Saturday Best Ball in New Orleans – 2024 Zurich Classic Round 3 Recap | The First Cut Podcast

Rick Gehman and Greg DuCharme recap Saturday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

0:00 Intro + Rick’s phone charger
6:07 Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn grab the 54-hole lead + List/Norlander the closest chasers
9:49 The 21-unders: McIlroy/Lowry and company
12:21 The Canadians are lurking three shots back (and Presidents Cup implications are in play)
16:06 Wet Socks Schauffele and Cantlay card just a 68 on Saturday + the Fitzpatricks
22:00 Betting Favorites

—
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL: https://youtube.com/FirstCutPodcast

Get your First Cut merch here: https://paramountshop.com/collections/the-first-cut-golf

AUDIO
‘First Cut’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

You can listen to First Cut on your smart speakers! Simply say “Alexa, play the latest episode of The First Cut Golf podcast” or “Hey Google, play the latest episode of The First Cut Golf podcast.”

-LISTEN to First Cut on your preferred podcast platform: https://plnk.to/TheFirstCut
-LEAVE a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2VOeKVW
-STREAM on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/firstcut
-SUBSCRIBE to CBS Sports variety of other podcasts: https://cbssports.com/podcast
VIDEO

-WATCH CBS Sports HQ: https://cbssports.com/live

-SUBSCRIBE to CBS Sports HQ on YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/CBSSportsHQ/
WEBSITE

-READ top-notch golf content from CBS Sports: https://cbssports.com/golf/

SOCIAL MEDIA
-FOLLOW First Cut on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirstCutPod
-FOLLOW First Cut on Instagram: https://instagram.com/firstcutpod/
-FOLLOW Golf on CBS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GolfonCBS
-FOLLOW Golf on CBS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golfoncbs/
-FOLLOW Golf on CBS on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@golfoncbs?lang=en

ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

[Music]
freaking first cut golly
welcome to the first cup podcast I’m
Rick gaming and this is your round three
recap for this week’s Zurich Classic
joining me to break it all down Greg
duch is here hey Greg what’s going on
boys uh well Rick uh Josh is with us as
well here too yeah yeah so that’s why I
introduced that way even though it was a
mistake but Rick great to be here H
excited to talk a little bit of twom Man
team golf event pretty exciting stuff
yes some low scores today before we get
to that I just had something happen that
I want to get your thoughts on so I have
my iPhone here on the desk okay so I
plugged it in to
charge but then I also placed it on a
wireless charger so like it’s it’s
laying you know laying
flat that should like double it that
should I should be able to charge twice
as fast that way I would think I’ve
never tested this now I have
um an older I iPhone and I I lay it down
on a charger at night so that’s usually
how I charge it and every once in a
while I got to plug it in like in in uh
in my wife’s car there’s a plugin you
can play your music or get directions or
whatever but you got to plug it in and
it it doesn’t work very well the port um
so in completely unrelated but uh but
very interesting your ports your Port is
on its last pins
yeah I think stuff just gets in
there maybe I
also I have I have Rick a an iPhone I
think it’s like an XR it’s old it’s old
which was around like 10ish that was
like 10 yeah yeah I think it’s 10 I
think I have 11 so like I’m like not
that I I don’t have a c I go no case I
did that and I just broke the whole back
of it so I put a case on
okay see I’ve dropped it a few times and
it w it the thing won’t break and I
think that because there’s no case I’m
like much more careful with it it’s by
far the longest I’ve ever had an iPhone
I’m gonna see how long it goes you’re
tricking yourself into being more
cautious yeah but I’m not really I’m not
really being that cauti I’m not really
that worried about it it’s just the luck
of the draw luck of the draw indeed luck
of the draw in best ball because
sometimes you got to just ham and egg
yourself around this golf course and
Greg there was a lot of action on moving
day in New Orleans remember we started
the day every single team that made the
cut within five shots of the leag I can
assure you uh that is no longer the case
there is a team that is 15 shots back
there are a bunch of teams that are nine
shots back because of the format which
offered the ability
for these guys to go low 60 62 62 Etc
and also some of these high winds Greg
the the range of scores was
massive it’s uh fascinating because you
think about the the wins and on a day
like this if it were individual stroke
play you know four birdies on a day like
this would be pretty good and you take
you and your partner and you both make
four birdies and you don’t make any
Bogies as a team
and your birdies are on different holes
uh you’re talking about an eight under
round which would be
64 um so that would be a really quite a
good day and it didn’t make up a whole
lot of ground but the point in saying
that is it’s not a hard thing to go out
there and shoot 68 on a day like this
because the winds are difficult it’s
just harder to make birdies um but at
the same time the
format you get uh you know you kind of
roll double sixes and both you and your
partner are two of the hot golfers on
the golf course feeding off of each
other with a little momentum and all of
a sudden 59s in play and it was in play
in this round today it certainly was
we’ll get to that team in just one
second we’ll just we’ll just get this
done right out of the gate Davis
Thompson and Andrew Novak Greg the team
that I’ve been just just rooting for all
week long entered the day and a tie for
first they were one over after two holes
one over after two holes they went from
first to last and they are now out of it
completely out of it you know it could
it can happen so quickly it did it it
was it was uh like 14 minutes after they
teed off they were in last place they
shot um they shot 68 today I really like
that team as well um
and t19 it’s like you know you’re at 17
under
your are they yes Greg it’s over yeah
it’s over it’s over I appreciate your
optimis back six shots back is a lot but
I feel at five shots back if you’re at
18 under I think there’s a chance a slim
but a chance well the team that will
enter Sunday with the lead is the team
that went Bonkers on Saturday Zack Blair
Patrick fish Burn yeah as everyone
expected went out in 29 and then birie
10 11 13 14 15 Greg they shot a 60 which
featured three straight pars to end
their round including on the par five
18th in which Zack Blair had a pretty
reasonable birdie putt it goes begging
and they’ll have to settle for a 60
settling for a 60 and a and a onot lead
pretty good stuff out of them and if
you’re watching on YouTube you can see
this picture there’s a pretty
significant height difference this might
be the biggest Delta between golfer
height uh teammate Heights this week and
this is one of the cases where there’s a
pretty big Delta in club head speed as
well sure it’s it’s an interesting team
I mean Patrick
Fishburn has not played very much on the
PGA tour played on the corn fairy tour
last year gets to the PGA Tour this year
he’s made two cuts both in opposite
field events um he is very long and he’s
you know about a average putter but
basically his his skill set is driving
and putting now Zack Blair is not very
long and the difference in their Club
head speed is over 10 miles an hour
you’re talking about Zack Blair being a
110 guy and Fishburn being a
121 122 guy it’s a pretty big difference
and they’ve come together uh to create
quite a a feisty team especially in this
format they are in at 23 under par the
closest Chasers are Luke list and Henrik
norlander they are 22 underpar thanks to
Greg the second best round of the day a
62 they had two different Eagles on the
card They eagled number two they Eagle
number 11 but because they parred 18
that means they only only sadly played
the par fives at 5 under I guess
that’ll yeah 5 under with the
par not bad this is good stuff from them
look Luke list is an extremely talented
player um we know that he came in second
at the at the Genesis but Henrik
norlander has been struggling he hasn’t
been playing a lot he was interviewed
after this round talking about how kind
of The Limited starts this year have I
mean he’s started he has six starts in
2024 this is his seventh and two of them
have been on the corn fairy tour so it’s
been very limited from him um but when
he has played he has felt like he’s a
little more prepared for it instead of
just going tournament to tournament he
goes into each one a little more ready
and he’s actually enjoyed the
circumstance and and the situ ation um
think about where he’s played well it’s
been I think Mexico and um uh perhaps
corales h no it wasn’t Coral it was
Puerto Rico Mexico Puerto Rico he played
pretty well some of the tropical
events um but Henrik norlander is very
talented as well just he had a couple
tough years back to back and now he’s in
he’s unconditional status so this is a
huge week for him and and a win would be
um much needed job security over over
the next two years uh luuk list won in
the fall Sanderson Farms and then he
also finished runner up in uh Riviera
earlier this year so those highlights
the 21 unders Ryan brm Mark hubard
they’ve been hanging there basically all
week long Rory mroy Shane Lowry let’s go
with that team and this was a very slow
start cig they were three under uh as
they made the turn it it wasn’t great
the their position on the leaderboard
was like 17th or 18th uh then Shane
Lowry hopped on Rory mroy shoulders and
they fired a 31 coming in that’s five
under added up it’s an eight under 64
they’re two shots off the lead and Rory
mooy was the one doing the vast majority
of the damage in this round yes uh he
absolutely was and you think about the
close which I think is a really big deal
heading into into the final round of
alternate shot you now have an
experienced team um with a great
position on the leaderboard right you’re
only uh only two shots off the lead and
now for you know Patrick Fishburn and
Zack Blair Luke list and Henrik
norlander uh Ryan brem and Mark hubard
you’re looking at Shane Lowry and Rory
mroy all of a sudden you got a Ryder Cup
team right there with you they’re not
three or four back they’re they’re right
there in the mix and so very quickly
this can turn into a little leaderboard
gravity because of these two and the
birdie that Rory made at number 16 they
were talking about it on the broadcast
he hit um he he hit iron off the tea and
a very poor wedge very poor is probably
strong a poor wedge that made the putt
while Shane Lowry’s hitting it in the
water Shane Lowry Flags it at 18 and it
doesn’t get the putt to fall and then um
and then Rory gets up and down from the
bunker after hitting a ridiculously cool
second shot that thing got so high in
the air and is three feet from being on
the green and having 20 feet for Eagle
kicks Into the Bunker and
um and he gets it up and down so it was
a really big finish to put themselves
right in position to to cap this off
tomorrow yeah 21 underpar just two shots
off the lead there are one two three
four teams at 20 under let’s focus on
the ones with the shortest odds that’s
Nick Taylor Adam hadwin who carded an
eight under 64 Greg they only had one
birdie streak nine10 and 11 other than
that uh they they were not able to put
multiple birdies together in a row but I
I think this is still a fairly dangerous
team as we head into the alternate shot
format oh I think so too and I the thing
I like about this round is they just
continued to put circles on the card
throughout the day there’s the three par
stretch to to close it out which is
disappointing you’d love to get 18 uh
but all in all they consistently made
birdies throughout the day and and this
is a sign of a team that has two very
capable
players and they are capable of making
birdie at any turn they’re good enough
drivers of the golf ball very good iron
players especially Nick Taylor um and so
both of these guys are really
well-rounded this kind of how I would
describe their games and they’re playing
for something a little more
than just a two-year exemption on the
PGA tour they’re they got a president
Cup in Montreal this year and so it um a
strong showing like this could really
secure this Duo of likely President’s
Cup team members um onto that team and
that’s a big deal for them they would
get uh they would get President’s Cup
points
for this
right I I actually don’t think so so I
don’t think they would the international
team will utilize official world golf
rankings so this is a non is this an no
owgr points for this no owgr points so
that does not count so no so they will
not so what this would what this would
do is allow them to get into bigger
events to allow them to get more owgr
points but also put a little seed uh you
know in Captain uh Mike Weir’s brain
like hey remember when we played team
format remember that it’s yeah it’s hard
to ignore and all of a sudden let’s say
Nick Taylor makes the team on points and
Adam hadwin’s a fringe guy you have like
you you have a built-in team a team that
went out and beat Xander Schley and
Patrick KL in theory right so that’s a
that’s a big deal even though it’s a
different kind of golf course you want
to get Canadians on the team anyway and
if two of them are winners together in
this team format it’s significant and
it’s hard to ignore so it would
definitely be brownie points more than
legitimate points brownie points go a
long way and as of right now if this
ended right now Nick Taylor uh would be
fourth in the president Cup Standing so
he would be on the team automatically
Adam hadwin is 10th so I imagine he
would also be selected uh by Captain
Mike we so good start to the week and
this could really boost their chances of
being at Royal Montreal later this year
yeah we are gonna continue this
conversation we’ve got to talk about the
notables we haven’t talked about Zander
and KLA yet I wonder why we haven’t
talked about the fitzpatricks yet oh I
wonder what could have happened to those
guys and then we have to assess the
board and figure out how things might
play out on Sunday but first we’re going
to take a quick break and hear a word
from our partners
there are some things in life that you
can’t quite explain an extraordinary
story maybe it sounds
Flawless looks
effortless or makes you feel like a part
of History the first ever goal for BFC
and when all of those phenomenons come
together
Soph it’s
perfect hitch perfect
and we’re back Greg what happened to
Patrick Klay and Xander Schley who
yesterday shot a 67 in alt shot and
today they shot a 68 in best ball they
are down to a tie for 27th they are 16
underpar they are seven shots off the
lead th this is so disapp appointing I
think they did something similar last
year um where they just struggled in
bestas ball but what happened in this
round if you look at this scorecard I
mean they’re four under through the
first nine if if they go shoot 32 on the
back nine again uh they get to 20 under
they’re right there in the mix on Pace
you know you enter of the day one off
the lead um right there as a perennial
favorite and you’re you’re sort of
keeping Pace that front n 32 is in no
way um a hot streak in this format but
it’s keeping pace you’re hanging in
touch with the leaders and if they’re
able to get something going on the back
nine well all of a sudden they’re right
there heading into tomorrow and they’re
forced to be reckoned with but they play
the back nine even par they missed a
couple of short birdie
opportunities uh only made birdie at
number 13 and then of course Patrick
Klay hits it in the water at 18 Xander
shawley gets a little conservative with
the t- shot and ends up making Bogey and
so for the second day in a row they make
bogey at 18 and now they’re um out of
it they are barring some miracle and
collapse it’s over is there any chance
Rick that they beat that they play
better in forums than four ball for the
week I think last year
they were even I think whatever I think
they shot like like 131
131 in the I think they did too so there
is a chance they
there they would have to shoot uh I
think like six under tomorrow so they
were
133
and 29 they did they were better last
year in alternate shot than they were in
WoW
wow yeah that’s pretty
wild and was that
63 the they shot 63 in alternate shot I
remember
that yeah
6763
6666 that’s crazy it’s pretty
dirty crazy wow um and so they could do
it again this year because they shot
five under yesterday at 11 total for the
um for the best ball format so they need
a six under 66 tomorrow to tie that
which I don’t think that would only get
him to 22 under so maybe that’s the
Target that they set not GNA be good
enough the
fitzpatricks shot of 65 seven under
didn’t budge from their position tough
tough time when you can shoot a a 765
and not make up any ground on your peers
it was fine Greg but uh they needed more
than fine based on where they entered
this round and they are currently in at
17 underpar which is going to be six
shots back yeah a couple mistakes in the
alternate shot like they make double at
one in uh in the second round um they
made two bogeys in in the b ball format
on Thursday then those kind of mistakes
just they they just simply take you out
of an event like this especially when
pile up it it’s too many bogeys they
made another one today you should be
playing the bestas ball format near
bogey free if you have one within the
two rounds that’s okay but you really
shouldn’t be making four bogeys in in
the best ball format um and and then
when you add in a double and another
bogey in the forsome format it makes it
really tough and so 65 yeah it’s a good
round but you needed a great round in
order to get yourself back in contention
and just to put a bow on some of the
other big names colum morawa and Kirk
kyama had their best round of the week
it was an eight under 64 they still did
make bogie on 17 so there was uh a
little bit left to to be desired out of
this round but they played much better
on their second nine um I’m not I don’t
have any big takeaways from this Greg
but just wanted to at least uh keep an
eye on these two yeah it’s very similar
to uh Fitzpatrick and well fortunate to
make the but very similar to the
fitzpatricks but they just they they
although the difference is they didn’t
make enough birdies they only made two
birdies yesterday they were bogey free
uh and it just didn’t quite make a big
enough move and they shot a six under on
Thursday which was also bogey free so
they they didn’t make a bogey until 17
today and not even really sniffing
contention you got to make birdies and
in these formats and they just they made
some just not quite
enough let’s see what Vegas has to say
about this I imagine that the Rory M
Shane Lowry group is going to be the
group to beat they are they’re plus 270
now that’s not that much longer excuse
me not that much shorter than Patrick
Fishburn and Zack Blair at plus 320 to
Win Luke Liz and Henrik norlander are
four to one brim hubard Taylor and
hadwin those two groups are each uh 10
to one and then you get everybody longer
than that Greg where are you potentially
spending your uh hard-earned American
dollars
tonight so there’s a well Lowry and mroy
I believe are going to
win I do not believe they are gonna win
no if Lowry plays like he did today they
are cooked if lry putts like he has the
last couple of months they are
cooked if Rory uh makes a big number
like he has all of 2024 they might be
cooked I think I just think they are on
the knife edge right now yeah that could
be Rick a maybe I’m getting attached to
the names here hold on they are also way
better than guys named Fishburn Blair
list norlander brem hubard Kim Lee right
like there’s a lot of talent that makes
up for them
yeah exactly and the things you point
out are why I kind of stayed away from
them and leaned towards shley and canl
at the beginning of the week uh because
I was worried about those things I do
feel an energy with them that I I think
is going to allow their talent to shine
through more than the recent form so I I
think there’s a break I mean Rory just
seems so relaxed he does and it it it
doesn’t feel like this is the final
round of the Masters it doesn’t this
feels like Rory going out to play golf
with his good pal for over 25 years
Shane Lowry and that’s dangerous because
for for uh Fishburn and Blair and list
and norlander specifically norlander brm
and hubard I mean this is a big deal
this is career changing kind of stuff
for sure for Lowry and mroy this is a
getting ready for a Ridder Cup in two
years you know or it’s really just
having fun in New Orleans playing golf
so I think that’s a really big Edge for
them and why I think why I do think
they’re going to win if it’s not
them I’m looking now to Total Team
talent and and I think you’re looking at
uh at Nick Taylor and Adam hadwin they
played great last year in the forums as
Josh points out um they shot 63 in
forums last year um I’m also looking at
I think Michael Kim and KH Lee have some
really good upside and I think CT pan
and Kevin Yu with their ball striking
Acumen could be really dangerous
especially if the wind gusts continue
which I tomorrow looks like it could be
a rather difficult day and having a a
ball striking Duo like CT pan and Kevin
Yu could be could be very dangerous yeah
I like uh I like that number on Taylor
and hadwin that’s that’s where I would
go tonight yeah yeah I don’t blame you
for that yeah the rest of these guys I
mean it was it was pretty
easy uh you
know I don’t want to say easy but it’s a
a lot different shooting a 60 early with
nobody watching than trying to go to alt
shot with a career trajectory change as
a possible outcome with everybody
watching yeah it’s a nerve-racking thing
so when you look at the um at at
President’s Cup stuff this is in your
opinion an opportunity a little
inspiration but not not a panic nerve
nerve-wracking kind of moment no I don’t
think so you’re talking about for the
Canadians yeah no I think it’s a because
they’re both like I think there’s a good
chance they’re both going to make the
team anyway and and they’re both in
position to make the team right now I
think this is like hey this is gravy
let’s go out and just like go do it I
don’t think that it’s I think it’s
only positive vibes and and like extra
credit as opposed to holy crap I need to
win this to to show Captain Mike that I
deserve a spot right they were probably
penciled in on the list initially yes um
and and now they may be playing for a
paing together too right which is pretty
cool that would be an electri that
pairing in Canada would be electric
especially after the Canadian open last
year be so sick so sick okay well listen
24 hours from now we’ll know and we will
toast them on the first cut as soon as
the tournament is over and we get done
our writing and HQ duties but we’re
gonna put a pin in it until then and I’m
gonna say big thanks to producer Josh
who does all the hard work behind the
scenes that right there it’s GRE du
charm you can find him on Twitter at the
real gfd and you can find me Rick run
good good this has been the first cut
we’ll catch you next time
[Music]
[Music]