Rahm and Palmer team up to win Zurich Classic
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Ryan Palmer ended a nine year wait for victory as he teamed up with Jon Rahm to win the Zurich Classic by three shots
It had been 3,388 days since Ryan Palmer had last hoisted a trophy on the PGA Tour (in 2010), but he was a winner once more as he and Jon Rahm triumphed at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday.
The somewhat unlikely duo fired their fourth round in a row in the 60s with a three-under 69 at TPC Louisiana to beat out Tommy Fleetwod and Sergio Garcia by three strokes, finishing on 26-under-par.
Having contended successfully with weather delays to play early on in the tournament, Rahm and Palmer played their way in to the joint lead with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax heading in to the final round.
But as Stallings and Mullinax struggled with the foursomes format to a disappointing 77, their fellow overnight leaders quickly extended their own lead with a tap-in birdie on the par-five second, and kept their hold over the contest for the rest of the day.
The pair did give a shot back after Palmer missed a four-footer for par on the sixth, but added a birdie on the 10th to get back under-par for the day as Rahm converted from just under 14-feet.
Rahm followed it up a few holes later with an impressive shot to two-feet from the middle of the 13th fairway to get to 25-under-par, and Palmer holed his putt from 11 feet on the next to get to their winning total.
The Spaniard then made a huge par-saving-putt on the 15th to cement their position at the top, and they would walk down the 18th fairway to big applause as they eased to three pars over the final stretch.
For Palmer, it was a fourth PGA Tour title, and for Rahm it was a third – making it the third season in a row where he has secured a title.
Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia finished in solo second after back to back birdies on 17 and 18 to get to 23-under with a 68, and their was a two-way tie for third two shots further back between the pairings of Brian Gay and Rory Sabbatini, and Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Matt Every.
