American duo Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin both claimed their first career PGA TOUR victories at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Novak and Griffin came into the final round at TPC Louisiana with a three-shot advantage and despite a shaky start, the pair retained their advantage following the seventh despite pressure from Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard and duo Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III.
A short weather delay which followed may have halted momentum for the pair as they resumed play with back-to-back bogeys at 8 and 9 with Knapp and Capan III wiping their advantage completely thanks to a birdie at the 10th, claiming a share of the lead at the top of the leaderboard entering the back nine.
The Hojgaard’s also kept the pressure on with consecutive birdies at 13th and 14th to place themselves just a shot adrift of the lead as it was looking increasingly likely that the winners would come from one of these three pairs. But the decisive moment came at the 17th as Knapp and Capan III made bogey following a costly tee shot from Capan III found water while Novak and Griffin hit a sublime birdie on the same hole to put themselves a shot clear going into the 18th. They went onto par the last to conclude on 28 under thanks to a final-round 71 which was enough for them to clinch their maiden PGA TOUR triumphs.
The Hojgaard’s required something special at the last to snatch victory but had to settle for a second place finish on 27 under despite a solid final-round 68. Novak and Griffin claimed third, a shot further adrift on 26 under.
“I think for both Andrew and I, it kind of felt like it was only a matter of time out here,” said Griffin. “We both put ourselves in the mix a bunch, especially this season, but even going back to the last season, it’s a lot of hard work between both of us; and for me personally, it means the world to finally get it paid off, to finally get it done.”
Throughout the tournament however, many eyes were on Masters hero Rory McIlroy and partner Shane Lowry, the defending champions, who were looking to get themselves back into contention after entering Sunday five shots off the pace. But the duo were unable to climb the leaderboard in the final round and went onto card an even-par 72 to finish T12th on 22 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR is THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson taking place between 1-4 May at TPC Craig Ranch in Texas.