Friday’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans will feature an alternate shot format in which players take turns hitting one ball.
Joel Dahmen and Keith Mitchell played well and kept the party going. They shot a 2-under 70 and moved to 11 under for the tournament.
“We made some putts. We’re not known for making putts. We’re known for hitting the ball hard, but we made some great putts there and scrambled pretty well. ,” Damen said. “I leaned into him. He leaned into me.”
Strong winds at TPC Louisiana made alternative shots much more difficult than Thursday’s conditions.
When he reached the back nine, he made a birdie on the fourth, but had a bogey on the fifth. The pair then made back-to-back birdies on the 7th and 8th holes to regain some momentum, but soon lost their momentum.
Mitchell missed his par putt on nine and ended the round on a difficult note. However, the accident does not deter this group.
“Really, Joel’s putt was great today,” Mitchell said. “I never want to say, especially on a day like today, that I could have done more if I had hit two under with the alternative shots. Joel had a great chip shot. To be honest, we’ve been playing great. It was a lot of fun and that’s kind of our goal this week.”
From Damen “Visor Bucket Hat” Given their overall personalities, the fun thing is how well they work together.
“I have to give our caddies a lot of credit. We all know about Geno, but our son Dillon this week is a good vibe guy,” Dahmen said. “He’s hilarious. He has no idea what he’s doing, which is even better. The four of us have a good time. We never get mad at each other. you can’t.”
Both players admitted they shot poorly, but for a team with a good atmosphere, how they responded was most important.
“That’s probably the least reaction I’ve ever had on a golf shot,” Mitchell said. “Hopefully we can continue to have fun and do it because we’re still trying to win golf tournaments,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes it gets in the way of the fun. We’re going to get in the way of the fun to win the tournament.”
Saturday’s round returns to a four-ball format, with players playing their own balls and getting the highest score from each hole.
After completing both formats, Dahmen and Mitchell realized what they needed to improve on during Moving Day.
“I leaned on Joel several times yesterday when I didn’t need to. He carried the weight of it,” Mitchell said. “Tomorrow I’ll try to play a little more aggressively if I have to, but it’s going to be windy tomorrow so I think my score will be a little higher and I might be okay for a few more pars.”
They’ll have to wait until the afternoon waves finish, but for now the duo is in the top 10 and in contention for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans title.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
