Horschel and Piercy win Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy fired an error-free closing round of 67 in alternate shot format to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by a single shot from Jason Dufner and Pat Perez.

Horschel and Piercy win Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy finished one clear of Jason Dufner and Pat Perez at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. The winning pair each earned $1.4 million and 400 FedEx Cup points.

Playing alternate shot format on the final day, Horschel and Piercy began the last round of the Zurich Classic three shots back of the lead held by Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown. But with birdies on the first and second holes, Horschel and Piercy found themselves right in the mix from early on Sunday.

As Kisner and Brown stumbled, Horschel and Piercy pressed on. They birdied the 7th, 10th and 11th holes to reach five-under for the day. Seven steady pars from there set a total that no other team could match.

Jason Dufner had a putt to tie on the 72nd green but was unable to convert. The victory was a second in the Zurich Classic for Billy Horschel, he took the title when it was an individual event back in 2013.

It marked the culmination of a great turnaround for Horschel who had come into the event having missed five of six cuts since the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am but then began to find form with good finishes at Hilton Head and then in the Valero Texas Open. Horschel credited his team-mate for helping him after Piercy had shared a room with him in Hilton Head and given him advice.

Billy Horschel was spurred on by team-mate Piercy

“My team mate has been telling me the same things for the last month, Scott comes in… just closes the deal type deal,” Horschel said.

The South African team of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel finished third at 20 under with Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Paisley tied for fourth with Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley.

Chris Paisley and Tommy Fleetwood

Fleetwood and Paisley finished with a 69 that included a hole-out eagle by Paisley on the 72nd hole. The pair will be left to rue a disappointing second round of 75. Despite that, they finished just three shots back and both picked up cheques for over $200,000.

Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
26-29 April
Purse: $7,200,000 Par: 72

1 Billy Horschel (USA) 65 73 61 67 266 $1,036,800
Scott Piercy (USA)
2 Jason Dufner (USA) 66 72 61 68 267 $417,600
Pat Perez (USA)
3 Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 66 72 62 68 268 $273,600
Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
T4 Brice Garnett (USA) 64 73 61 71 269 $216,900
Chesson Hadley (USA)
T4 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 62 75 63 69 269 $216,900
Chris Paisley (Eng)
6 Tony Finau (USA) 62 72 63 73 270 $172,800
Danniel Summerhays (USA)
T7 Tyler Duncan (USA) 64 72 64 71 271 $127,200
Adam Schenk (USA)
T7 Patrick Cantlay (USA) 65 71 66 69 271 $127,200
Patrick Reed (USA)
T7 Russell Knox (Sco) 64 73 63 71 271 $127,200
Martin Laird (Sco)

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

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