Golf

Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer take Zurich Classic

Duo finish with a 69 to win by three strokes as McDowell and Stenson fade on final day

Ryan Palmer (L) and Jon Rahm celebrate victory in the Zurich Classic. Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty

Mon Apr 29 2019 - 06:38

Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer carded a final round of three-under 69 to win the Zurich Classic in Louisiana.

The team shot four birdies and one bogey to pull ahead in the alternate-shot fourth round, having begun the day tied for the lead with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax.

A birdie putt from Palmer on the par-5 second hole gave them the edge they needed and the duo remained in front for the rest of the round — with Rahm draining a 24-footer to save par on the 15th and continue the momentum.

The pair took a three-shot victory over Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood, finishing with a total of 26-under 262, while Stallings and Mullinax tumbled down the leaderboard with four bogeys, a double bogey and one birdie for a final round of 77.

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Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson also saw their challenge fade on the final day, with a closing 73 leaving the duo nine shots off the pace. Seamus Power and his playing partner David Hearn finished with a 68 and in a share of fifth place on 20-under par.

Rahm said the win had been a team effort.

Speaking during a press conference, he said: “It’s been incredible. The way it happened — he started off playing great, I kind of struggled and then I came through in the middle, and then he finished it off — it was amazing.

“To win as a team, it’s something you don’t get to feel very often in golf. I hope it happens again.”

Garcia and Fleetwood had an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys to card a final round of 68 and finish with a total of 23-under 265, while Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Matt Every finished two shots further back to tie for third alongside Brian Gay and Rory Sabbatini.

Four teams tied for fifth on 20-under.

Collated final scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans (USA unless stated, par 72):

262 . Rahm (Spa)/Palmer 64 65 64 69

265 . Garcia (Spa)/Fleetwood (Eng) 65 68 64 68

267 . Lee (Kor)/Every 65 69 65 68, . Gay/Sabbatini 60 70 66 71

268 . Castro/Tringale 65 69 66 68, . Power (Irl)/Hearn (Can) 68 68 64 68, . Kisner/Brown 62 69 68 69, . Lebioda/Luck (Aus) 67 66 64 71

269 . Laird (Sco)/Taylor (Can) 62 74 64 69, . Watney/Hoffman 65 70 63 71, . Malnati/Hurley III 63 67 66 73, . Poulter/Horsfield (Eng) 67 69 66 67

270 . Stallings/Mullinax 61 70 62 77, . Horschel/Piercy 66 68 66 70, . Hadwin (Can)/Knous 66 68 65 71, . Cejka (Ger)/Prugh 63 71 64 72, . Tway/Kraft 63 72 64 71

271 . Stenson (Swe)/McDowell (NIrl) 65 67 66 73, . Henley/Blaum 65 67 65 74, . Reavie/Glover 62 70 68 71, . Dahmen/Harkins 63 71 63 74

272 . Spaun/Jones (Aus) 67 69 64 72, . Stroud/Kokrak 65 69 68 70, . Poston/Jaeger (Ger) 62 70 67 73, . Merritt/Streb 66 68 66 72, . Cook/Landry 65 70 62 75, . Knox (Sco)/Stuard 62 69 66 75, . Koepka/Koepka 67 68 63 74, . Sharma/Lahiri (Ind) 67 69 65 71

273 . Conners/Hughes (Can) 67 68 68 70, . Stefani/Haas 65 69 68 71

274 . Etulain/Romero (Arg) 67 69 65 73, . Grace/Harding (Rsa) 65 68 61 80

275 . Watson/Holmes 64 70 66 75, . Hoge/Henry 67 68 66 74

279 . Bradley/Curran 64 71 69 75

282 . Gribble/Garber 61 75 76 70, . McCarthy/Diaz (Mex) 63 73 70 76. Kim/Imn (Kor) 64 72 73 73

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