On the final day of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, it was Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin that stood strong with the crystal fleur-de-lis trophy with a score of -28 at TPC Louisiana in Avondale.
The weekend was strong all the way around for Novak/Griffin, who paced themselves with a 10-under 62 on Thursday before scores of 66, 61, and 71 to finish the job.
Sunday started with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, the defending champions of the event, right in the mix for the win. However, while teams like Novak/Griffin and the Hojgaard brothers moved forward on the leaderboard, McIlroy and Lowry struggled to stay in contention.
The Hojgaards had a strong fourth round, shooting a combined 4-under par, but went the final three holes without a birdie while Ben Griffin hit a major birdie on 17 to put their pair ahead going into the par-5 18th, which was parred for the win.
A weather delay as the leaders were on the 8th hole could have been an issue for the leaders, but they remained calm and finished the round even thanks to the big birdie from Griffin on the daunting par 3, the first half of the famous Tripod’s Turn stretch to end the course.
It is the first career win on the PGA Tour for both Griffin and Andrew Novak, who were in a playoff with Justin Thomas last week at the RBC Heritage.
Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard finished second, Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III finished in the third spot while the teams David Lipsky and Dylan Wu, Taylor Dickson and Trace Crowe, Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen, and Luke List and Henrik Norlander all finished tied for fourth.
Next, the PGA Tour heads slightly west to TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas for the CJ CUP Byron Nelson Tournament.
