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Northbrook’s Nick Hardy is now a PGA Tour winner.
He teamed up with longtime friend Davis Riley to shoot the Zurich Classic in New Orleans on Sunday in Avondale, Louisiana.
It was the first victory for both of them on golf’s premier circuit.
The Zurich Classic is the only team event on the PGA TOUR schedule, but the champions are waived on the circuit for two years. This is especially important for Hardy, who was on medical exemption to participate in some tournaments.
Last year, on the 4th hole of the final round of the Zurich Classic, Hardy suffered a wrist injury that kept him out of action for a month during his rookie PGA season. To retain his PGA Tour card for the year, season-ending Cohn had to perform well in his Ferry Tour playoffs in his series.
The pairing with Riley was momentary, but it worked.
Hardy, who starred at the University of Illinois before turning pro, was panning to partner with another Thomas Detry, another Illinois alumnus.
“Detry was asked by the Ryder Cup captain (Luke Donald) to play with Victor Perez, so the Illini pairing died down after that.”A few weeks or three weeks ago, we (Hardy and Riley) We texted each other and became good friends from then on.”
The two have known each other since Hardy paired up at a Junior Golf Association of America event when he was 14 years old. Hardy, who played in college at the University of Alabama, is 27, and Davis is 26.
Hardy became the first Illinois player to win the PGA Tour since Wheaton’s Kevin Strielman won the Traveler Championship in Hartford, Connecticut in 2014.
“I was thrilled when Nick emailed me and was looking for a partner,” Riley said. We play very similar games, we are both solid ball strikers.”
Hardy, who turned pro in 2018, made his 51st PGA Tour start at the Zurich Classic. He made his first 29 of his 50 cuts and earned $1,688,360 before he and Riley split his first place check for $1,242,700 at the Zurich Classic. .
Hardy had four top 25 finishes in this wraparound season before taking big wins. He had missed out on six of his last eight appearances until it all came together in his Classic at Zurich.
“I’ve been hitting great balls all year,” Hardy said. The only difference is that it has a little bit of momentum here and there, and that’s really all it takes.”
The Zurich format calls for best ball scoring in rounds 1 and 3, and alternate shots in rounds 2 and 4. The Hardy Riley team posted his tournament-record 30-under 258 score over 72 holes, as he beat Canada’s Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin by two strokes.
Hardy made a big contribution throughout the four days, but Riley scored key shots on nine par 3s on Sunday. His tee shot at the 14th stopped within inches of the cup, Hardy left a tap-in for birdie, and Riley holed a putt from the green for another deuce at the 17th.
They became the 20th and 21st PGA Tour first-time winners at the Zurich Classic, which dates back to 1970. The only PGA TOUR event with many first-time winners is the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ only annual PGA TOUR stop. JDC he has 23 in 51 years.
Hardy and Riley will play at the Mexican Open this week. World No. 1 John Rahm, who won the Masters three weeks ago, is the defending champion at this Mexican Open.
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