While most of the focus Sunday at the FedEx St Jude Championship was on the top of the leaderboard, with the joy and jubilation of Lucas Glover winning for the second time in two weeks, there was heartache and emotion toward the bottom.

Nick Hardy, winner of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Davis Riley back in April, entered TPC Southwind right on the 50th spot in the FedEx Cup standings with the top 50 advancing to the BMW Championship later this week at Olympia Fields outside Chicago.

Hardy is a native of Northbrook, Illinois, which is 50 miles north or Olympia Fields and the 27-year-old so desperately wanted to qualify for the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He got off to a hot start during the final round with birdies on his first three holes and was in prime position to advance. But he bogeyed Nos. 7, 8 and 9, then double-bogeyed the par-3 11th to fall back. More birdies came at 13, 14 and 17 but Hardy drove it in the water left of the 18th fairways and his season was over. He shot a final-round 70 to tie for 49th and drop to 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings, two positions shy of Olympia Fields.

So much to be proud of.

An emotional @NickHardy8 reflects on his season coming to an end. pic.twitter.com/51XaeMwg07

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 13, 2023

“Super tough,” an emotional Hardy told the PGA Tour afterward. “I really wanted to play Chicago. Just sucks. It really sucks. It stings right now.”

The emotion then started to hit more, in an interview that lasted two minutes.

“I’m definitely just proud of my career so far,” Hardy continued. “I’m proud of how I know I’m getting better. Sometimes it’s hard to see growth in this game, but I know I’m seeing it. I hope to be out here for a long time and I know I’ll have many more opportunities. But it stings right now.”

Mackenzie Hughes was the other man to drop from the top 50 after Memphis. The two-time tour winner started the week at No. 47 and fell to No. 51, a third-round 75 the culprit. He ended the FedEx St Jude Championship in a tie for 58th place.

With two falling out, inevitably, two had to move into the top 50. Hideki Matsuyama moved from 57 to 47 in points, thanks to a final-round 65 at TPC Southwind where he played the last four holes in four-under to tie for 16th place. Cam Davis made the biggest jump, rising from 62nd to 45th in points with a sixth-place tie.

“I would say the last three Sundays in a row have all been about the same level of stress and the same level of achievement for me,” Davis said. “I’ve managed to put really good clean rounds together when the pressure has been on to keep moving forward, and yeah, it’s really satisfying to be able to know that I’ve got a tee time next week, so I can start looking forward to that.”

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Nick Hardy snapped his 9-iron around a tree — with a stunning result —during the first round of the 3M Open on Thursday, but before that, he also tasted how luck — good and bad — plays its part in the tricksy game of golf.

Early during Hardy’s opening round, was fortunate to he was the fortunate beneficiary of an amazing horseshoe-and-in putt. Check it out:

.@NickHardy8 can only smile after that break ? pic.twitter.com/dTzM93koXh

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 27, 2023

But the breaks can be just as wicked on the greens and not long after that moment of luck, the tables were turned when a dead-centre putt was rejected and lipped out in the nastiest of fashions:

Golf giveth, and golf taketh away … https://t.co/0hpHGc9t16 pic.twitter.com/dowDoaG3OT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 27, 2023

Hardy took it all with a smile, and was still smiling when he trotted towards his final hole for birdie, mangled 9-iron in hand.

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It was an eventful first round for Nick Hardy at the 3M Open, but ultimately a successful one. He just needs to replace one of his clubs before Friday.

In the matter of a few holes at TPC Twin Cities, the 27-year-old had one of the luckiest lip-ins and one of the most brutal lip-outs you’ll ever see. But that was nothing compared to the incredible recovery shot he hit on his ninth and final hole.

With his golf ball resting about a foot from a tree in the right rough, Hardy decided to hook a daring approach shot across a pond. Not only did he pull it off, he also hooked his iron around that tree in the process. Have a look:

Take a bow, @NickHardy8 ?

A ridiculous escape ending up with a broken club @3MOpen. pic.twitter.com/dNjrE188oq

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 27, 2023

Wow. As an announcer alludes to, it was definitely “worth it,” especially because it was Hardy’s last hole of the day. Even better? He rolled in the 11-footer for birdie to shoot an opening six-under-par 65. Here’s how he described his 9-iron (RIP 9-iron) from 176 yards after:

"It paid off": Nick Hardy on his amazing shot at the @3MOpen from behind a tree that bent his club. pic.twitter.com/m4Zjxm5ccZ

— Golfweek (@golfweek) July 27, 2023

Well played, Nick. That’s why you’re a pro. But to anyone reading this, it’s probably best not to try that one at home.

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Joining forces to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was almost a decade in the making for Davis Riley and Nick Hardy, former AJGA All-Americans who were teammates in the 2014 AJGA Wyndham Cup.

“This is so special, and to share it with one of my best friends on tour is a dream come true,” said Riley after he and Hardy won for the first time on the PGA Tour with a victory in Avondale, Louisiana. “Just the progression of playing high school, college golf and now PGA Tour golf now is super special, and to be able to share it with this guy [Hardy] is pretty cool.”

With nine players among the top-10 teams on the leaderboard through 54 holes seeking their first PGA Tour victories, chances were good for a breakthrough story at the Zurich Classic, and Riley and Hardy wrote the final chapter in a record-setting win thanks to a brilliant inward 31 at TPC Louisiana. Capped by Riley’s 33-foot birdie putt from off the green at the par-3 17th hole, the duo shot a seven-under 65 in the modified alternate-shot format and finished at 30-under 258, breaking the tournament record of 259 set a year ago by Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Riley, who called the victory “surreal” also had a near-ace at the 207-yard par-3 14th hole, his tee shot stopping two inches shy of the cup. They are the first duo to each record his first tour title at the event and they are the sixth and seventh first-time winners on tour this season.

The win took care of some unfinished business from the 2022 event for both players. Riley, 26, a Mississippi native and former Alabama All-American, was in the hunt last year before he finished T-4 with Will Zalatoris. The 27-year-old Hardy, meanwhile, injured his left wrist on the fourth hole of the final round, and though he managed to finish, he was sidelined for nearly two months on the way to missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The pair, who tied the tournament record with their three-shot comeback victory, collected $1.242 million each and 400 FedEx Cup points, and each moves into the top 40 in the season-long standings. In addition, they qualify for the PGA Championship and Memorial Tournament. Riley won in his 59th PGA Tour start, Hardy in his 51st.

Davis Riley is clutch!! ?@NickHardy8 and @DavisRiley68 extend their lead to two after the birdie on 17 @Zurich_Classic. pic.twitter.com/J4OX6vFEAx

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 23, 2023

“I feel like we both handled it very well coming down the stretch. First timers, obviously. So to be able to do that together, kind of rub off each other’s confidence and sort of attitude,” said Hardy, an Illinois native and University of Illinois product, who set up his partner for the outright lead when he stuck a wedge approach from 129 yards to five feet at the par-4 16th hole. “It was definitely special to have a partner for the first one.”

Canada’s Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, World Cup teammates in 2018, closed with a 63, tying the alternate-shot record that Cantlay and Schauffele posted in the second round on Friday, but Taylor missed a five-foot birdie putt at the last and they settled for 28-under 260. Taylor collected his second runner-up finish of the season.

Beau Hossler and Wyndham Clark, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, came in with 71 to finish third at 261. Hossler and Clark were one of four teams bogey-free through 54 holes, but they suffered two late bogeys on Sunday at 16 and 17 to shoot themselves out of contention.

Cantlay and Schauffele bogeyed the 72nd hole but still carded 66 — giving them a better alternate-shot total by four strokes than their better-ball scores — to tie for fourth at 26-under 262 with Matthew NeSmith and Valspar winner Taylor Moore (69).

“Best ball wasn’t our best format this year compared to last year,” Cantlay said. “We both had some opportunities to save some pars and make some putts that we didn’t make this year. Coming down the stretch, I just hit a poor drive on 18 and put him in a bad spot. That was kind of the story of the week. We didn’t necessarily hit all the great shots when we needed to.”

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