{"id":54750,"date":"2026-04-24T05:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/54750\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T05:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:33:11","slug":"fitzpatrick-brothers-6-shots-behind-smalley-and-springer-at-zurich-classic-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/54750\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitzpatrick brothers 6 shots behind Smalley and Springer at Zurich Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

AVONDALE, La. (AP) \u2014 Matt Fitzpatrick, fresh off his RBC Heritage victory<\/a>, teamed with younger brother Alex to shoot an 8-under 64 in better-ball play Thursday in the Zurich Classic, leaving the English duo six shots behind Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer.<\/p>\n

Smalley and Springer matched the tournament record with a 58.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a long way to go before the tournament is over, but it\u2019s a fun format,\u201d Smalley said about the PGA Tour\u2019s only team event. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to kind of mix it up a little bit, to have a team event like this instead of doing the same monotonous thing that we do week in and week out, just kind of doing our own thing, playing our own ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka, who comprise the most accomplished team at the par-72 TPC Louisiana, shot a 66 to leave them outside the top 40 and in danger of missing the cut \u2014 unless they can make a strong push Friday in alternate-shot play.<\/p>\n

The format returns to better ball Saturday, and back to alternate shot Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is getting those two rounds under your belt, seeing where you lie, and kicking on from there,\u201d Matt Fitzpatrick said. <\/p>\n

Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat were a shot behind after a round in which they followed Eckroat\u2019s eagle on the par-5 seventh with eight straight birdies.<\/p>\n

Three teams were tied for third at 60: Sam Stevens and Zach Bouchou, along with Eric Cole and Hank Lebioda, and Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent. <\/p>\n

Billy Horschel \u2014 the only player to win the Zurich in both single-play and team formats \u2014 was again in the hunt when after he and Tom Hoge shot a 61 \u2014 highlighted by Hoge\u2019s eagle on No. 2 \u2014 to put them in a seven-way tie for sixth.<\/p>\n

Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala each made eagles \u2014 Rai by spinning in a 106-yard approach shot on the par-4 13th \u2014 and posted a 62. <\/p>\n

Defending Zurich champs Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak shot a bogey-free 65 and will need to move up some to make the cut in the only team event of the season.<\/p>\n

Smalley, who has never won on the PGA Tour, made a 19-foot eagle put on the par-5 second hold after sinking a 16 1\/2-footer to bridie No. 1. His tee shot on No. 3 landed within 7 feet to set up another birdie to put his team at 4 under.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have another player to lean on a little bit,\u201d Smalley said. \u201d<\/p>\n

The pair of 29-year-old Americans then combined to birdie 10 of their final 14 holes. Springer, also seeking a maiden tour triumph, accounted for the final four birdies, highlighted by his 36-foot putt on the par-3 17th.<\/p>\n

A large gallery gathered at the first hole to watch the Fitzpatricks tee off in the same group with Lowry and Koepka on a sunny, breezy, 80-degree afternoon.<\/p>\n

Koepka \u2014 in his first season back on the PGA Tour<\/a> after four years with LIV Golf<\/a> \u2014 entered the week needing a good showing to earn his first exemption for a signature event, the next of which takes place next week at Trump National Doral in Miami.<\/p>\n

Lowry carried their team early, with birdies on five of the first eight holes. Koepka finally pitched in with a 31 1\/2-foot birdie putt on 10, but the pair did not better that par the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

The Fitzpatricks, playing together a fourth straight year in New Orleans<\/a>, got to 9-under with Matt Fitzpatrick\u2019s three straight bridies on the 15th through 17th holes. But then both hit their second shots in the water on the par-5 18th and closed with a bogey.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally disappointing way to end with two balls in perfect position,\u201d Matt Fitzpatrick said. \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

A shirtless Michael Brennan made a splash \u2014 literally and otherwise \u2014 when he elected to hit a ball on the water\u2019s edge on 18 and sent muddy water flying everywhere while his ball popped straight up and plopped back in the water.<\/p>\n

Still, he and teammate Johnny Keefer finished the round just three shots behind the leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was dropping it if I was just playing in a normal tournament,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cBut Johnny had a birdie putt on the green. So I was, like, \u2018Well, I guess we can try it.\u2019 But, yeah, it was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP golf: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/golf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AVONDALE, La. (AP) \u2014 Matt Fitzpatrick, fresh off his RBC Heritage victory, teamed with younger brother Alex to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25116,30652,28381,30657,28385,27865,24238,30659,30654,18358,3917,86,30748,30660,30651,30011,30746,2729,28383,30008,30664,25115,30656,24227,307,27866,30747,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-54750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-zurich","8":"tag-aaron-rai","9":"tag-alex-smalley","10":"tag-andrew-novak","11":"tag-austin-eckroat","12":"tag-ben-griffin","13":"tag-billy-horschel","14":"tag-brooks-koepka","15":"tag-davis-thompson","16":"tag-eric-cole","17":"tag-fl-state-wire","18":"tag-florida","19":"tag-golf","20":"tag-gordon-sargent","21":"tag-hank-lebioda","22":"tag-hayden-springer","23":"tag-johnny-keefer","24":"tag-la-state-wire","25":"tag-louisiana","26":"tag-matt-fitzpatrick","27":"tag-michael-brennan","28":"tag-nick-dunlap","29":"tag-sahith-theegala","30":"tag-sam-stevens","31":"tag-shane-lowry","32":"tag-sports","33":"tag-tom-hoge","34":"tag-zach-bouchou","35":"tag-zurich"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116458055635236396","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}