The Foursomes format at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has long been the trickier of the two days. When even the best of friends compete in alternate shot – a format rarely, if ever played by the top players in the world – there’s always bound to be some hard days.

But, especially at the Zurich Classic, a good day on Friday or Sunday – when Foursomes is played – can mean a serious zip up the leaderboard.

Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin along with the all-Canadian duo of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor took advantage of some tidy teamwork Friday and shot matching rounds of the day, 6-under 66s.

Novak and Griffin are just one shot back of the lead through 36 holes, while Hadwin and Taylor – who share the alternate-shot record at this event, a 63, which they shot in the fourth round in 2023 – moved into the top 10.

“I think we've thrived in (the tougher format),” Taylor said. “I think if we can shoot a little better score tomorrow and get right in the hunt, we're confident in this format.”

Taylor and Hadwin made three birdies in a row on Nos. 7-9 to close out their day, shooting their second straight 66.

“I think the tougher the situation, the more this kid thrives,” Hadwin said of his partner, whose been a friend since they were teenagers in British Columbia. “It's so much fun playing alongside of him. I know everybody has kind of seen it (at this year’s Sony Open in Hawaii and the 2023 RBC Canadian Open).

“I think for both of us in this alternate shot format, we kind of just dig down maybe a little bit deeper. Games are so similar, too. I think we think the same way around the golf course. We both hit similar distances and all of that. It's kind of like playing your own ball in some sense. We've been very successful in that format.”

Novak, meanwhile, has kept his fine momentum going this week in New Orleans. He lost in a playoff last week to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage, but he has three top-three finishes so far in 2025 including a third at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T3 at the beginning of the month at the Valero Texas Open.

Through 36 holes he’s once again put himself in the conversation on the PGA TOUR, albeit this time alongside a long-time pal and frequent playing partner at Sea Island.

“Early in the year I was doing one week decent, one week poor, some missed cuts, but I've kind of hit my stride now,” Novak said. “When I've played well, it's been really good and the putter has been better than it's ever been, and that's kind of been the one thing in previous years I felt like when I got the putter going I was always going to contend, and now that the putter seems to be good darned near every week, I'm kind of contending every week.”

Griffin has had his own solid 2025 campaign with three top-10 finishes of his own – including back-to-back T4s at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.

“I got in the mix a couple times, as well," Griffin said. "Not as recently as Andrew, but still, recently enough to where I'm still trying to stay hungry. I'm hungry anyway to try to win out here. Fortunately, we both put ourselves in good positions in a few events, so we've been in the moment, and it's only a matter of time for each of us to knock that door down and pick one up, and hopefully we can do that this weekend.”

In order to do exactly that, Griffin and Novak – who in second behind the leading pair of Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo – and Taylor and Hadwin (who is looking for his first TOUR title since 2017) will have to navigate two more days at TPC Louisiana – and one more tricky day of Foursomes.

If there was one example of how perfectly volatile the format is, look no further than the defending champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. That duo was at 14-under with just six holes left but would make bogey on the par-4 13th and would add two more ill-timed squares on the scorecard on Nos. 17 and 18 to finish their day with a 3-under 69 and sit six back of the 36-hole lead.

“I feel like in this tournament to win, you've really got to get after the alternate shot days because that's where you can separate yourself,” Novak said. “I thought what we did today was awesome.”