Breakfast Ball #68: One Shot is All it Takes

Good morning to all of the Liverpool fans waking up for work with a slight hangover.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

McIlroy and Lowry Unable to Repeat Zurich Classic Heroics as Novak and Griffin Triumph

Outside of the majors, the PGA Tour hosts roughly 35 events each year, and nearly all of them follow the same format: 72 holes of individual stroke play. When the WGC Match Play was removed from the schedule two years ago, it left just one regular-season FedEx Cup event with a different format—the Zurich Classic. Players team up in pairs for four days, alternating between two rounds of foursomes (alternate shot) and two rounds of four-ball (best ball). It offers the viewers a rare opportunity to see some of the best golfers in the world play in a team event.

Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak entered the final round with a three-stroke lead over Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan. Both Griffin and Novak were looking for redemption after recent near misses—Novak had fallen to Justin Thomas in a playoff at the RBC Heritage, while Griffin narrowly missed qualifying for The Masters, finishing just one spot short in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Two teams stayed in the hunt all afternoon: Knapp and Capan, along with the Højgaard twins - one of three sets of European brothers in the field. Knapp and Capan pulled even with the leaders after birdies at 4, 7, and 10, while the Højgaards closed within one heading to the 17th. With the tournament hanging in the balance, Frankie Capan found the water on the par-3 17th, while Ben Griffin drained a clutch 35-foot birdie putt to stretch their lead to two. The Højgaards birdied the final hole to cut the gap to one, but Griffin and Novak calmly two-putted for par to clinch their first PGA Tour victory.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry decided to enter the tournament last year after a drunken lunch fueled by the 2023 Ryder Cup celebrations. While it resulted in a dramatic win last year, they were unable to repeat those heroics and ended the weekend in a tie for twelfth, six shots behind the champions.

A solo second place posting for the Højgaards gave them valuable FedEx Cup points, with Nicolai rising from 116th to 75th in the rankings, while Rasmus jumped from 104th to 73rd. The two other sets of European brothers did not fare as well - the Fitzpatricks (Matt and Alex) and the Pauls (Jeremy and Yannik) both missed the cut.

Other Results & News 📰

• 🇲🇽 Joaquín Niemann won his fifth LIV title in Mexico City with a final round 65

  • Bryson DeChambeau led going into the final round, but shot an even par 71 on Sunday and faded away

  • Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton’s Legion XIII won the team portion of the event, with Rahm finishing in fourth and Hatton in fifth

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 26-year-old Marco Penge got his first win on the DP World Tour with a three shot victory at the Hainan Classic

  • Penge made his debut on the DP World Tour in 2024 and finished the year 110th in the Race to Dubai rankings - just five spaces inside the cutline to keep his card

  • This win will now give the Englishman the peace of mind that his card is secure for at least two more years - he will also be playing at the PGA Championship next month

• 😱 2024 LPGA Rookie of the Year Mao Saigo won her first major title at the Chevron Championship in a five-way playoff

  • Saigo was the only player of the group to make birdie on the first playoff hole, with two other players missing short putts to extend the tournament

  • Japanese players now hold three of the five women’s major championships,

• The shot of the week comes from the Zurich Classic - Chandler Phillips found himself in some trouble by a water hazard that had alligators in it. Somehow, he found the green!

• 🤌 Despite a strong performance from the groom earning 5.5 out of a possible 7 points, team 1 could not hold off a dominant team 2 in the CML Invitational at Will Simons’ bachelor party

  • The event consisted of 36 holes of foursomes matchplay, split by a round of clay pigeon shooting - the first combined tournament of its kind known to man

  • The final score was 13.5–7.5 in what some are calling "the letdown of the year," as the groom’s teammates simply couldn't rise to the occasion and support the guest of honor

Coming up this week on Tour

• 🤠 The next PGA Tour event is the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas

• 🛸 LIV moves from Mexico City to South Korea for LIV Korea

• 😴 The DP World Tour has a week off as it prepares for the beginning of the European Swing next week

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