2026 Zurich Classic leaderboard: Fitzpatrick brothers thrive in alternate shot; Koepka-Lowry miss cut

The most notable team to miss the cut was that of Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka -- the co-favorites alongside the Fitzpatricks coming into the week. After a slow start in best ball, the two stars put forth a solid effort in alternate shot to shoot 3 under, but it wasn't enough to get them to the weekend as they fell one stroke shy at 9 under. This week was supposed to be a chance for Lowry and Koepka to end long winless droughts on the PGA Tour, but instead both managed to give up ground in the FedEx Cup race after missing the cut.

They were far from alone in a disappointing exit from New Orleans. Tony Finau and Max Greyserman also made a charge to the weekend with a 68 in alternate shot, but they also needed one more to make the weekend and a 10-footer for birdie slid by on the last for Finau, sending them home early as well. On the other end of the spectrum, two teams that were in the top 10 coming into the day -- Jackson Suber and Stephan Jaeger, Michael Brennan and Johnny Keefer -- struggled mightily and dropped all the way outside the cut line with over par rounds in alternate shot.

It wasn't all doom and gloom on the cut line, as a number of teams were able to produce the late birdies needed to earn a spot on the weekend. The most impressive of those came from David Lipsky, who holed out from the bunker on the 18th for birdie to put he and Rico Hoey inside the cut on the number.

Birdie on 18 to make the cut 😎🎯

David Lipsky holes out from the bunker to send Lipsky/Hoey into the @Zurich_Classic weekend pic.twitter.com/ytzq7ppvxK

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 24, 2026

The leaders

1. Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer (-16)

A roller-coaster round for the 18-hole leaders saw the leaderboard tighten up behind them, but despite not having their absolute best in alternate shot, the duo closed strong with two late birdies on the 7th and 8th holes (after starting on the back nine) to get back into the solo lead heading into the weekend. A year ago, we saw Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak break-through together for their first PGA Tour wins, and Smalley and Springer will hope to do the same over the next two days.

Weekend contenders

T2. Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick, Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat, Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge (-15)
T5. Eric Cole and Hank Lebioda, Matt McCarty and Mac Meissner, Doug Ghim and Jeffrey Kang, Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent, Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura, Sam Stevens and Zach Bouchou (-14)
T11. Brice Garnett and Lee Hodges, Adam Svensson and Adam Hadwin, Ben Martin and Trace Crowe, Matti Schmid and Seamus Power (-13)
15. Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala (-12)

The truth is, everyone who made the cut is in contention for the win because of the format. As we saw on Thursday, a team can shoot a 58 in best ball on Saturday and quickly climb the leaderboard. We also saw on Friday that alternate shot can derail a team and drop them just as fast.

That's going to produce an exciting weekend where every team will know they have to go crazy low on Saturday in best ball and then figure out how to avoid disaster on Sunday when they are back to playing alternate shot. While the teams in the top 15 will feel extremely solid about their position, even those who got in on the number at 10 under will be just six shots back entering Saturday and could post a number early that gets them firmly into contention going into the final round.

Updated Zurich Classic odds, picks

• Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick (31/10)
• Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer (9/2)
• Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat (13/2)
• Sam Stevens and Zach Bouchou (19/2)
• Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura (19/2)
• Matt McCarty and Mac Meissner (10-1)
• Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge (11-1)
• Eric Cole and Hank Lebioda (15-1)

Confidently picking a winner at this point feels almost impossible, but I tend to lean on the teams that played better in alternate shot because that's going to be the decider on Sunday. Horschel and Hoge, Reitan and Ventura and the Fitzpatrick brothers produced three of the best alternate shot rounds of the top 10. Further down the board, Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen (55-1) got inside the cut line with a 66 on Friday and if they can score like they're capable of in best ball on Saturday, that team could be a real threat this weekend.