A big part of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event isn’t just the eye-popping scores that the two-man teams shoot. It’s the pairings themselves.
The friendship between Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele has been documented many times, and the way their games work together makes pairing them easy for Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup captains.
The Keith Mitchell-Sungjae Im pairing last week was as entertaining as it was unexpected. Mitchell schooled Im on Georgia football while Im poked fun at his new partner, saying he couldn’t make enough birdies to persuade Im to wear a visor in the future.
As for the John Daly-David Duval pairing, well, it wasn’t their golf that made them stand out in New Orleans.
Which brings us to Nick Hardy and Davis Riley, who together won their first PGA Tour event Sunday at TPC Louisiana, beating Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, who rushed up the leaderboard by tying a tournament record with a final-round 63 in the alternate-shot format.
“This is so special, to share this with one of my best friends on tour. It’s a dream come true."
Davis Riley
Friends since they were 14 years old, Riley and Hardy finished at 30-under par, shooting 7-under 65 to separate themselves on a crowded leaderboard.
“This is so special, to share this with one of my best friends on tour,” said Riley, 26. “It’s a dream come true. Just progressing from playing high school golf to college golf and now the PGA Tour, it’s super special.”
Riley, who played collegiately at Alabama, is in his second full season on the PGA Tour, his previous best finish being a playoff loss in the 2022 Valspar Championship.
Hardy, who played at Illinois, is also in his second full season on Tour and had just two previous top-10 finishes. He admitted to being a jumble of nerves before the final round as he and Riley were forced to chase down Beau Hossler and Wyndham Clark, who had led after each of the first three rounds.
“I don’t know why, but I was really nervous,” said Hardy, 27. “I think golfers are kind of control freaks, and in alternate shot you don’t have control. Davis has been so good I knew I just needed to play my game and be solid.”
Starting at the 13th hole, Riley and Hardy birdied four of the next five holes. Clark and Hossler played their final 12 holes in 1 over to shoot 71 and finish third at 27 under.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Riley said. “I know how hard Nick works and the work I put in, and for it all to pay off with one of my best friends.”
Ron Green Jr.