finish in 15 starts (T12/The American Express), while Knapp is bidding for his second career victory (2024 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld) in his 40th career start.

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya opened with a 7-under 29 on the front and closed with 4-under 32 for a share of second place. Hisatsune has three top-10 finishes this season (best: T4/Valspar Championship) and Kanaya seeks his first top-10 of the year.

In their second consecutive year as partners, Danes Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard are tied in fourth place at 23-under after posting 64 in Four-ball.

PGA Tour rookies Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo of the United States, who held the 18- and 36-hole lead, carded 66 in Four-ball and moved down into a share of fourth place.

Defending champions Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Shane Lowry of Ireland carded two eagles at the par-5s 7th and 18th en route to a 61 in Fourball. Four total eagles through three rounds is the most by any team this week. They are bidding to become the first team to successfully defend their title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans since the team format was introduced in 2017.

Format

This is the eighth year the Zurich Classic of New Orleans will be played in a two-man team format. It was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Teams 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, $1,329,400, a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour (through 2027) and entry into the three remaining Signature Events.

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Auf Wiedersehen Bernhard