Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire have grown up playing against each other, but it turns out they make a pretty good team.
Kizzire made a 15-foot eagle putt on the 17th hole and teamed with Harman to shoot 11-under-par 61 in the best-ball format to win the 30th QBE Shootout by one stroke over Graeme McDowell and Emiliano Grillo at Tiburon Golf Club https://www.tiburonnaples.com on the grounds of the Ritz-Carlton Resort in Naples, Fla.
“We knew we needed at least birdie and eagle was a bonus,” Kizzire said. “He had a great iron shot in there close and freed me up, and I hit a good one, too. We both had looks at it. I putted first and made it. That was huge.”
The 6-foot-5 Kizzire, from Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Harman, from Savannah, Ga., met playing junior golf when they were 12 and were Southeastern Conference rivals, Kizzire at Auburn and Harman at Georgia.
Harman-Kizzire also collected eight birdies and finished at 30-under 186, shooting 29 on the back nine.
Said Harman: “We had a little bit of a rough patch there, kind of seven, eight, nine, but we both sort of said, ‘we’ve got to weather the storm and keep it going,’ and I was really proud we hung in there. We caught fire on the back nine. It was fun.”
McDowell, of Northern Ireland, and Grillo, of Argentina, collected seven straight birdies through No. 17 while carding a 62, while Luke List-Charles Howell III totaled 61 to finish two shots back in a tie for third with Gary Woodland-Charley Hoffman of Poway, who wound up at 63, and Kevin Na of Diamond Bar-Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis (62), who had two eagles on the back nine in a 62.
Harold Varner III-Bubba Watson finished with a 60 and were another stroke back in sixth, followed by Tony Finau-Lexi Thompson, who had a 65 to wind up seven down in seventh.
Sean O’Hair-Steve Stricker shot 65 and were eight back in a tie for eighth with Billy Horschel-Brandt Snedeker, who had a 64.
Luke Donald-Andrew Landry were 10th after closing with a 65, followed by Pat Perez of San Diego-Kyle Stanley, who had a 67, while Cameron Champ of Sacramento-Kevin Kisner finished at 68 and were last in the 12-team field.
The tournament, hosted by Greg Norman, started out as the Shark Shootout at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks in 1989.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
