Kisner! Zurich Saved By Thrilling Eagle, Playoff Coming Monday

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The first team event since 1981--did you hear that enough?--was looking like a bit of a dud. A six hour delay, gray skies on soggy Bermuda and only Jordan Spieth left among the headliners were hardly the ingredients to success.

But in that classic bit of team play irony, Cameron Smith appeared to seal the victory and you could practically hear the screams of joys from the CBS truck. Furthermore, Smith and partner Jonas Blixt did not make a bogey all 72 holes, an amazing feat with 36 holes of foursomes.

Then Kevin Kisner brazenly holed out for eagle to send the event to a Monday playoff and the first Zurich Classic as team play will have a highlight we'll see for years to come.

Tune in to Morning Drive as we lead in to the 9 am ET playoff!

From Brian Wacker's GolfDigest.com report at the Zurich:

“We knew we had to have it,” Kisner said. “All I was trying to do was make sure I didn’t leave it short.

“It’s just one of those shots you dream about.”

Jeff Babineau's story from Golfweek on the playoff pairs, which pits longtime buds Kisner and Brown, against neighbors who bonded during the week in Smith and Blixt.

Not one of the four finalists (Blixt, like Kisner and Brown, is 33, and Smith is 10 years younger) was born the last time the PGA Tour conducted an official team event (1981 Walt Disney World National Team Championship). There is a good deal at stake on Monday morning: The winners will receive an official PGA Tour victory and two-year exemption, 400 FedEx Cup points and divide a winner’s check of more than $2 million. A victory also would get Smith, a Web.com Tour grad, into the Players Championship and PGA Championship.

Smith and Blixt were the only team in the field to get through the week without a bogey on the card, and they didn’t go away once they fell behind on Sunday. They ran off three birdies to start the back nine, cutting the deficit to one.

Ok, strap in, the shot and stellar reaction. Now, this was entertaining!

 

And just to show how little light remained...