Andrew Novak finally finishes atop the leaderboard along with Ben Griffin at the Zurich Classic

AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Andrew Novak is having the kind of month that can transform a PGA Tour player's career.

Ben Griffin was gratified to team up with his old friend during what has become a heady time for the both of them.

Griffin drained a clutch birdie putt from nearly 35 feet on the 17th hole, and the tandem combined for a 1-under 71 in alternate-shot play Sunday to become first-time PGA Tour winners — by one stroke — at the Zurich Classic.

“Luckily, I had Ben there for me today,” Novak said. “He carried us down the stretch. So exciting to get our first win together.”

Novak and Griffin finished at 28-under 260 at the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana and Novak finally broke through after a pair of top-three finishes this month — the last a playoff loss to Justin Thomas a week ago at the RBC Heritage.

“I’ve done a pretty good job not getting overly frustrated with the close shaves,” Novak said. “I’ve been trying to take as many positives from each as I can. There was a lot of confidence coming into this week for sure.”

Masters champion Rory McIlroy and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry, the defending champions, were in contention through 12 holes, but fell to 12th — six shots behind — with three late bogeys.

Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard narrowly missed out on a first PGA Tour win, finishing second after a 68.

Play was delayed by weather for just over 90 minutes with Novak on Griffin on the eighth hole.

The pair credited their friendship with helping them stay composed through the delay and play well off of one another during the tense final holes.

Novak, 30, grew up in South Carolina, and the 28-year-old Griffin is from North Carolina. They played in many of the same tournaments as teenagers, and became closer early in their pro careers, training together when they both lived in Sea Island, South Carolina.

“We’ve done just about everything in our career together,” Griffin said. “It’s just a full-circle moment ... I feel like we’ve had similar tracks to where we are today.”

Novak and Griffin began the PGA Tour's only team event three shots ahead but were caught by Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III before pulling back ahead on Griffin's pivotal putt on the par-3 17th.

That gave the eventual winners a two-shot lead after Capan had pulled his tee shot on 17 into the water left of the green.

“I was trying to hit the proper shot,” Capan said, noting that he was aiming about 25 feet right of the hole with the wind blowing right to left. “Just got a little quick and kind of turned it left.

“It was a tough finish; it was a great week,” Capan added.

Novak's tee shot also went farther left than intended and he had his hand over his chest as the ball stopped near the water's edge.

The birdie allowed his team to win with a par on 18 and capture 400 FedEx Cup points each, along with winner’s checks of $1.33 million apiece.

McIlroy and Lowry were just three shots off the lead when they bogeyed the 384-yard, par-4 13th — with each mishitting a chip before McIlroy missed a par putt from just inside 11 feet.

Despite their late fade, they had a large, supportive gallery on 18. McIlroy acknowledged fans with several waves before Lowry made a crowd-pleasing birdie putt. A smiling McIlroy retrieved the ball from the hole and flipped it into the water.

“It’s been a fun week,” McIlroy said. “We felt like we still had a good chance, and we didn’t make birdie on (the par-5 11th), and then we bogeyed 13 again for the second time this week.”

The Hojgaard twins were within a stroke of the lead after Nicolai made a 42-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th. On 16, Rasmus narrowly missed a 27-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead, the ball stopping on edge of the hole. But that was as close as they would get.

“There’s a lot of positives from this week,” Nicolai Hojgaard said. “It’s a long time since I really enjoyed a week like this where I could have my bro as my partner and also contend.”

Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo, the PGA Tour rookies who led after each of the first two days, finished with a 71 and tied for eighth at 24 under. They set the tournament better-ball record Thursday with a 58.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Ben Griffin, left, walks off the 18th green with teammate Andrew Novak, after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Andrew Novak embraces teammate Ben Griffin, left, on the 18th green after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Andrew Novak, right, embraces teammate Ben Griffin on the 18th green after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rory McIlroy, of North Ireland, left, reacts as he and teammate Shane Lowry, of Ireland, ready to tee of the first hole during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rory McIlroy, of North Ireland, hits off the 2nd tee during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rory McIlroy, of North Ireland, reacts after hitting off the 2nd tee during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rasmus Hojgaard, of Denmark, chips onto the 2nd green during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Rasmus Hojgaard, of Denmark, talks with his twin brother and teammate Nicolai Hojgaard, of Denmark, on the 2nd hole during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jake Knapp hits onto the 2nd green during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jake Knapp hits out of the sand on the 5th fairway during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Frankie Capan III, left, and teammate Jake Knapp line up a shot on the second green during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ben Griffin lines up a shot on the 4th green during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ben Griffin hits off the 6th tee during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Andrew Novak hits of the 5th tee during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)