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Nick Hardy and Davis Riley won the first PGA Tour event of their careers at the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans while playing in their second season. The dynamic duo played four rounds of 64-66-63-65 to register a victory at TPC Louisiana.
In the last round, Hardy and Riley made seven birdies to finish at a score of 65. With this victory, they took home $2.4 million in prize money from the purse of $8.4 million.
Speaking about the tournament, Riley said:
"This is so special and to share it with one of my best friends out here on Tour is a dream come true. The progression of playing high school, college golf and playing PGA Tour golf is super special and to share this moment with Nick is pretty cool."
Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler were in the lead in the first three rounds, but could not win the title as they sank three bogeys and four birdies on Sunday to finish with a score of 72.
Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin settled in second place with a score of -28. The defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele tied for fourth place alongside Taylor Moore and Matthew NeSmith. Keith Mitchell and Sungjae Im finished in sixth place after scoring under 25.
Nick Hardy: Professional career
Nick Hardy is a professional American golfer. He turned pro in 2018 and started his journey with the Korn Ferry Tour before earning the PGA Tour card. Hardy started golfing when he was in high school. He had several noteworthy performances to his name during his amateur career.
The Illinois native frequently competed at the American Junior Golf Association and won several tournaments for them. He was tied for ninth place at Stonehenge Junior Open and fourth at the Exide Technologies Junior Open.
Nick Hardy sealed a victory at the 2013 AJGA Stonehenge Open after playing the final round of 69, 70, and 63. He also qualified for the US Amateur and Illinois State Junior Championship.
As a freshman, he started his journey playing for the Fighting Illini during the 2014-15 season. He competed at the 2015 US Open and placed in 52nd place with a score of 10. In 2018, he won the Big Ten Championship and finally started his professional journey and won his first event on April 23 at the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Professional career of Davis Riley
Davis Riley joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and earned his first victory at the Panama Championship in February. He added a second trophy to his accolades by winning at the TPC San Antonio Championship in July.
Having turned professional in 2019, Davis Riley won three events in his career. In the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season, he finished ninth on the points list and earned a PGA Tour card.
Davis Riley paired up with Will Zalatoris at the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and finished in fourth place. Luckily, this year, he clinched the trophy.
Riley finished in fifth place at the 2022 Mexico Open and has qualified for the US Open. He has played in two of the major tournaments, with the best finishing at the PGA Championship in 2022.
