AVONDALE, La. — Beau Hossler and Wyndham Clark have known each other since they were 10 years old, but that doesn’t mean their partnership was years in the making.
It turns out neither player had a partner lined up for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans when they were paired together for the first two rounds of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.
“We kind of were talking it through, and by the end of the first two days, we were like, all right, let’s play together,” Hossler said.
That decision has paid off so far. Clark, 29, and Hossler, 28, carded a bogey-free 5-under 67 in foursomes at TPC Louisiana to claim the 36-hole lead.
“We didn’t do anything crazy, but we also didn’t really make any mistakes,” Hossler said. “It was a really clean round.”
The first-round co-leaders are bogey-free so far this week, improving to 16-under 128, one stroke better than their nearest competitors. Hossler did do one crazy thing Friday, burying a 60-foot birdie putt at the fourth hole. Otherwise, they kept it pretty simple.
“I’ll hit it pretty far off the tee and then he’ll have a wedge and he’s been stacking it,” Clark said. “It’s made it pretty easy.”
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Play was suspended due to inclement weather for more than 2 and a half hours, but even that didn’t bother Hossler.
“I was pretty thrilled about it, to be honest. Standing on the sixth tee, it was raining pretty good, and it’s probably the most demanding tee shot out here, so I was happy to not have to hit it at that moment,” he said.
That's how you take the solo lead 💪@BeauHossler rolls it in for birdie from nearly 60 feet! pic.twitter.com/vuic1ieiPs
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 21, 2023
And Team Clark-Hossler has been enjoying not just the golf but the cuisine this week in the Big Easy. Hossler said Clark has been the director of food and beverage since they hit the town.
“We’ve gone to some really good spots,” Hossler said. “After tonight [Friday] we’ll have hit the best four (restaurants) in town, so it’s been really cool.”
Here are four other really cool things to know from the second round of the Zurich Classic.