Saturday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was always going to be a shootout with some of the best on the PGA TOUR keen to draw more circles through the day than a kindergarten student.

A low-scoring Saturday has set the stage for Sunday’s finale, with eight teams within five shots of the lead held by Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin – who are both looking for their first PGA TOUR titles.

“That's what we both practice for and play on the PGA TOUR,” Griffin said of what’s at stake Sunday. “We want to compete against the best players and want to ultimately test ourselves and try to get it done. It'll mean a lot.”

Novak and Griffin were one of seven teams that shot an impressive 11-under 61 in the third round.

“I thought we got off to a really good start today, which was I think good. In this format, when you tee off you don't have the lead anymore. Everybody is past you,” Novak said. “It was nice to get out ahead of it, get off to a good start, get momentum going.

Among those who also shot 61 were defending champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, who find themselves in that mix of teams within five shots of the lead through 54 holes.

Cam Davis and Adam Svensson shot their second 61 in the Four-ball format after opening on Thursday with the same score. It was a bit of a different beast Saturday being grouped with McIlroy and Lowry, but that didn’t seem to faze Svensson – who made five birdies on his own ball in the first seven holes.

All Davis had to do was watch and applaud.

“Adam was rolling it so good, I just felt like I needed to make it look like I was safe for par so he could have a free run at his birdie putt,” Davis said. “I felt like every good shot we hit it was like, ‘All right, that's another one in the bag.

“I feel like there's so many birdies made in a day like this if you're both playing pretty well or at least one of you is playing really well that there's no real turning points, it's just momentum all the way through.”

Japanese duo of Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya also shot 61, and they’re now tied for second with Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III – who fired the round of the day, a 12-under 60.

Knapp and Capan were sitting pretty heading into the par-5 18th but Knapp made a bogey after hitting his approach way long, and Capan was in the rough off the tee. They were unable to capitalize on the par-5 closer and will head into Sunday three shots back.

That duo got off to a sizzling start, going 6 under for their first nine holes before making four birdies in a five-hole stretch after making the turn.

“We birdied a lot of opposite holes, so that helped a lot,” Capan said of their Saturday success. “I really think we both had a good chance on most every hole, and in a best ball it's nice to just have a lot of looks at it, and I felt like we did a really good job of just kind of taking care of our own games and making a few putts out there.”

Thirty-six-hole leaders Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo shot a 6-under 66 and sit tied for fourth at 23 under alongside the Højgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, who shot an 8-under 64. After a pedestrian start, the Danish duo went 3-under in a four-hole stretch before Nicolai dunked his approach from 38 yards on the par-4 8th for an eagle.

“It's always nice to have someone next to you that has your back,” Rasmus Højgaard said. “I think there is a lot of trust and belief in each other.”

Despite a 90-minute weather delay due to lightning in the area, that didn’t cool off any of the teams near the top of the leaderboard. And even though Sunday’s format is Foursomes – the always trickier alternate-shot – a precedent has been set that there’s still an opportunity for a comeback.

The alternate-shot record, a 9-under 63, was shot in the fourth round twice previously, in 2023 when Canadian pair Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin ended up second to Davis Riley and Nick Hardy, and last year when Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer got into a playoff with McIlroy and Lowry.

“Alternate shot,” Nicolai Højgaard said, “is a whole different ballgame.”