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After Thursday's birdie-fest in fourballs, Friday foursomes brought a much bigger challenge for the two-man teams at the 2025 Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana. Where fourballs is just about going out and trying to make birdies on your own ball, the alternate shot format requires an entirely different mentality and a lot more teamwork to shoot a good score over 18 holes.

The reigning champions looked like they were going to make a big move Friday as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry got off to another great start in alternate shot (which they dominated a year ago) with an eagle on the second. 

The combination of McIlroy's length off the tee and Lowry's accuracy on approach pairs beautifully in alternate shot, and they had it to 6 under on their round thru 12 and were just two off the pace. It looked like they might get into one of the final two groups on Saturday, but bogeys on the 13th, 17th and 18th took the wind out of their sails and dropped them back to 11 under for the tournament. 

Even with that late stumble, McIlroy and Lowry fared much better Friday than the team that was just behind them on the pre-tournament odds sheet. Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama opened with a 61 but had a dreadful second round, shooting a 75 that left them outside the cut line. Neither player was particularly sharp Friday and they struggled as a team to get into any kind of rhythm with Kitayama putting two drives in the water on their second nine to lead to a pair of double bogeys that sunk their chances at the weekend. 

Saturday will see a return to fourballs where golfers have posted immensely low scores. With a bunched up leaderboard where the cut finished just six shots off the lead, every team that made it to the weekend will feel like they have a chance. 

The leaders

1. Isaiah Salinda & Kevin Velo (-17): After a tournament record on Thursday with a 58, the Salinda-Velo team were able to stay atop the leaderboard with a 69 in alternate shot, buoyed by a stretch of three straight birdies to open their back nine. A birdie on the 8th (their 17th) then got them back into the solo lead at 17 under for the tournament. They will have plenty of confidence going into Saturday given their record-setting 58 on Thursday and another round close to that could give them some cushion at the top. 

Other contenders

2. Andrew Novak & Ben Griffin (-16)
3. Rasmus Højgaard & Nicolai Højgaard (-15)
4. Jacob Bridgeman & Chandler Phillips (-14)
T5. Ryo Hisatsune & Takumi Kanaya, David Skinns & Ben Taylor (-13)
T7. Nick Taylor & Adam Hadwin, Aaron Rai & Sahith Theegala and 8 other teams (-12)
T17. Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry, Thomas Detry & Robert MacIntyre and 6 other teams (-11)

Because no one went crazy low on back-to-back days, the leaderboard is incredibly crowded at the top. As such, everyone will feel like they could get into the mix for the win Sunday since we know rounds in the 50s are available as we go back to fourballs Saturday.

Novak and Griffin tied for the best round of Friday with a 6-under 66 to vault into a share of the lead. For Novak, it's a continuation of the best stretch of his career as he's coming off of a runner-up at the RBC Heritage. He seems to be carrying that positive momentum into this week. 

The Højgaard boys put together a solid 70 to stay just one back of the leaders but will feel like they left a ton out there after missing a number of fairly short putts in their second round. With the way they are striking the ball, they are poised for another low day Saturday if they can get some putts to drop.

All three teams in fourth and fifth place all played well in alternate shot with rounds in the 60s to make moves up the leaderboard, and they will be confident when the Zurich Classic returns to foursomes Sunday if they can stay near the top after Moving Day. 

The Canadian pairing of Taylor and Hadwin were able to match Novak and Griffin for the round of the day with a 66, as they are the rare team to shoot just as well in alternate shot as they did in best ball. And then there's McIlroy and Lowry, who will feel like they should be in that top 5 if not for a rough closing stretch. Still, Lowry noted after their round they're feeling great and will be looking to get it to 20 under or better on Saturday to set themselves up for another Sunday run in foursomes.

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Notables who missed the cut

  • Joe Highsmith & Alejandro Tosti (-9)
  • Collin Morikawa & Kurt Kitayama (-8)
  • Joel Dahmen & Harry Higgs (-8)
  • Wyndham Clark & Taylor Moore (-8)
  • Akshay Bhatia & Carson Young (-7)
  • Si Woo Kim & Sangmoon Bae (-6)

A cut line at -10 doesn't happen every week, but low scores are a must in the team format and some of the teams featuring the biggest names in the Zurich Classic won't be playing the weekend. Morikawa and Kitayama's pair of back nine doubles were extremely rough, but they weren't alone in late misery to cost them the weekend. Bhatia and Young made a triple bogey on the par-5 18th needing just a par to make the cut on Friday afternoon. 

2025 Zurich Classic updated odds, picks

Odds via BetMGM Sportsbook

  • Andrew Novak & Ben Griffin: 13-5
  • Rasmus Højgaard & Nicolai Højgaard: 9-2
  • Isaiah Salinda & Kevin Velo: 11-2
  • Shane Lowry & Rory McIlroy: 13-2
  • Jacob Bridgeman & Chandler Phillips: 12-1
  • Ryo Hisatsune & Takuma Kanaya: 20-1
  • Aaron Rai & Sahith Theegala: 20-1

This week remains the hardest betting week of the year because of the volatility created by the format, and going into Saturday, there's not a team at the top worth investing in further before fourballs. Better to wait until Saturday night to pick the team at the top that has the best chance to succeed in foursomes. The move now would be to pick a team further down the odds board that could go low in fourballs. For me, that's Rai & Theegala and Detry & MacIntyre (30-1), but truth be told, if you like anyone way down the list with the potential to put up a ton of birdies, there isn't a team that's completely out of it.