The Australian duo of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith parred the first playoff hole to win the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic at TPC New Orleans, defeating the South African pair of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. The two teams were tied at the end of regulation play with 20-under-par scores of 268 in the only tournament on Tour played in a two-player team format.
It was Smith’s second victory in the Zurich Classic, which he also won in a playoff in 2017, that time with Jonas Blixt as his teammate. The two teams were paired with each other in the final group on Sunday in the alternate shot format and battled back and forth for most of the final round.
The key shot of the day was a chip-in for birdie by Leishman on the 16th hole after Smith’s tee shot found the water in front of the green on the driveable par-4. Oosthuizen and Schwartzel couldn’t make better than par, so the Aussies pulled even headed to the final two holes.
After both teams bogeyed the 17th and parred the final hole, they headed to sudden death on the 18th hole, where Ooshtuizen’s drive found the water off the tee, and essentially any drama ended with that shot. Smith and Leishman each collected $1,069,300 and 400 FedEx Cup points for the win.
With the victory, both players earned exemptions on the PGA Tour through the 2022-23 season, entry into the PGA Championship later this month, and a spot in next January’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. It was Smith’s third career win on the PGA Tour, all in playoffs, and Leishman’s sixth.
The winning team of Leishman and Smith went off at odds of +1400 in futures betting.
Betting Favorites’ Results
The winning team of Leishman and Smith went off at odds of +1400 in futures betting, behind defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer as well as the team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Rahm and Palmer finished in seventh place by themselves at 17-under-par 271 after a solid week.
Cantlay and Schauffele made the cut right on the 6-under-par number after struggling with a 2-over-par 74 in alternate shot on Friday. They rebounded nicely with a 4-under-par 68 in Saturday’s best ball, then shot the lowest alternate shot round of the tournament with a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 11th at 15-under-par 273.
Other Finishers
Finishing in third place was the team of Richie Werenski and Peter Uihlein, who matched the low round of the day of 67 on Sunday to record a 19-under-par score of 269 for the week. Tony Finau and Cameron Champ were tied with Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura at 13-under-par 131 entering the weekend, but neither team could keep up the momentum and ended up shooting well over par on Sunday to fall out of contention.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and 2020 PGA Tour rookie of the year Scottie Scheffler had trouble finding partners but finally teamed with each other and finished in a very respectable tie for eighth with a score of 16-under-par 273. Potential Ryder Cup pair Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson struggled in best ball on Saturday and settled for a tie for 11th.
