AVONDALE, La. – Ryan Palmer had to find a teammate if he was going to get back to the New Orleans area, one of his favorite PGA Tour stops for reasons ranging from the food to his friendship with Sean Payton, head coach of the NFL’s Saints.
Palmer’s past partner at the Zurich Classic, Jordan Spieth, had changed his schedule and was taking the week off. Palmer knew Jon Rahm’s previous teammate, Wesley Bryan, couldn’t play because of shoulder surgery. So Palmer reached out to Rahm, unsure if a 24-year-old Spaniard wanted anything to do with a Texan nearly two decades his senior.
The odd couple from different continents and generations combined for a 3-under-par 69 in the alternate-shot final round Sunday to win the tour’s only team event by three strokes over Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia.
“I shot him a text, hoping he would bite,” Palmer recalled. “When a 42-year-old player is calling him, he’s probably like, ‘Why does he want to play with me?’ But he accepted, and what an awesome week.”
The victory was the fourth on the tour for Palmer, though his first in nearly a decade. Having last won in 2010 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Palmer waved and gave a thumbs-up as he walked up the 18th fairway with a throng of fans applauding the impending triumph.