The leaders have played together as kids, on national teams and Presidents Cup teams. They’re 38 and 36 now, so that’s well over 20 years of good shots and bad. “And never once really said sorry to the guy,” one of the leaders said. “You know you’re trying your best. I think we’re very comfortable playing next to each other and sort of feed off each other’s games.” This week, they have little to apologize for. Here are three things you need to know after Saturday’s third round of the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La.
Team of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel lead
Just how well did Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel feed off each other?
Schwartzel birdied five holes, Oosthuizen four. They alternated runs, too, in the best-ball format. (The event switches between best ball and alternate shot.) Schwartzel birdied 4, 7 and 8, Oosthuizen 11, Schwartzel 12 and 13 and Oosthuizen 16, 17 and 18. They finished with a nine-under 63, tied for the day’s best round, and are at 19-under overall, one shot ahead of the teams of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, and Tony Finau and Cameron Champ.
“I think Louis obviously played really well in a lot of majors, and we’ve both won a lot of tournaments, and I feel like the more difficult it is, the better we both play, so the format for tomorrow in a way suits us, and if we execute the shots the way we see it, we’ll have a good chance,” Schwartzel said.
Marc Leishman-Cameron Smith and Tony Finau-Cameron Champ teams are tied for second
Leishman and Smith may have fed off their entrance.
Smith is rocking a mullet these days, and Leishman both picked the Mullet Song for their entrance music — a tradition at Zurich — and wore a black mullet wig on the 1st tee. From there, they birdied six of their first eight holes and also finished with a nine-under 63.
“Just a bit of fun,” Leishman said. “Got a few laughs on the first tee and lightened the mood, I guess, helped our start. We got off to a good start today. It probably won’t come out tomorrow, I don’t think; concentrate on that first tee shot.”
Finau and Champ, who held a share of the second-round lead, birdied their first two holes on their way to a 67.
“When I was a little off, he picked me up; when he was a little off, I picked him up,” Finau said. “That’s the essence of team golf, and we’re going to continue to enjoy ourselves tomorrow and see where the chips fall here after 18.”
Bubba Watson-Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland-Kris Ventura teams are two shots back
Two shots back are the teams of Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler, and Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura.
Three teams are three strokes behind, and nine teams are four shots back.
“It’s going to be tough tomorrow,” Oosthuizen said. “I think anyone within four shots of the lead has got a chance with the format that it is tomorrow. It’s going to be tough. We need to play really well.”
