2 teams share lead at Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, La. – Tony Finau and Cameron Champ shot a 4-under 68 in alternate-shot play Friday for a share of the Zurich Classic lead with the Norwegian duo of Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura.
“I know we’re having a good time with this format up to this point,” Finau said about the lone team event on the PGA Tour. “We’ve both played some really solid golf, and we find ourselves at the top of the leaderboard.
“We’ll do what we’ve been doing the last couple days, which is enjoy each other’s company and not add any bonus pressure when it comes to teammate golf.”
Hovland and Ventura had a 69 to match Finau and Champ at 13-under 131. The teams will play best ball Saturday, and close with an alternate-shot round Sunday.
“Just having fun, and obviously we don’t get to do this very often,” Ventura said. “We’re playing some good golf, and the course we both like, so it’s just one of those things where we’re comfortable playing out here.”
It was an eventful day in windy conditions at the TPC Louisiana, highlighted by two aces.
Nick Watney, the Zurich winner in 2007 when it was a traditional individual event, made a hole-in-one on the 14th hole from 224 yards.
Later, Graeme McDowell aced the 217yard 17th, eliciting a roar from what is normally one of the rowdiest spectator areas on the course. McDowell then sent a cooler loaded with cans of beer and wine to the media center.
McDowell and Matt Wallace bogeyed four holes and shot 70, good enough to make the cut at 8 under. Watney and Charley Hoffman shot 74 to make the cut at 6 under.
Hovland and Ventura, also tied for the lead after the first round, birdied five holes. But they were left to rue a double bogey on 16, when Hovland hit their approach shot from a fairway bunker into the water short and left of the green.
Finau and Champ briefly surged to a two-shot lead after birdies on the par-4 10th and the par-5 11th. But they bogeyed the par-4 12th when Finau’s approach fell short of the right side of the green.
But Finau made up for it with a birdie putt of nearly 6 feet on 18.
While attendance was not immediately released, galleries following the leaders looked considerable. Festive fans seemed delighted to be back at an event canceled last year by the coronavirus pandemic. Many did not wear masks, despite signs around the course asking them to do so.
European Tour
LAS PALMAS, Spain – Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen shot 9 under for a course record 61 to take the lead of the Gran Canaria Open after two rounds.
Olesen hit an eagle on a par-5 hole to go with seven birdies on an error-free day at the Meloneras Golf Course on Spain’s Canary Islands.
Sam Horsfield and Connor Syme also shot a record 61 for the round. Horsfield is four shots back, and Syme six shots off the pace. Rhys Enoch and Wil Besseling are one shot behind Olesen.