The luck of the Irish prevailed on Sunday as the Ireland-born team of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry held off Mississippi native Chad Ramey and partner Martin Trainer to win the annual Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
Ramey and Trainer finished with a low round 63 for the day to post a 25-under score of 263, but four-time major winner McIlroy knocked his 72nd hole chip shot right next to the pin to set Trainer up for an easy putt to force a playoff.
Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy force a PLAYOFF at the @Zurich_Classic with a clutch birdie on 18! 🔥
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/XxVIDOlcpK
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 28, 2024
Once the playoff started, McIlroy’s experience prevailed as he and Lowry rolled to their first Zurich championship with an even par topping Ramey and Trainer’s bogey.
McIlroy has now won 39 tournaments, including 25 on the PGA Tour, while Lowry has won nine times, including a 2019 victory at the British Open. Ramey, who was born in Fulton and played collegiately at Mississippi State, has tabbed two professional victories in a decade on the tour while Trainer has five career wins.
In 2023, Hattiesburg native Davis Riley and partner Nick Hardy won the Zurich Classic but couldn’t successfully defend their title, finishing the weekend at No. 28 with a score of 17-under.
