A fun first day of the 2022 Zurich Classic has resulted in an interesting leaderboard. With 10 of the top 20 golfers in the world in this field, it took until late in Round 1 until one of the top-ranked duos -- Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele -- started to pepper the very top of the board at TPC Louisiana. And then they took over the event with a tournament-record score of 59 Thursday.
The big-time Ryder Cup duo leads by one after Round 1 and has now become a heavier favorite than ever to take a title that eluded them last year but that seems like a perfect fit for the two of them to win. Thursday was one of two four-ball sessions so scoring dipped into the low 60s (and lower) with Friday's alternate-shot format sure to inflate those scores ahead of the weekend.
Let's take a look at how Cantlay and Schauffele put their record-setting round together, who else is in contention and what else happened further down the board on Thursday in one of the most interesting tournaments the PGA Tour plays throughout the year.
The leaders
Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (-13): The favorites were who we thought they were. Cantlay and Schauffele came in as the co-favorites with Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland and then went out and dropped a 13-under 59 on the field. After going out in 29, their round stalled a bit halfway through the second nine before they birdied the last three in a row for the magic number.
While it's not completely unusual for a best-ball team (especially one that has both players ranked in the top 12 in the world) to crack 60, it's still special when it happens and especially so since it's never taken place at this event.
"It counts for me," said Schauffele of the 59 which set a new Zurich Classic scoring record. "I haven't done it before. I don't think Pat has either. I'll count it in my book."
The bigger story here is that Cantlay and Schauffele have a head start on a field in which they were already the co-favorites. We'll take a closer look at those numbers below, but it's going to take a pretty big effort for a squad from deeper in this pack to run down two of the best players in the world over the next 54 holes, especially with two rounds of alternate shot upcoming. That alternate shot format is the same format in which Cantlay and Schauffele went 2-0-0 in last year's Ryder Cup
"It's just the first quarter," Cantlay said. "So the buffer, we're only one shot ahead, but we are going into a format on Friday that we really like. I think Xander and I really like alternate shot. It's one of our strengths for the week, and we're really looking forward to it."
Other contenders
2. Matthew NeSmith/Taylor Moore (-12)
T3. Aaron Rai/David Lipsky, Tommy Gainey/Robert Garrigus, Doc Redman/Sam Ryder (-11)
T6. Sam Burns/Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson/Harold Varner III, Cameron Tringale/Wyndhan Clark (-10)
The trio at T6 is the one to watch. All three of those groups played in the afternoon and looked tremendous. That's likely where the firepower will come from over the next few days. Burns and Horschel are especially interesting as they finished two shots out of a playoff here last year and have been playing tremendous individual golf recently (they both came into this week top 20 in this field in total strokes gained over their last 20 rounds).
Rick Gehman and Sia Nejad breakdown Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay's best-ball 59 at the 2022 Zurich Classic. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Two takeaways
1. Golf is ageless: The year Collin Morikawa was born, Jay Haas turned 44. They shot the same score on Thursday at TPC Louisiana. The elder Haas (making his 799th PGA Tour start!) paired with his son, Bill, to shoot 7 under. The 68-year-old nine-time PGA Tour champ made four birdies on his own ball, and the Haas duo is inside the top 25 going into Round 2. Morikawa and playing partner Viktor Hovland (their combined age barely gets within 20 years of Haas) shot 30 going out but closed with a disappointing 35 on the back nine to shoot 65. They're very much alive going into Round 2 and should thrive in alternate shot on Friday.
2. Incredible timing: From the "you definitely cannot make this stuff up" files, Robert Garrigus getting into contention in the week when it was disclosed that he's probably going to go and play in the LIV Golf Invitational -- a rival league to the PGA Tour -- is incredible. Garrigus has no top 10s since 2018, but he and partner Tommy Gainey made 11 birdies between them and now find themselves in the hunt at a tournament where Garrigus -- if he stays at the top -- will surely be asked repeatedly about his future on the PGA Tour. This isn't a bad thing for the Tour because Garrigus certainly isn't a household name, but it would be an incredible thing if he were to somehow go on and win on his way out to the Saudi Arabia-backed league.
Quote of the day
Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland were asked about Jay Haas making that 799th start on the PGA Tour, and they joked about how one of their peers might soon run it down.
Hovland: "We've got a long ways to go."
Morikawa: "No, I can't imagine that."
Hovland: "That's cool. He must have seen some stuff. He must have some pretty good stories. That's a lot of events."
Morikawa: "Sungjae Im might be close to that, though."
Hovland: "He's on pace"
Stat of the day
It's hard to beat this one.
Sam Snead was in the field when Jay Haas made his PGA TOUR debut.
— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) April 21, 2022
Today, Jay and his son shot the same score as the team of Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa, both of whom were born in 1997.
New odds and pick
Here's a look at the new odds after 18 holes, courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
- Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele: 2-1
- Billy Horschel/Sam Burns: 7-1
- Scottie Scheffler/Ryan Palmer: 14-1
- Harold Varner III/Bubba Watson: 14-1
- Viktor Hovland/Collin Morikawa: 16-1
This seems about right, and I love the teams further down this board. While Cantlay and Schauffele seem likely to be in the mix until late Sunday, it's pretty easy to slip in alternate shot and post some big numbers. I love the Scheffler/Palmer pairing at 14-1 as well as Hovland/Morikawa at 16-1 given how easily they could shoot 57 or 58 on Saturday in the other four-ball format of the week.
