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 appearance in the Zurich Classic, the 34-year-old looked like the seasoned veteran he is alongside Ryder Cup teammate Shane Lowry. The two fired an 11-under 61 in the four-ball format amid the windy afternoon conditions to sit with the teams of Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard, Aaron Rai and David Lipsky and Ben Kohles and Patton Kizzire atop the leaderboard after Round 1.
While this week marks McIlroy's first attempt at claiming the PGA Tour's annual team event, it also represents his 11th start of the year as he continues to play through some relative early season struggles. McIlroy had no issues in the first round as he drove the ball beautifully, struck towering iron shots and picked apart the par-72 layout in unison with Lowry.
"You know that you sort of need to get off to a good start, and thankfully we did," McIlroy said. "We were 4 under through 4, which was really nice to see, and from there you've got some momentum and you're just trying to keep it going. But for the most part today, we kept both balls in play. We were having two looks basically on every hole at birdie, and that's the way you need to play better ball. Everyone thinks it's maybe a bit more gung ho than that, but as long as you have two balls in play off the tee, two balls on the green, I think you're always going to do pretty well in this format."
The two began their days with four birdies out the gate and tacked on a couple more to turn in 6-under 30. A birdie on No. 10 was followed with a disappointing par on the par-5 11th, but that did nothing to dampen their spirits. McIlroy struck his best iron of the day into the 12th when he feathered an 8 iron against the wind and to tap-in distance.
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 25, 2024Rory McIlroy drops it close from 163 yards to set up birdie and move Lowry/McIlroy 8-under and three back. 🎯🤌
📺: Golf Channel & @peaco*ck | @Zurich_Classic pic.twitter.com/Z4Bv95PD8m
Lowry picked him up on the very next hole with a birdie of his own to get the team to 9 under and added another on the difficult par-3 14th to get to double digits under par. With four holes remaining, the two appeared likely to overtake the clubhouse lead, but a couple middling pars to go along with one last birdie on the par-5 18th meant there will be four teams sleeping on the lead tonight before the competition transitions to foursomes on Friday.
Let's take a look around the rest of the leaderboard after the first round in Louisiana.
The leaders
T1. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry, David Lipsky/Aaron Rai, Ryan Brehm/Mark Hubbard, Ben Kohles/Patton Kizzire (-11)
Outside McIlroy and Lowry, the top of the leaderboard is surprising, to say the least. Hubbard has notched a couple top 20s, a top five and has yet to miss a cut this season while Rai has been solid, but the rest of the lot haven't seen the weekend with much consistency. Hubbard's teammate, Brehm, has seven missed cuts in 11 starts. Rai's teammate, Lipsky, has missed eight cuts in 11 starts and is without a top 40. Kizzire has six missed cuts and a withdrawal in nine starts, and Kohles has six missed cuts and a withdrawal in 11 starts. Four-ball can hide deficiencies, but the same cannot be said for foursomes, which will be played Friday and Sunday.
"Just like usual, we ham-and-egged it," Hubbard said. "I don't think either of us were feeling amazing about our games coming into the day, but we just feed off each other really well. We relax each other out there, and best ball is just a fun format. I didn't putt great last week, but he had a lot of holes where he snuggled it up there nice and close for par and it really freed me up. You just kind of get confidence that way, and I think even you watching me make some putts gave you confidence and you poured them in at the end."
Other contenders
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 by playing their first four holes in 4 under. After hitting a lull, the two turned it on and carded six back-nine birdies to shoot 10-under 62. MacIntyre has the team experience from this past fall's Ryder Cup, while Detry has been enjoying a very solid 2024 campaign. The staying power of all these teams on this leaderboard is interesting given the volatility of foursomes, but the two Europeans should be up to the task.
I think it's about leaving each other to it," MacIntyre said regarding Friday's strategy. "We're both good players, both know what we're doing with the golf ball. It's just trusting each other. If I hit a good shot, you hit a good shot. If you hit a bad shot, don't say sorry, you're not meaning to do it. You just keep walking forward and keep trying to hit good shots and committing to them and see where we end up. Can't really do anything about it. It's difficult because you might not hit a 5-foot putt until the 17th hole. It's completely different. All you can do is try your best."
2024 Zurich Classic updated odds, picks
Odds via Sportsline consensus
- Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry: 13/5
- 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
Let's roll with the 2022 champion at 10-1. Schauffele and Cantlay burned a ton of edges on Thursday but kept themselves in it with a late flurry of birdies. They now transition to foursomes for two of the next three days where they were dominant a year ago. In 2023, the two fired a 9-under 63 in Round 2 and a 6-under 66 in Round 4 in this format. If they card something similar in the mid 60s tomorrow, they should be in business heading into the weekend.
