From the third-to-last group and in alternate shot, World No. 125 Aaron Rai and World No. 201 David Lipsky bogeyed two of their final four for an even-par 35-37=72 in R4 of the Zurich Classic, dipping one place to T4 on 23-under 265.
The PGA TOUR rookies, both tourney debutants, recorded laps of 61-67-65-72 to end six in arrears of wire-to-wire winners Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. They got an up close and personal look at the eventual champs, playing out of the final group on Saturday, and despite the up-and-down finish on Sunday (4 birdies, 4 bogeys), both players record their career bests on the PGA TOUR as well as their first top-5 finishes. For Rai, a two-time winner on the European Tour, the Englishman bags a second career top 10 in 24 events, bettering a T6 on debut at this season’s Farmers, where he played in the final threesome on Sunday, and for Los Angeles native Lipsky, also a two-time winner on the European Tour, this is his fourth career top 10 in 35 events, brushing aside a prior-best T7 at this season’s opposite-field Corales two starts ago. See link below to post-tournament comments.