{"id":624904,"date":"2026-04-24T05:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624904\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T05:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:30:14","slug":"fitzpatrick-brothers-six-shots-behind-alex-smalley-hayden-springer-at-zurich-classic-of-new-orleans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/624904\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitzpatrick brothers six shots behind Alex Smalley, Hayden Springer at Zurich Classic of New Orleans"},"content":{"rendered":"

5H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2 Min Read<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Daily Wrap Up<\/p>\n

<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Highlights<\/p>\n

Highlights | Round 1 | Zurich Classic<\/p>\n

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A<\/p>\n

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Written by Associated Press<\/p>\n

AVONDALE, La. (AP) \u2014 Matt Fitzpatrick, fresh off his RBC Heritage victory, teamed up with younger brother Alex to shoot an 8-under 64 in Four-ball (best ball) Thursday in the Zurich Classic, leaving the English duo six shots behind Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer.<\/p>\n

Smalley and Springer matched the tournament record with a 58.<\/p>\n

Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka, who comprise the most accomplished team at the par-72 TPC Louisiana this week, shot a 66 to leave them outside the top 40 and in danger of missing the cut \u2014 unless they can make a strong push in Friday Foursomes (alternate shot)<\/p>\n

The format returns to Four-ball Saturday, and back to Foursomes Sunday.<\/p>\n

Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat were a shot behind after a round in which they followed Eckroat\u2019s eagle on the par-5 seventh with eight straight birdies.<\/p>\n

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Thompson\/Eckroat<\/p>\n

Thompson\/Eckroat makes birdie on No. 17 at Zurich Classic<\/p>\n

Two teams were tied for third at 60: Sam Stevens and Zach Bouchou, along with Eric Cole and Hank Lebioda. Billy Horschel \u2014 the only player to win the Zurich in both single-play and team formats \u2014 was again in the hunt when he and Tom Hoge shot a 61 to put them in a seven-way tie for fifth.<\/p>\n

Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala each made eagles \u2014 Rai by spinning in a 106-yard approach shot on the par-4 13th \u2014 and posted a 62.<\/p>\n

Smalley, who has never won on the PGA TOUR, made a 19-foot eagle put on the par-5 second hole after sinking a 16 1\/2-footer to birdie No. 1. His tee shot on No. 3 landed within 7 feet to set up another birdie to put his team at 4 under.<\/p>\n

\"Smalley\/Springer<\/p>\n

Smalley\/Springer sinks a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 18 at Zurich Classic<\/p>\n

The pair of 29-year-old Americans then combined to birdie 10 of their final 14 holes. Springer, also seeking a maiden TOUR triumph, accounted for the final four birdies, highlighted by his 36-foot putt on the par-3 17th.<\/p>\n

A large gallery gathered at the first hole to watch the Fitzpatricks tee off in the same group with Lowry and Koepka on a sunny, breezy, 80-degree afternoon.<\/p>\n

Koepka \u2014 in his first season back on the PGA TOUR after four years with LIV Golf \u2014 entered the week needing a good showing to earn his first exemption for a Signature Event, the next of which takes place next week at Trump National Doral in Miami.<\/p>\n

Lowry carried their team early, with birdies on five of the first eight holes. Koepka finally pitched in with a 31 1\/2-foot birdie putt on 10, but the pair did not better that par the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

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Apr 22, 2026<\/p>\n

Horses for Courses<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5H AGO 2 Min Read Daily Wrap Up *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Highlights | Round 1 | Zurich Classic *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]> A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-624904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}