Irish eyes smiled upon TPC Louisiana on Sunday as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry prevailed in a playoff to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in McIlroy's debut at the team tournament in Avondale, La.
McIlroy, the four-time major champ from Northern Ireland, and Lowry, his Irish friend, fellow major winner and onetime Ryder Cup teammate, put the Zurich on their schedule hoping to jump up the FedEx Cup standings. They'll each receive 400 FedEx Cup points after defeating Chad Ramey and France's Martin Trainer on the first playoff hole.
After starting the day seven shots off the lead, Ramey and Trainer fired a 9-under 63 in Sunday's round of foursomes (alternate shot) to head to the clubhouse at 25-under 263.
Other teams in the 25-under range soon wobbled and fell back — including McIlroy and Lowry, for a brief time, before they rebounded from a bogey at No. 17 with a birdie at the par-5 18th hole to force the playoff.
They returned to the 18th tee to begin the playoff, and Ramey's second shot hooked left over the gallery. Trainer couldn't hit his third shot hard enough onto the green. Meanwhile, Lowry put his team in the bunker on the second shot but McIlroy made a nice recovery shot — similar to his pitch shot on the 72nd hole to set up Lowry's five-foot birdie that forced the playoff.
Lowry's birdie try in the playoff came to rest inches right of the cup, but Trainer pushed his short par putt that would have extended the playoff.
It marked McIlroy's 25th PGA Tour win and Lowry's third. Lowry had not won on U.S. soil since August 2015.
Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard shot a 69 and finished one shot out of the playoff after finishing with four straight pars. Brehm missed a must-have birdie at No. 18.
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