Australian major champion Geoff Ogilvy made a surprise appearance as American Michael Brennan went viral for his shirtless moment in the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

The pair of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer sit atop of the leaderboard with a 14-under par 58 to start the tournament in the opening round’s four-ball format.

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The Americans carded 12 birdies and an eagle in a stunning performance to sit one shot clear of Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat.

But Smalley and Springer’s stripe show was upstaged by several absurd moments at TPC Louisiana.

Fan favourite Joel Dahmen faced a terrifying chip from the water’s edge beside the 17th green.

An alligator was lurking only metres away from Dahmen with it’s head visible above the water.

But it was Brennan’s moment beside the water on the 18th that made the biggest splash.

The world No.49 took his shirt off in preparation for the water and mud that would spray everywhere as a result of hitting his shot.

Brennan succeeded in causing a splatter, but his ball only managed to travel less than a metre before plopping into the water.

“He might get a few DMs,” Brennan’s playing partner Johnny Keefer joked post-round.

Brennan added: “Yeah, I was dropping it if I was just playing in a normal tournament, but Johnny had a birdie putt on the green. So I was, like, well, I guess we can try it, but, yeah, it was fun.”

The pair have a chance to win the tournament, after shooting an 11-under par first round.

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Meanwhile, Ogilvy has teamed up with fellow Australian Cam Davis this week and the pair shot six-under par to begin the event.

Ogilvy featured during the home summer at the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship, but it is his first PGA Tour start since 2023.

The 2006 US Open champion will captain the International Team in the Presidents Cup this September, and took the chance to play with his mentee, who featured in the biennial event two years ago.

“Cam started it. He sent me a message five, six weeks ago. Five weeks ago? He said, Hey, do you want to play? I said yes pretty quick. Pretty obvious for me,” Ogilvy said pre-tournament.

Geoff Ogilvy of Australia tees off on the 16th hole on day one of the Crown Australian Open 2025 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club.Source: Getty Images

Davis has had a rough start to the year.

The 31-year-old has missed the cut in five of seven events with a best finish of tied 70th.

His world ranking has slipped to 215th and he is hoping a week with Ogilvy can spark a turnaround in fortunes.

“Honestly first part is I would say through the Presidents Cup (in 2022) is how we both started spending time together,” Davis said.

“I’ve always known Geoff as an amazing golfer, and I mean, I watched him win a major on TV. He’s one of those guys that you look up to as you’re trying to make your own way in the game, especially as an Australian.

“Through the Presidents Cup was my real opportunity to spend time to not just pick his brain, but just hang out. He’s been so much fun to talk to, spend time with. I’ve spent a bit of time with him at his place in Melbourne as well. Over the last few years, yeah, it’s been nice.

“Out of that Presidents Cup I would say more of the closer friendships I’ve been able to form has been with Geoff. I don’t think that adds any extra pressure, because I feel like I’m playing with someone that I’ve gotten to know quite well. This is more of just a lot of fun.

“We’re both extremely competitive, and we still want to play really, really well, and we want to give this thing a shake-up, but at the same time, there’s no extra pressure on my side.

“I’ve had a bit of a rough sort of last 12 months in terms of my own game, and I’m more looking for having a great week, but I’m also just trying to figure my own stuff out to the point where I can really compete out here again and start winning again.”

Cam Davis points right after wayward tee shot during his 2nd round at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.Source: News Corp Australia

Other notable pairs include European Ryder Cup star Shane Lowry playing with former LIV defector Brooks Koepka.

“I’ve known Brooks a long time, back from his European days playing the European Tour. You know, I obviously know Ricky, his caddie, very well,” Lowry said when asked pre-tournament how the pairing came about.

“Yeah, we were at Grove. I said to him, I might need a partner for New Orleans. He goes, ‘Well, I’m going to have to play there’. That was kind of it.

“Then I text Ricky a few weeks later, and then I sent it to Brooks. I didn’t see Brooks for another while because we were playing a bit of a different schedule.

“I said ‘are we going to tee it up in New Orleans?’ He said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it’.

“We’re here. To the outside it might not look like it makes sense, but you know, to us it does. I think the ball, everything about it, you know, we do have a good relationship. We’re going to have a good bit of fun out there.”

Last week’s RBC Heritage champion Matt Fitzpatrick is playing alongside his brother Alex, who recently won on the DP World Tour. They shot eight-under in the opening round.

While Karl Vilips is the only other Australian in the event. The second year PGA Tour professional is teamed up with his former Stanford University teammate Michael Thorbjornsen and they started with a five-under par round.