Another Birdie on a Par 3 Wins Zurich Classic For Griffin and Novak

AVONDALE, La. -- To an ordinary tournament golfer, alternate shot is a scary game. You hit half the shots, which results in double the pressure.

PGA Tour pros handle that kind of pressure better, but when they're playiing alternate shot on a Pete Dye course, even they get nervous. As a general rule, the par 3s on Pete Dye courses are the holes that are the most daunting. Think about No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass, for example.

During the Zurich Classic at New Orleans, Andrew Norvak and Ben Griffin handled the par 3s better than any of the other best ball teams; so it seemed fitting that they basically won the tournament on a par 3. 

They came into Sunday's final round leading by three shots, but they bogeyed the par-4 eighth hole and followed it with their only bogey of the week on a par 3, the 184-yard ninth. That gave them an even-par 36 on the outward nine, and their closest pursuers when the day started, Frankie Capan and Jake Knapp, had a 34. Capan, a 25-year-old former Minnesota State Amateur champion and MGA Player of the Year (2020), and Knapp, 30, then made a birdie at the 10th hole, and they were tied. 

It stayed that way for the next six holes. Both teams remained at 27 under par. (On Thursday and Saturday, the game was best ball; on Friday and Sunday, the game was alternate shot.) Then, at the 183-yard 17th, Capan went after the pin, which was on the left edge of the green, but he hooked his tee shot a little too much. The ball splashed into the water hazard left of the green. Having just seen that, Novak hit a conservative tee shot to the middle of the green, 35 feet from the cup. From there, Griffin made the putt. 

It was the eighth birdie of the week on a par 3 for Griffin and Novak, and it gave them a two-shot lead over Capan and Knapp, who got their ball up and down after taking their drop, and salvaged a bogey on the hole.

Up ahead, the Danish pair of identical 24-year-old twins, Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard, were overcoming a couple of bogeys early on the final nine by making four birdies on their way in. Their valedictory birdie at the par-5 18th gave them a 3-under 68, and put them at 261, 27 under. But the birdie at the 17th by Griffin and Novak put them at 28 under, and they concluded their round with a nice, safe par on the 18th. Their 71 gave them a 72-hole tab of 260, and they had a one-shot victory. 

It was the first for each of them on the PGA Tour, and it was worth $1,329,400 apiece, not to mention making them fully exempt for PGA Tour events until the end of 2027. (Knapp was the only player with a PGA Tour victory among those who had a chance to win Sunday. He won the 2024 Mexico Open.) 

Capan and Knapp could have tied the Hojgaards for second by making a birdie at the par-5 18th. But they didn't. They made a par. So they settled for a 70 and a 262, which was good for sole possession of third place and earned them each $258,797.

With that, Capan more than doubled his PGA Tour earnings for 2025, to $587,077, and moved up on the tour money list from No. 148 to No. 105. 


Zurich Classic of New Orleans

At TPC Louisiana

Par 72, 7,442 yards

Avondale, La.

Final results 

1. Andrew Novak/Ben Griffin                        62-66-71-71--260 (minus 28)

2. Nicolai Hojgaard/Rasmus Hojgaard         59-70-64-68--261

3. Frankie Capan/Jake Knapp                   63-69-60-70--262

T4. David Lipsky/Dylan Wu                          63-69-63-68--263

T4. Taylor Dickson/Trace Crowe                  63-71-61-68--263

T4. Karl Villips/Michael Thorbjornsen           64-70-61-68--263

T4. Luke List/Henrik Norlander                     64-69-61-69--263

T8. Chad Ramey/Justin Lower                      67-67-62-68--264

T8. Isalah Salinda/Kevin Velo                        58-69-66-71--264

T29. Tom Hoge/Kevin Chappell                  63-71-66-74--274

Missed cut -- 134

Troy Merritt/Robert Strebb                           65-70--135

Erik Van Rooyen/Christian Bezuidenhout  66-69--135