After consecutive top-four finishes at the Zurich Classic, Billy Horschel and former LSU star Sam Burns are getting frustrated with close calls here.
Saturday’s third round won't help their dispositions, especially the way it ended.
Burns’ second shot from 266 yards out at the par-5 18th with a 3-wood landed 8 feet from the hole, but it kicked right and wound up in the pond that guards the green.
Horschel parred the hole, which the team had to use for its score in four-ball. They signed for a 9-under 63 that left them at 20-under for the tournament, tied for 10th entering the final round.
While they were clearly frustrated with the unfortunate bounce, they’re still in contention.
“It’s the best shot I've ever hit in my life, literally,” Burns said.
Added Horschel: “It ended up in the water. It landed 8 feet from the hole. ... When you watch that shot and see what happened, you can understand some of our frustration out there, not only this year, but going back to last year."
The unfortunate bounce made for a frustrating end to an otherwise enjoyable day for Burns and Horschel, who were followed by massive crowds for most of the afternoon.
"It's been awesome," said Burns, a Shreveport resident. "I look forward to coming to this event every year. It's definitely one of my favorites, seeing all the purple and gold out there and hearing the LSU chants and the 'Go Tigers'. It's a blast."
Back together
Two of the 80 two-man teams that teed off Thursday have played together for each of the six tournaments under the current format.
Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney made the cut Friday for the fifth time in their six starts as a tandem. Their best finish is a tie for fifth in 2017.
Kevin Tway and Kelly Kraft also teamed up for the sixth consecutive tournament, but they missed the cut. Their best showing is third in 2017.
O’Charley
The 46-year-old Hoffman has been a regular at the PGA Tour’s annual springtime stop in New Orleans since his first visit here in 2006.
This year’s tournament marked the 16th time in the past 17 events held that he’s been in the field, missing out only in 2015. The 2020 tournament event was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hoffman, who's tied for fifth here twice (2014, 2017), has won a total of $899,767 from the event. He’s missed the cut just three times.
Record turnout
The combination of idyllic weather and rare lack of competition from Jazz Fest led to a banner day at the ticket office for tournament officials.
An estimated crowd of 33,000 to 35,000 fans attended the third round, which would be a record turnout, tournament officials said.
Anecdotally, the box office was selling 200 tickets every 5 minutes at one point before the round started on Saturday morning, said Darrah Schaefer with the Fore!Kids Foundation, which operates the tournament for the PGA Tour.
