Garrick Higgo had a good week in the company of New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, and the pair closed with a foursomes score of seven-under-par 65 on Sunday to finish in a share of fourth in the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

It was a bogey-free effort for the Southern Hemisphere pairing which – if Higgo can get his world ranking position to rise substantially – augurs well for the Presidents Cup. They moved to 23-under for the tournament which featured alternate rounds of betterball and foursomes, and they ended up two strokes outside the play-off.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry broke the hearts of Americans Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer, who closed with a nine-under 63. They had to wait nearly three hours before McIlroy and Lowry drew level with a birdie at the last hole to force a play-off. The Irish duo won at the first extra hole after the Americans were off target off the tee as well as in to the green.

MJ Daffue missed the cut playing with Cameron Champ of the United States, and the all-South African pairing of Thriston Lawrence and Aldrich Potgieter was also unable to make it to the weekend.