Nick Hardy’s performance at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has changed dramatically in just one year.
Hardy’s first season on the PGA Tour was ruined by a wrist injury he sustained a year ago. Hardy was out of action for two months, and had to earn his playing privileges back through a medical extensions.
Hardy and Davis Riley won the Zurich Classic on Sunday by two strokes. They shot a 7-under-par 65 in the two-man competition at TPC Louisiana, in Avondale. Hardy and Riley made four birdies on the back nine of the alternate shot format in foursomes. This was their first PGA Tour win.
To be able do that together is to kind of rub each other’s attitude and confidence off. Hardy said that it was special to have someone with whom to do the first.
Six teams were still in contention down the stretch including defending champions Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Hardy, but their birdie spree helped them to set a new tournament record of 30-under 258,
They were three strokes behind the leader at the start of the day, but they made up the majority of their damage on the back nine in the final round. Riley wedged from 6 feet on No. Hardy made the birdie. Riley almost made an ace on the par-3 14 , setting up a birdie kick.
Hardy stated, “It was one of the purest 5-irons I’ve heard.”
Hardy landed on a wedge at 16, and the team took the lead with 29 under. Riley was still not done, as he holed a putt at 17 from the edge of the green.
The final round was capped off by a par on the 18th. This is the second best round of the tournament after Hadwin and Taylor who finished at 28 under.
Hadwin: “I knew that we would have to shoot an excellent round in order to sniff out the lead.”
Riley, who tied for fourth place last year with Will Zalatoris as a rookie, had second thoughts about playing the team event. Hardy had originally planned to pair up with Thomas Detry from his Illinois University team, but European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald asked Detry to partner with Frenchman Victor Perez for a possible Ryder Cup pairing this fall.
Hardy explained that the Illini couple had vanished. “I don’t think it was more than three weeks ago that we started texting each other and getting together.”
Riley was thrilled to have the chance to play with one of his closest friends. They’ve been playing together since they were 14 years old.
“We have very similar matches.” “I feel like we are both solid ball strikers,” said he. “We’re creating a lot of opportunities.”
It looked for a time like the Canadians were wearing the belts of champions. The Canadians started with seven consecutive birdies. Hadwin’s 9-foot birdie at 13 gave them the sole lead.
Dennis Paulson, PGA Tour Radio Network, said “My goodness.” In my wildest fantasies, I would never have thought that you could make such a run of birdies in alternate shots.
Hadwin stated, “I had an excellent feel for the greens.” I rolled in many putts, especially during the middle stretch of the course when we were on a roll.
When the streak ended, so did the birds. Hadwin and Taylor ended with five consecutive pars. This included a 6-foot birdie at the final that was tipped out. It was still a tie for the 18-hole foursomes record, set by Cantlay & Schauffele two days earlier.
Hadwin stated, “That was the most birdies we had all week and we did it alternate shot.”
Wyndham Hossler and Beau Clark held the lead after 54 holes, but were eliminated from contention by consecutive bogeys at Nos. The team of Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler held the 54-hole lead but were eliminated from contention with consecutive bogeys on Nos.
After shooting a 66 in the final round, the defending champions were tied for fourth.
Schauffele stated that “we didn’t bring our best stuff to the tournament.”
By: Adam Schupak
Title: Nick Hardy, Davis Riley team up to win 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans for first PGA Tour wins
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2023/04/23/nick-hardy-davis-riley-2023-zurich-classic-new-orleans/
Published Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2023 21:24:04 +0000
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