From the sixth-to-last group and in alternate shot, World No. 36 Harold Varner III and World No. 67 Bubba Watson birdied two of their final four for a 4-under 34-34=68 in R4 of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, up five places to T4 on 23-under 265.
Watson, who won this event in a playoff in 2011, has played in all five Zurich’s as a team event and bags a third top 10, second straight after T8 last year with Scottie Scheffler. For Varner III, he’s also recorded a top 10 (T8) when played as an individual event, the 2016 edition which was reduced to 54 holes, and has also played the team event five times but this was his first time making the weekend. The tandem, in their inaugural as teammates, signed for rounds of 62-71-64-68, with today’s lap featuring five birdies versus one bogey, highlighted by a 24'5" birdie-4 at hole 2 (by Varner). Watson bags his first top 10 of the season in seven events, while Varner bags his third top 10 in 14 events, second consecutive after a T3 at last week’s RBC Heritage as the 54-hole leader by one.