Doug Ghim, Justin Suh bounce back to get in contention at the Zurich Classic

Doug Ghim and Justin Suh were pretty disappointed with the ragged finish to their round on Friday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The two were humming along nicely in the foursomes format but made bogeys at four of their last six holes to turn what was a solid effort into 73. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Tee times Ah, but youth bounces back better than most. Ghim, 25, and Suh, 23 – the youngest pair to make it to the weekend at Zurich – viewed Saturday as a new day, with new opportunity. They would shoot 8-under 63 to give themselves some hope heading into Sunday. Starting their day tied for 20th, the two moved inside the top 10 and are at 15-under 201 heading to Sunday, four shots behind leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. Both Ghim and Suh live in Las Vegas, and the team was formed with the help of their agents. Suh was a decorated amateur, an All-American at the University of Southern Cal who set a Trojans record for most rounds in the 60s (64). He also is a part of that talented class of 2019 that includes Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff, just waiting to make his splash. He simply lacks the proper status to get starts right now. Suh has only four starts thus far in 2021, including top-35 finishes at PGA TOUR stops in Puerto Rico and Punta Cana. His only other start this month was on the Korn Ferry Tour. For Suh, this marks an important week. He knew going in that if he and Ghim were to find some magic in New Orleans and win, it would mean a PGA TOUR card for him. “It’s a perk,” Ghim said. “I wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t have showed up, wouldn’t have tried so hard to get Justin into this tournament if I didn’t think we could win together. When Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt won (at Zurich in 2017, the first year of the team format), that’s how Cameron got his status. “It would mean the world to me (to help Justin get his card). It would mean that I would also have another buddy on TOUR from home, which would be huge. Anything I could do to help would be awesome.” Here’s how different the formats are at Zurich. In the Friday foursomes (alternate shot), the low round was 68. It’s pressure packed. Saturday, Suh hit his opening tee shot out of bounds; Ghim birdied the hole. Ghim birdied the next hole, too, and then Suh soon joined in. He’d make seven birdies, including one at the difficult par-3 ninth (7 feet) and one last one at 18 (4 feet). Ghim tried to settle his partner’s nerves early on by suggesting the two play a birdie game, at $20 a birdie. It helped. Ghim lost, but later said it was the best $60 he ever has parted with. Suh looks for more of the same tomorrow in foursomes, hoping for a much better finish than the one he and Ghim had on Friday. “This has been a lot of fun,” Suh said. “I’m really glad that Doug chose me as his partner for this week. We’re just looking to play good golf tomorrow.” Given their Saturday show, at least they have given themselves an outside chance.

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