AVONDALE, La. — If you are going to miss a cut at a PGA Tour event, there are worse cities to do it in than New Orleans, which in addition to hosting the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week, is also filled with music right thanks to the famous New Orleans Jazz Fest. If that wasn’t enough, this great food town is also hosting a seafood festival, so teams that couldn’t card enough birdies at TPC Louisiana can drown their sorrows in gumbo, Hurricanes and blues music.
While the two-man teams who made the 8-under cut (136) will be fighting for a share of an $8.9 million purse and 400 FedEx Cup points each, including co-leaders Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry, below are some of the notable golfers who missed the cut at the 2024 Zurich Classic.
Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala (6 under)
Sahith Theegala heads to the 14th tee during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into this event, few teams could boast the ballstriking prowess of this pairing, and a Thursday 65 in the fourball format showed they could make birdies, but making three bogeys over their last five holes in alternate shot on Friday pushed their score from 9 under to 6 under, two shots below the cutline.
Tom Hoge and Maverick McNealy (6 under)
Tom Hoge plays his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Hoge is one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour and has won an event in each of the last two years. McNealy has been solid this season too, but a 66-72 showing resulted in a MC.
Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker (6 under)
Matt Kuchar waits his turn on the 16th green during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
A soft touch around the greens and loads of experience were not enough to send this team into the weekend. A front-nine 38 on Friday lead to their missed cut.
Billy Horschel and Tyson Alexander (4 under)
Billy Horschel looks on from the 10th tee during the second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
This pair was all smiles before the start of the tournament, and with Horschel fresh off a win last week at the Corales Puntacana Championship for his eighth PGA Tour win, they had reason to be confident. Unfortunately, the Bayou wasn’t kind to these Florida Gators, who shot 67-73 to miss the cut by four shots.
Francesco Molinari and Luke Donald (2 over)
Francesco Molinari and Luke Donald participate in the pro-am prior to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on April 24, 2024 in Avondale, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Yes, Father Time is catching up with both of these Ryder Cup stars, but with their experience in foursomes and fourball, there was reason to be optimistic that the Englishman and the Italian could play well at TPC Louisiana. On Thursday, they did, shooting a very respectable 65 in the best ball competition, but a 77 on Friday sent this team packing.
