Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard: Fitzpatrick brothers one off the pace after 36 holes
Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard: In-form Matthew Fitzpatrick and his younger brother Alex have taken the lead at the halfway stage of the PGA Tour's team event.
Pos | Players | Total score |
1 | Alex Smalley / Hayden Springer | -16 |
T2 | Matt Fitzpatrick / Alex Fitzpatrick | -15 |
T2 | Davis Thompson / Austin Eckroat | -15 |
T2 | Billy Horschel / Tom Hoge | -15 |
T5 | Eric Cole / Hank Lebioda | -14 |
T5 | Matt McCarty / Mac Meissner | -14 |
T5 | Doug Ghim / Jeffrey Kang | -14 |
T5 | Nick Dunlap / Gordon Sargent | -14 |
T5 | Kristoffer Reitan / Kris Ventura | -14 |
T5 | Sam Stevens / Zach Bauchou | -14 |
In-form Matthew Fitzpatrick and his younger brother Alex trail American duo Hayden Springer and Alex Smalley by one stroke at the halfway stage of the PGA Tour's lone team event.
The English duo had the best score of the day in round two of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, combining for a seven-under 65 at TPC Louisiana.
They are tied for second on 15-under par with Davis Thompson/Austin Eckroat and Billy Horschel/Tom Hoge.
Matthew, 31, is in fine form this season, having won his fourth PGA Tour title last week with a playoff victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler at the RBC Heritage and finishing runner-up to Cameron Young at the coveted Players Championship.
Alex, 27, also secured his first win on the DP World Tour in March at the Hero Indian Open.
The Fitzpatrick brothers had eight birdies on the day, dropping only one stroke at the par-three third hole.
They started on the back nine and managed two birdies over their first six holes before the duo carded an eagle at the 18th, with Matthew chipping in from 60 feet.
Their score was all the more impressive given the second round called for the more challenging foursomes format.
Round three will revert back to fourballs and the final round will be alternate shot.
"I felt we played great today," Matt said. "We barely missed a shot. Made the putts when we needed to, made some good birdie looks, and yeah, just felt like we played really solid all around today."
He added: "He putts really well, and I think some of the putts we made today were a testament to that.
"I think we made some really nice mid-rangers to pick up a few birdies, which you need in that format and to move up the leaderboard. So, yeah, just been a really solid day."
Overnight leaders Springer and Smalley birdied two of their final three holes to take a one-shot lead into round three.
Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry were among the notables to miss the 36-hole cut.
Koepka stepped in to partner the former Open champion after Rory McIlroy decided not to play this year.
McIlroy and Lowry won this event two years ago, weeks after the Northern Irishman won his first Masters title at Augusta National.
Defending champions Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak made the cut by one stroke.
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