Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler remained bogey-free Saturday to maintain a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field through three rounds at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The pair combined for a 10-under-par 62 on Saturday to get to 26 under for the tournament. Their day featured 10 team birdies at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La.
“It’s going to be a cool environment and a unique experience frankly to have a chance to win a golf tournament with a partner, something that I have not had a chance to do,” Hossler said. “I know Wyndham has here in the past. So, it will be a nice little Sunday for us.”
The only team-based tournament on the PGA Tour schedule, the Zurich Classic uses a four-ball (best-ball) format in the first and third rounds, and foursomes (alternate shot) in the second and final rounds.
Clark pointed to the nature of the format being an advantage for keeping pressure at a minimum going into the final round.
“I just think it lightens the mood,” Clark said. “Sometimes when you’re alone, it feels like you’re out on an island. When the momentum gets going bad, when you’re on your own, sometimes it’s tough to turn that. With a teammate, you can kind of feed off each other and really not allow that momentum to get going in the wrong direction. So, I hope tomorrow we’re light and loose like we’ve been all three days … I think it will be great.”
The duo of Keith Mitchell and South Korea’s Sungjae Im sits a stroke back in second place. They matched the leaders with 10 birdies on their way to a 10-under 62 Saturday.
Mitchell credited his teammate for the strong showing.
“He was honestly incredible,” Mitchell said. “I’m feeling really good about Sungjae’s golf game. The guy has proven he’s one of the best players in the world. He’s only 25 years old, and the fact he’s only won twice, I think is underrated for how good his game is. Being 25, being his fifth year on Tour, and this amount of talent, I think we’re going to see a Hall of Famer in the future.”
Three other teams remain bogey-free entering Sunday, one of those being the pairing of Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, who are tied for third after shooting a nine-under 63.
Also in third at 23 under are Sweden’s Vincent Norrman and Austria’s Matthias Schwab (10-under 62 on Saturday) and Nick Hardy and Davis Riley (9-under 63).
The rest of the top nine includes Sean O’Hair and Brandon Matthews (8-under 64 on Saturday) four strokes back in sixth, and three teams tied for seventh at 21 under: England’s Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick (10-under 62), Harris English and Tom Hoge (9-under 63) and France’s Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey (7-under 65)
–Field Level Media