Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler shared the overnight lead at 11-under and closed with a bogey-free 67 in Foursomes play on Friday to take a one-stroke lead at 16-under at the midway point at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Dominant duo 💪@Wyndham_Clark and @BeauHossler hold a two-shot lead in the clubhouse @Zurich_Classic. pic.twitter.com/mwR3weGAim
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 21, 2023
“Really solid tee to green, to be honest,” said Hossler. “It was fairly stress-free round. I think the only hole we had remotely any stress was probably 17, which I think every group on the course probably is going to have stress on that hole. With that said, I think we both performed really well. I would say it was a pretty equal effort, to be honest, and with the exception of the long putt on 4, I think we didn’t do anything crazy, but we also didn’t really make any mistakes. It was a really clean round.”
“It’s nice, he kind of hits a natural draw, I hit a natural fade. We both putt well and we chip well,” said Clark.
“As far as tee shots to green go, I’ll hit it pretty far off the tee and then he’ll have a wedge and he’s been stacking it. It’s made it pretty easy.
“Then as far as separate from the golf, we have a lot of fun together, and our caddie relationships are really good. We’re just having fun, and wherever the chips lay at the end of the week, we’re going to accept it and have fun, so we’re enjoying it.”
Sam Ryder and Doc Redman shot 66 to move into a tie for second place alongside Keith Mitchell and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (67).
Lowest 18-hole foursome score in @Zurich_Classic history 👏@XSchauffele and @Patrick_Cantlay are just one shot off the lead. pic.twitter.com/aOF5ImRiRM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 21, 2023
Defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele started the day T54 at 5-under and set the tournament 18-hole Foursome scoring record with a second round 9-under 63 to move into a share of fourth place at 14-under with four other teams.
“Neither of us played well yesterday,” said Cantlay. “We both struggled. Three bogeys in best ball is not ideal.
“Today Xander putted great and hit a lot of really nice wedge shots and pitches. Left me three feet and in a couple times and made a bunch of mid-range 15-, 20-footers, which is exactly what you need to do to shoot 9-under par.”
The Fitzpatrick brothers closed with a 71 and currently lie in T20 at 11-under.