The Zurich Classic | Tournament Preview
NEW ORLEANS - The Zurich Classic of New Orleans, first played in 1938, has featured its popular two-man team match play format since 2017 and is the only official FedEx Cup event on the PGA Tour schedule that uses a team format.
The field consists of 80 teams (160 players), with each team comprised of two professionals, featuring Four-ball (best ball) during the first and third rounds and Foursomes (alternate shot) during the second and final rounds.
The 2017 Zurich Classic was the first official team event on the PGA Tour since the 1981 Walt Disney World national team championship held at the Magnolia, Palm and Lake Buena Vista courses at Walt Disney World in Florida.
The reigning 2022 PLAYERS Championship winner Cameron Smith and fellow Australian Marc Leishman will return to defend their title. Smith, who won in the inaugural year of the team format (2017) with Jonas Blixt, is the only two-time winner in the team format. Smith leads the Presidents Cup International Team standings, while Leishman is currently No. 12.
Five of the Top-10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the field, but only two of those players are teaming up with world No. 2 Collin Morikawa and partner world No. 5 Viktor Hovland will competing together. They will become the first pair of Top-five players in the OWGR to team up (highest-ranked team since the team format began in 2017, with an average ranking of 3.5).
Zurich Classic | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC Louisiana, Avondale, LA
ARCHITECT: Pete Dye
YARDS/PAR: 7,425 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,300,000
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winners: 400 to each player
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @Zurich_Classic
TV COVERAGE: The first two rounds (April 21-22) are scheduled for coverage from 3:30pm to 6:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Saturday and Sunday, coverage is set for 1:00pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:00 to 6:00pm (ET) on CBS.
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage will be featured on ESPN-Plus Thursday with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 8:00am to 7:00pm (ET). Friday streaming coverage runs from 9:15am to 6:30pm (ET). Weekend times include Saturday streaming from 8:45am to 6:00pm (ET) while Sunday’s final round streams 10:30am to 6:00pm (ET) or to completion.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of The Zurich Classic with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 1:00pm to 6:30pm (ET). Saturday and Sunday coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 1:00 to 6:00pm (ET) or completion of event. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.
NOLA: Remember local time is Central time, one hour behind Eastern Daylight time.
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
The Basics:
How the Team Format Works (PGATourCom)
Zurich Classic Tee Times start Thursday at 8:00am (ET) and go to 3:20pm (ET).
Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and 74-degree weather. Winds blowing at 14 mph and 64% humidity but only a 10% chance of rain.
Zurich Classic Tournament Web Site: (link)
FedEx Cup Standings: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post before 8:00AM (ET) on Thursday.
Next Week: Mexico Open at Vidanta
The Zurich Classic - Field and Tee Times:
The Field: (link)
Update:
Tee Times: (link)
Odds for The Zurich Classic:
Source: CBS Sportsline
V Hovland/C Morikawa +700
X Schauffele/P Cantlay +800
C Smith/M Leishman +900
R Palmer/S Scheffler +1100
B Horschel/S Burns +1200
T Fleetwood/S Garcia +1600
S Lowry/I Poulter +2000
H Varner/B Watson +2500
J Niemann/M Pereira +2500
M Homa/T Gooch +2800
D Riley/W Zalatoris +2800
D Willett/T Hatton +2800
S Im/B An +2800
K Bradley/B Steele +2800
P Kizzire/J T Poston +4000
C Kirk/B Todd +4000
G McDowell/S Power +4000
G Sigg/S Straka +5000
A Hadwin/A Svensson +5000
M Laird/R MacIntyre +5500
B Snedeker/K Mitchell +5000
J Rose/H Stenson +5000
A Noren/H Norlander +6500
T Merritt/R Streb +6500
M McNealy/J Bramlett +6500
D Ghim/M Schwab +6500
W Clark/C Tringale +6500
C Bezuidenhout/C Schwartzel +5500
J Day/J Scrivener +6500
R Knox/B Stuard +6500
S Brown/K Kisner +8000
B Hossler/S Theegala +9000
L Glover/C Reavie +9000
D Lipsky/A Rai +10000
T Moore/M NeSmith +10000
R Cabrera Bello/E Grillo +10000
B Garnett/S Stallings +12500
S Horsfield/M Wallace +12500
B Kohles/D McCarthy +12500
J Dahmen/S Jaeger +12500
H Higgs/A Smotherman +12500
B Grace/G Higgo +12500
P Rodgers/B Wu +15000
S Ryder/D Redman +15000
T Duncan/A Schenk +15000
C Hoffman/N Watney +15000
H Buckley/A Smalley +15000
S O'Hair/S Piercy +15000
B Hoag/A Long +15000
R Werenski/P Uihlein +15000
P Barjon/T Hoge +15000
K Aphibarnrat/K Kitayama +15000
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: This week’s PGA Fantasy game is taking a week off because of the ‘World Team Golf” a.k.a Zurich Classic event in New Orleans. If playing on other platforms, this tournament allows fantasy players to select the lesser known, usually lower ranked partner for play and get the better-ranked, top-level PGA Tour pro. If you like Joaquin Niemann, you can grab him by playing Mito Pereira. A play on the hot Scottie Scheffler can be had by playing Ryan Palmer. If you like Will Zalatoris, play Davis Riley … and so on. For my PGA Tour One and Done at the Zurich, the pick is Palmer to get Scheffler.
What They’re Saying:
First Look at Zurich Classic (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for The Zurich (PGATourCom)
Five Things to Know About Zurich Classic - (PGATourCom)
FedExCup Standings (PGATourCom)
Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy News:
Picks and Predictions for Zurich Classic - (Action Net)
Expert Picks for Zurich - (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks for Zurich Classic - (PGATourCom)
Draws & Fades at Zurich - (PGATourCom)
Horses for the Course at TPC Louisiana - (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History:
April 20, 1958 - Gary Player won for the first time on the PGA TOUR when he took the Kentucky Derby Open. Player shot a final round (69) to defeat Chick Herbert and Ernie Vossler by three strokes. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt:
Can’t make this stuff up!
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