Zurich Classic 2024 standings, scores: Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry among leaders after Round 1

There aren’t many firsts left for Rory McIlroy to achieve in his PGA Tour career, but he checked one off the list Thursday at TPC Louisiana. Making his debut at the Zurich Classic, the 34-year-old looked like a seasoned veteran alongside Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry. The two shot 11-under 61s in the four-ball format in windy afternoon conditions to sit alongside the teams of Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard, Aaron Rai and David Lipsky and Ben Kohles and Patton Kizzire at the top of the leaderboard after the Round first.

While this week marks McIlroy’s first attempt at qualifying for the PGA Tour’s annual team event, it is also his 11th start of the year as he continues to compete through Some relative difficulties early in the season. McIlroy had no problems in the first round as he dribbled beautifully, launched towering iron shots and simultaneously broke the par-72 layout with Lowry.

“You know you need to get off to a good start and fortunately we did,” McIlroy said. “We were 4 under, which was really nice to see, and from there you get motivated and try to keep going. But for the most part today we kept both balls We basically have two looks per hole when making birdies, and that’s what you need to play the ball better. Everyone thinks it could be a little more gung ho than that. But as long as you have two balls on the tee, two greens, I think you’ll always do pretty well in this format.”

The two started their day with four birdies out of the gate and added a few more to reach 6-under 30. Next up was a birdie on No. 10 with a disappointing par at par-5, 11th, but that doesn’t alleviate anything. their spirit. McIlroy hit his best iron of the day on the 12th when he hit an 8-iron into the wind and hit the ball into the gap.

Lowry picked him up on the next hole with a birdie of his own to move the team to 9 under and added another birdie on the difficult par-3 14th to reach double digits under par. With four holes remaining, both seemed likely to overtake the clubhouse lead, but some middling pars coupled with a final birdie at the par-5 18th meant there would be four team leads the way tonight before the competition moves to a four-way format on Friday.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the rankings after the first round in Louisiana.

Leaders

T1. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry, David Lipsky/Aaron Rai, Ryan Brehm/Mark Hubbard, Ben Kohles/Patton Kizzire (-11)

Outside of McIlroy and Lowry, the top spot in the rankings is surprising, to say the least. Hubbard has had a few top 20s, top fives and has yet to miss a shot this season while Rai has been solid, but the rest have been inconsistent over the weekend. Hubbard’s teammate Brehm missed the cut seven times in 11 starts. Rai’s teammate Lipsky has missed eight cuts in 11 starts and is not in the top 40. Kizzire has missed six cuts and retired in nine starts, and Kohles has six misses and retired in 11 starts. The four-ball game may hide the shortcomings, but the same cannot be said for the four-ball game, which will be played on Friday and Sunday.

“Like usual, we tested it,” Hubbard said. “I don’t think either of us are feeling great with the games coming up on the day, but we get along really well. We help each other relax out there and best ball is just a form of fun fun. I didn’t. great putt last week, but he had a lot of holes so he put it up there nice and close and that really gave me more confidence believe that way, and I think even watching me make some putts gave you confidence and you ended up pouring it in.”

Other candidates

T5. Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak, Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Champ/MJ Daffue (-10)
T8. Sam Stevens/Paul Barjon, Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox, Luke List/Henrik Norlander, Corey Conners/Taylor Pendrith, Zac Blair/Patrick Fishburn, Marc Meissner/Austin Smotherman, Callium Tarren/David Skinns, Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen (-9 )

Detry and MacIntyre got off to a dream start, playing the first four holes at minus-4. After a lull, the two went for six birdies on the back nine to post a 10-under 62. MacIntyre has tournament experience from this past fall’s Ryder Cup, while Detry is having a very solid 2024 campaign. The staying power of all these teams in this ranking is interesting given the volatility of the foursome, but the two European teams will be up to the task.

I think it’s about letting each other do it,” MacIntyre said of Friday’s strategy. “We’re both good players, we both know what we’re doing with the golf ball. It’s just mutual trust. If I play well, you play well too. If you make a mistake, don’t say sorry, you didn’t mean to do it. You just have to keep moving forward and keep trying to hit good shots and commit to them and see where we end up. Can’t really do anything about it. It’s tough because you might not make a 5-foot putt until the 17th hole. It’s completely different. All you can do is try your best.”

Odds and picks updated at Zurich Classic 2024

Odds via Sportsline consensus

• Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry: May 13
• Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay: 10-1
• Aaron Rai/David Lipsky: 15-1
• Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre: 16-1
• Andrew Novak/David Thompson: 16-1
• Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin: 18-1
• Corey Conners/Taylor Pendrith: 18-1
• Joel Dahmen/Keith Mitchell: 20-1

Roll with the 2022 champion at 10-1. Schauffele and Cantlay burned big leads on Thursday but kept themselves in it with a series of late birdies. They now switch to four-a-side play for two of the next three days that they dominated a year ago. In 2023, both shot a 9-under 63 in Round 2 and a 6-under 66 in Round 4 under the format. If tomorrow they hit something similar in the mid-60s, they’ll be in business by the end of the week.