Two late finishers, Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler, and Sean O’Hair and Brandon Matthews posted 11 under 61’s to grab the co-lead after round one of the Zurich Classic.
5 pairs, including the Fitzpatrick brothers, Matt and Alex are a shot off the lead after 10 under 62’s.
Two time champion Billy Horschel and his partner, former LSU Tiger Sam Burns shot 8 under par 64.
Defending champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay shot 5 under 67.
John Daly and David Duval shot 3 over 75.
The first round was four ball. Friday’s second round is alternate shot. Play was moved up 1 hour, 20 minutes Friday due to the threat of inclement weather. Play will start at 7 am.
Here on the notes for the Zurich Classic after the first round.
2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
(27th of 44 events in the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Regular Season)
Avondale, Louisiana April 20-23, 2023 Purse: $8,600,000/$1,242,700 to each winner
TPC Louisiana Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,425 FedExCup points: 400 to each winner
First-Round Notes – Thursday, April 20, 2023
Weather: Mostly sunny. High of 81. Wind SSE 12-17 mph, with gusts to 22 mph.
First-Round Leaderboard
Wyndham Clark/Beau Hossler 61 (-11)
Sean O’Hair/Brandon Matthews 61 (-11)
Sungjae Im/Keith Mitchell 62 (-10)
Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick 62 (-10)
David Lipsky/Aaron Rai 62 (-10)
Luke List/Henrik Norlander 62 (-10)
S.Y. Noh/Michael Kim 62 (-10)
Things to Know
- At 11-under 61, Wyndham Clark/Beau Hossler and Sean O’Hair/Brandon Matthews share the first-round lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans
- Last week’s RBC Heritage champion Matt Fitzpatrick, and brother/teammate Alex, sit one stroke behind the leaders
- Since 2017, defending champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are the only first-round leaders/co-leaders to convert for the win at the Zurich Classic
- Schauffele and Cantlay open their title defense with a 5-under 67
- Format: Four-ball (best ball) in first and third rounds, Foursomes (alternate shot) in second and fourth rounds
- Due to forecasted inclement weather, the second round will begin at 7 a.m. (originally scheduled for 8:20 a.m.)
Team Notes
Wyndham Clark/Beau Hossler (T1/-11)
| Category (entering the week) | Wyndham Clark | Beau Hossler |
| Age | 29 (12/9/1993) | 28 (3/16/1995) |
| FedExCup | No. 41 | No. 88 |
| OWGR | No. 81 | No. 139 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s in PGA TOUR career | 131-0-13 | 158-0-9 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s on TOUR in 2022-23 | 16-0-4 | 16-0-0 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s at the Zurich Classic | 3-0-1 | 2-0-0 |
- Playing together as a team for the first time, share the opening-round lead with Sean O’Hair/Brandon Matthews following an 11-under 61
- Hossler missed the cut in both prior starts at the Zurich Classic (2021/Tom Hoge, 2022/Sahith Theegala)
- Clark is making his fourth start at the Zurich Classic (2019/MC/D.J. Trahan, 2021/T17/Erik van Rooyen, 2022/T10/Cameron Tringale)
- Clark (132nd start) and Hossler (159th start) are seeking their first PGA TOUR victory
- Both have runner-up finishes on TOUR – Hossler (2018 Houston Open/P2, 2018 Travelers Championship/T2), Clark (2020 Butterfield Bermuda Championship/P2)
Sean O’Hair/Brandon Matthews (T1/-11)
| Category (entering the week) | Sean O’Hair | Brandon Matthews |
| Age | 40 (7/11/1982) | 28 (7/27/1994) |
| FedExCup | No. 146 | No. 200 |
| OWGR | No. 427 | No. 365 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s in PGA TOUR career | 408-4-45 | 21-0-0 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s on TOUR in 2022-23 | 8-0-0 | 16-0-0 |
| Starts – wins – top-10s at the Zurich Classic | 9-0-0 | Debut appearance |
- Playing together as a team for the first time, share the opening-round lead following an 11-under 61
- Matthews’ best finish in 21 TOUR starts is T35 at the 2023 Corales Puntacana Championship
- O’Hair, a four-time PGA TOUR winner, is seeking his first victory since the 2011 RBC Canadian Open
Miscellaneous Notes
- and brother, Alex, open with a 10-under 62 in their tournament debut; the winner of last week’s RBC Heritage, Matt is seeking to become the first player to win back-to-back tournaments since Tony Finau at the 2022 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic; Alex is making his second career start on the PGA TOUR and first since missing the cut at the 2022 Valspar Championship
- , Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell are one of six teams in the field made up of two players inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking
- David Lipsky and Aaron Rai open with a 10-under 62; last year’s T4 represents their career-best finishes on the PGA TOUR (Lipsky also finished T4 at the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii)
- and Luke List post an opening-round 62; Norlander is making his 41st start since his last top-10 finish on TOUR (2021 Sanderson Farms Championship/T4), while List is making his 36th start since his last top 10 (2022 Farmers Insurance Open/won)
- S.Y. Noh and 2018 John Deere Classic champion Michael Kim open with a 10-under 62
- and Sam Burns (T14) record an 8-under 64; Horschel is the only player to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in both the individual (2013) and team format (with Scott Piercy in 2018)
- One year after opening with the Zurich Classic of New Orleans 18-hole scoring record of 13-under 59, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (T56) card an opening-round 5-under 67
- Both captains for the 2023 Ryder Cup are in the field and are competing with one of their vice captains; for the United States, Zach Johnson is paired with Steve Stricker, while Luke Donald is competing with Eduardo Molinari; R1 scores – Donald/Molinari (64), Johnson/Stricker (66)
- Zurich Ambassadors (bold): Sahith Theegala/Justin Suh (T8/-9), Billy Horschel/Sam Burns (T14/-8), Collin Morikawa/Max Homa (T43/-6)
- Ryan Brehm withdrew prior to the round and was replaced by Derek Lamely, who turns in an 8-under 64 with teammate Mark Hubbard