Softened by an inch of rainwater from an early morning thunderstorm that swept through New Orleans, the TPC of Louisiana rarely has been less imposing than it was Saturday.
With the wind stifled, the greens holding and the players allowed to lift, clean and place their balls, the course was laid bare for the field of 35 two-man teams in the third round of the Zurich Classic. And no team took advantage of the optimal conditions more than Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick.
Feeding off each other’s aggressive play during the best-ball format, the Fitzpatrick brothers shredded the course for 13 birdies and an eagle en route to a tournament-record score of 15-under 57 to take a commanding four-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round.
“Amazing day,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, after sharing a celebratory hug with his father, Russell, outside the scorer’s tent. “It probably hasn’t sunk in yet how well we played. It was just hole after hole.”
The Englishmen’s three-round score of 30-under 186 is also a record since the tournament went to a team format in 2017.
“Playing alongside my brother, who happens also to be one of the best players in the world, is pretty fun,” said Alex, who is playing under a sponsor’s exemption. “When he’s playing well, it’s pretty cool to watch.”
Two teams are four shots back at 26 under, including the pairing of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer, who entered Saturday’s round with a one-stroke lead. Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat are also at 26-under 190. But the Fitzpatrick team will enter Sunday’s alternate-shot competition as the prohibitive favorites, especially after posting a round of 7-under 65 during alternate-shot play Friday.
Play begins Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The leaders tee off at 12:50 p.m.
“I don’t think we can take the governor switch off (Sunday),” Smalley said. “Like Tiger (Woods) said, he wanted to be aggressive to conservative targets, so I think we’ll pick out good targets (Sunday) and try to hit the best shots that we can.”
While Zach Bauchou delivered the shot of the day with a hole-in-one on No. 3, Matt Fitzpatrick produced perhaps the most pivotal shot on the 492-yard, par-4 No. 12. His 284-yard drive left him 210 yards from the green, and he stuck a 5-iron approach shot within 5 feet of the hole. His birdie putt gave the Fitzpatricks the outright lead for the first time in the tournament and fueled a furious finish that saw them birdie five of the final six holes.
“It was an amazing day out there,” Alex said. “We got to like (hole No.) 14, and it was like, yeah, we’re going back to Mr. B’s (Bistro). We’ll probably stick with what we did the other night.”
This wasn’t a one-man show either. Matt, the world’s No. 3-ranked player, carded six birdies and an eagle at No. 7, but Alex, who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption, had seven birdies of his own.
“He was brilliant today,” Matt said of Alex. “… I felt like we were almost one player in a way. I was helping him on the greens. He was giving me the opportunity to be aggressive into the pins and stuff.”
The heavy storms forced tournament officials to delay tee times by a couple of hours Saturday morning. Because of the soggy playing conditions, preferred lie rules were implemented, allowing players to clean, lift and place their balls before shots.
“It was very gettable out there,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “If you drive the ball (well), you can be aggressive to these pins. The greens are soft, and they’re pure, as well, so you can make putts and be aggressive. The score was definitely there, and obviously it’s nice for us to do that.”
Alex said he was awakened by lightning at 7 a.m. and thought play might get canceled because the storm was so intense.
“Honestly, I didn’t know if we were going to play or not when I looked outside,” he said. “But coming out here and it being soft, especially in the four-ball format, you knew you were going to have some opportunities. I certainly didn’t think we would have the score we have. We definitely exceeded our expectations.”
Bauchou produced the shot of the day when he carded a hole-in-one on the 212-yard, par-3 No. 3 to briefly put his team in the lead early in the round. It was only the ninth hole-in-one since the tournament went to a team format in 2017.