Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick of England had the perfect ending to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
They birdied the final hole after their three-stroke lead vanished on the back nine Sunday, leading them to win the PGA Tour’s only team event at Avondale, La.
The birdie on the par-5 18th hole gave them a 1-under-par 71, pushing their tournament total to 31-under 257 at TPC Louisiana.
“It means the world, absolutely speechless,” Matt said. “It was a grind today, and (Alex) was unbelievable. I couldn’t be more proud. That was just truly unbelievable.”
Matt is a PGA Tour winner on back-to-back Sundays after winning the RBC Heritage a week earlier. As for Alex, a DP World Tour player, he’ll receive a PGA Tour card through 2028 and a number of exemptions, including into the PGA Championship, after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour.
“It’s amazing to be with him, my mom and dad,” Alex said. “Just a lot of hard work. I can’t believe we’ve done it.”
Moments later, Alex was still trying to let it sink in.
“I’m still shaking, and yeah, it was crazy,” he said.
Sitting in a three-way tie going to the last hole, Alex’s approach went into a bunker in front of the 18th green for the team’s second shot, but on the next swing Matt blasted out and put the ball within 2 feet of the cup and they avoided a playoff.
“To finish that, I said just give us a chance on the last,” Matt said. “And obviously to hit a shot like that, it’s nice to give him the easy tap-in there.”
Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer (68) and the Norwegian pair of Kristoffer Reitan/Kris Ventura (65) shared second place at 30 under.
Reitan and Ventura pulled even with an eagle 3 at the 18th. Reitan’s shot onto the green left Ventura less than 7 feet for the putt.
Smalley/Springer were tied atop the leaderboard until a bogey on No. 17. They recovered to forge a three-way tie at the top when Springer’s approach shot on the 18th left Smalley a tap-in for birdie.
The Fitzpatrick team still had two holes to finish and they cashed in on the final one. Matt said it was an ideal situation from the sand trap on the last hole.
“The lie was unbelievable,” he said. “I couldn’t have placed it on a better tee. … Did I plan that perfectly? Honestly, no, but I played it to perfection. What more can I say?”
The Fitzpatrick brothers, who began the day with a four-shot lead, played the first 11 holes in a bogey-free 3 under. Then a double bogey on the 12th — initiated with Matt’s tee shot into the rough and taking a stroke for a drop — and a bogey on the 14th suddenly wiped out their advantage.
The Fitzpatricks set a tournament record by posting 57 in Saturday’s four-ball competition.
Ben Martin/Trace Crowe (66) and the Danish tandem of Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen/Jacob Skov Olesen (66) tied for fourth place at 28 under. Martin/Crowe had eight birdies but two bogeys, while Neergaard-Petersen/Skov Olesen did not make a bogey.
There was a three-way tie for sixth place at 27 under with Billy Horschel/Tom Hoge (68), Eric Cole/Hank Lebioda (68) and Doug Ghim/Jeffrey Kang (70).
The start of the final round was delayed a couple of hours because of morning storms. That led to adjustments with groups beginning on Nos. 1 and 10.
–Field Level Media
