You never know what you’re going to get when you turn golf into a team sport and there’s a lot of zaniness going on down there outside New Awlins at the Zurich Classic.
Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer did a pretty good Texas Two-Step and earned themselves a share of the first round lead at the PGA Tour’s first team event since 1981.
Jordy and his fellow Texan are in at 66, good enough for a share of the first round lead.
There are 80 teams wandering around the TPC Louisiana and after today, they’ll send half of them home, if not more, get yourself a Cajun Po-Boy on the way out.
They will trim the field to the low 35 teams and ties.
Scores could turn real low on Friday when they switch to the best-ball format after Thursday’s difficult alternate-shot.
There were plenty of surprises.
K.J. Choi and Charley Wi were just a shot off the lead. Choi is well past his prime, waiting to turn 50 in four years to head over to the Champions Tour. Wi has basically lost his card and is spending most of his time teaching.
The team with the highest-ranked players — Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose — only managed to shoot an even par round of 72. If the cut came after the first round, they’d be on the wrong side of it.
Another high-profile duo didn’t exactly tear it up. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler managed to shoot 71.
Brooks Koepka had to get a special exemption for his younger brother Chase to play with him. Chase is a non-member of the PGA Tour who is starting his career in Europe on the Challenge Tour. But they’re in the thick of it after opening with 69.
After the 36-hole cut, they’ll do another alternate shot round on Saturday then best-ball again that will hopefully encourage a Sunday shootout.
