Horschel, Piercy win Zurich team event
AVONDALE, La. – Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy won the Zurich Classic team event Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 5-under 67 in alternate-shot play.
Horschel became a two-time winner at TPC Louisiana. He captured his maiden PGA Tour triumph at the 2013 Zurich Classic when it was a traditional every-man-for-himself event.
Horschel and Piercy surged into the lead with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. They followed that with seven pars to hold off Jason Dufner and Pat Perez by a stroke. Dufner had a 14-foot putt for the tie on 18, but left it a foot short.
This was the second year of the Zurich’s switch to a two-player team format.
The victory was Horschel’s fifth and Piercy’s fourth. They each earned $1.04 million and 400 FedExCup points.
The result did not count toward the world ranking.
A year ago, the Zurich format called for best-ball play in the second and final rounds, with alternate-shot on the first and third. But organizers decided this year to switch that around so that the final round would have the alternateshot format, with one player hitting the tee shots on even-numbered holes and the other on odd numbers.
That set the stage for substantial moves up or down the leaderboard; players had no choice but the play the lies their teammates left them on the previous shot.
Horschel and Piercy began the day three shots back, but immediately surged into contention with birdies on the first two holes.