Scintillating Schauffele and captivating Cantlay dominate in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – The classic ham and egg description for team play doesn’t cut it for what FedExCup champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Xander Schauffele have produced over the opening three rounds of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

RELATED: Leaderboard | Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele shatter 54-hole record, lead by five at Zurich Classic

Maybe it’s surf and turf. Or perhaps as this is New Orleans – where high-end food sits on almost every corner and a certain French flair exists – it should be croque madame?

Whatever you want to call it, it was phenomenal golf with both players doing their part and sets up what surely will produce the next TOUR win on the resume for two of the game’s young stars.

The pair were simply scintillating in the third round Four-ball at TPC Louisiana, coming home in an incredible 8-under 28 to shoot 12-under 60. They went within a whisker of equaling their record setting 59 effort from Thursday’s opening round but now sit an incredible 29-under par with just Sunday’s Foursomes (alternate shot) left to negotiate.

They obliterated the 54-hole scoring record and are already ahead of the 72-hole scoring mark, held by the teams of Jonas Blixt-Cameron Smith and Kevin Kisner-Scott Brown from the 2017 edition at 27-under.

The California kids will start their victory quest with a five-shot buffer over the nearest challengers in South African pairing Branden Grace and Garrick Higgo who have raised the interest of International Presidents Cup Captain Trevor Immelman with their efforts thus far. They will look to avenge the runner up finish countrymen Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel produced a year ago.

A shot further back with a daunting mountain to climb are further Presidents Cup hopefuls. Sam Burns and Billy Horschel are pushing to get Davis Love III to notice their efforts while former International Team member Jason Day has found some of his old mojo teamed with fellow Australian Jason Scrivener. Joining them are the underdog duo of Aaron Rai and David Lipsky.

But those teams, or any others further back, will need a herculean effort to get anywhere near the dominant duo. Their lone dropped shot through three rounds came in round 2 when an unlucky bounce saw a Cantlay drive wedged against a tree. The resulting bogey was a triumph given the unplayable lie penalty they were forced to take.

Cantlay chases a seventh TOUR win, but first of this season after he claimed the season long race last year. He came into the week after a playoff loss against Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage. For Schauffele, it’s a somewhat elusive fifth win he seeks. While he took the Olympic Gold Medal in Japan last year his last TOUR win came over three years ago at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

While they were full of fun and entertainment on the course, the pair continue to put on their stout game faces in front of the press. They simply refuse to get ahead of themselves and won’t alter their game plan to be more conservative despite their sizeable lead.

“We're going to try and do exactly what we did on Friday, which is sort of plot along, play our games, leave each other in good spots, and try and hole some putts,” Schauffele deadpanned. “It's the third quarter. We finished a really good three quarters here and we have one more to go.”

Both men did admit a victory would be sweet for many reasons, especially as something to share given their burgeoning friendship over the last few years. Having first met during college golf, the pair took things up a notch as friends during the 2019 Presidents Cup. Now they even vacation together with their significant others. It’s made this week enjoyable.

“I'd say everyone gets along. Even our teams get along really well. This week has been fun with dinners and hanging out off the golf course, and it would be really special to go out and get it done tomorrow,” Cantlay said.

The chasers aren’t prepared to hand over the trophy just yet.

“Everything could change in one hole tomorrow. We just have to kind of get off to a very solid start and then play yourself into the day. You can't get overaggressive, just try to give yourself some chances on every hole, and we're bound to make a few,” Grace said.

Indeed, the alternate shot format can produce big score swings, particularly when it is not used in a match play setting. There is no picking up the ball or conceding a hole. And with forecast winds likely to produce tricky gusts it won’t be all smooth sailing.

Grace saw first-hand the danger that can lurk when a team relies on one ball. During Saturday’s round he lost a tee ball into a hollowed out broken tree trunk. Grace may have made a miraculous par from that point (and was further boosted when Higgo made birdie for the team regardless) but says those moments in alternate shot can be catastrophic.

The Australian team realize how big Sunday could be. Day last won at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship and currently sits 129th in the FedExCup this season. Scrivener is a DP World Tour player but makes no secret of the fact he wants to get to the PGA TOUR, and a top-5 finish would afford another start next week.

“I haven't got the greatest FedExCup ranking right now so I have to play well. Then obviously Jason is a good player, plays on the European Tour, and I know that if we have a great week, obviously that could be life changing for him,” Day said.

“But we can't really get too far ahead of ourselves. We've just got to stay as present as possible and hit the shots when they come and just add them up at the end of the day tomorrow. Patrick and Xander, they're playing some phenomenal golf, so they're going to be very difficult to catch and to pass tomorrow.

“Tomorrow's format is difficult. If there's a little bit of breeze, it will add that difficulty, as well. If you're on the wrong side of it, it's really hard to gain momentum. I'd like to be where those guys are but I'm pretty happy with where we're positioned going into tomorrow.”