Congrats to Jordan Spieth for winning the RBC Heritage despite his horrific putting performance. He was able to defeat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff on Sunday to capture his first win as a father.
We now move onto the Zurich Classic of New Orleans which is the only team event on the PGA Tour. The players will rotate between best ball and alternate shot formats making for some exciting golf. It’s one of the tough events to handicap and really give a detailed writeup on, so it’s going to be a shorter article and card this week.
Tournament Information:
- Dates: April 21st, 2022- April 25th, 2022
- Location: Avondale, Louisiana, United States
- Course: TPC Louisiana
- Par: 72 (4x 3’s / 10x 4’s / 4x 5’s)
- Length: 7,400 yards
- Format:
- Thursday (Rd. 1) / Saturday (Rd. 3): Four-Ball (Best Ball)
- Friday (Rd. 2)/ Sunday (Rd. 4): Foresomes (Alternate Shot)
- Field/ Cut: 160 Players, 80 Teams | Top 33 Teams and Ties after 36 Holes
- Greens: Mini verde bermudagrass overseeded with Poa
- Fairways: TifSport bermudagrass
- Rough: TifSport bermudagrass
- Stimpmeter: 11.0 (Average)
- Purse: $8,300,000 / Winners split $2,398,700 (each receive $1,199,350)
- FedEx Cup Points: Winning duos will each get 400 FedExCup points
- Bunkers: 71
- Water Hazards: 5
Course Architect/ Comparable Courses:
- Course Architect: Pete Dye w/ Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson (2003)
- Comparable Courses:
TV Information:
- Round 1: Thursday, April 21st, 2022
- Golf Channel – 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM ET
- Round 2: Friday, April 22nd, 2022
- Golf Channel – 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM ET
- Round 3: Saturday, April 23rd, 2022
- Golf Channel – 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
- CBS – 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Round 4: Sunday, April 24th, 2022
- Golf Channel – 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
- CBS – 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET
- Thursday: Mostly Sunny 75 F, 14 mp/h SE, 59% Humidity, 10% Chance of Rain
- Friday: Sunny 75 F, 16 mp/h ESE, 59% Humidity, 10% Chance of Rain
- Saturday: Partly Cloudy 78 F, 16 mp/h SE, 65% Humidity, 20% Chance of Rain
- Sunday: Isolated Thunderstorms 78 F, 15 mp/h SE, 64% Humidity, 30% Chance of Rain
Course/ Tournament History:
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans began in 1938, 84 years ago. However, it has been held annually since 1958. From the events inception it has been held at a variety of courses in the New Orleans are but since 2007 it was been held at TPC Louisiana.
The event was originally a stoke play event until 2017 when it became a team event. It is also the only team event on the PGA Tour.
Zurich Insurance Group is the main sponsor for this event and has been since 2005. In 1999, it became the “Classic of New Orleans” with the main sponsor having title rights and has since remained that way.
The purse has also increased to $8.3 Million with each winner recieving — from last years event where the purse was $7.4 Million.
Cam Smith is the only player to have won this event twice since it has shifted formats. He won back in 2017 with Jonas Blixit and again in 2021 with country-man Marc Leishman. Also something to note, that since 2017, this new format has resulted in two plays, both the years that Cam Smith won.
Billy Horschel is the only player to win both formats, winning the event back in 2013 and again in 2018 with Scott Piercy. Jason Dufner won the individual event in 2012 but, finished runner up to Horschel and Piercy in 2018.
Given the recent changes to the format, no team has yet to repeat as Champions. Leishman/ Smith do have that chance this week as they are the only previous winners with the same partners.
One joke you’ll hear a lot about this week is how Ryan Palmer continuously gets some of the worlds best players to pair with him. This year he’s paid with college teammate Scottie Scheffler, who has propelled himself to the No. 1 Golfer in the World winning four of his last six starts. Palmer won with Rahm back in 2019 and played with him again in 2021 finishing seventh. In 2018, he paired up with Jordan Spieth where they missed the cut.
Scorecard:
Source: John Haslbauer
For a hole by hole overview of the course, you can click the following link.
Key Statistics:
- Strokes Gained: Ball Striking
- Birdies or Better %
- Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda)
- Recent Form
- Course History
The Field (Teams) / Odds:
Here’s a list of the teams:
Collin Morikawa | Viktor Hovland |
Jason Day | Jason Scrivener |
Cameron Smith | Marc Leishman |
Sergio Garcia | Tommy Fleetwood |
Scottie Scheffler | Ryan Palmer |
Danny Willett | Tyrrell Hatton |
Shane Lowry | Ian Poulter |
Henrik Stenson | Justin Rose |
Billy Horschel | Sam Burns |
Kevin Kisner | Scott Brown |
Xander Schauffele | Patrick Cantlay |
Bubba Watson III | Harold Varner III |
Max Homa | Talor Gooch |
Joaquin Niemann | Mito Pereira |
Ryan Brehm | Mark Hubbard |
Joel Dahmen | Stephan Jaeger |
Tyler Duncan | Adam Schenk |
Lucas Glover | Chez Reavie |
Branden Grace | Garrick Higgo |
Lucas Herbert | Arjun Atwal |
Jim Herman | Vaughn Taylor |
Tom Hoge | Paul Barjon |
Sungjae Im | Byeong An |
Sung Kang | John Huh |
Patton Kizzire | J.T. Poston |
Martin Laird | Robert MacIntyre |
Adam Long | Bo Hoag |
Graeme McDowell | Seamus Power |
Keith Mitchell | Brandt Snedeker |
Chad Ramey | Joshua Creel |
Sepp Straka | Greyson Sigg |
Robert Streb | Troy Merritt |
Brendon Todd | Chris Kirk |
Martin Trainer | Jim Knous |
Kevin Tway | Kelly Kraft |
Richy Werenski | Peter Uihlein |
Bill Haas | Jay Haas |
Nick Watney | Charley Hoffman |
Rafa Cabrera Bello | Emiliano Grillo |
Tommy Gainey | Robert Garrigus |
Sam Horsfield | Matt Wallace |
Scott Piercy | Sean O’Hair |
Alex Noren | Henrik Norlander |
Keegan Bradley | Brendan Steele |
Cameron Tringale | Wyndham Clark |
Charl Schwartzel | Christiaan Bezuidenhout |
Maverick McNealy | Joseph Bramlett |
Harry Higgs | Austin Smotherman |
Doug Ghim | Matthias Schwab |
Brandon Hagy | Cameron Percy |
Brian Stuard | Russell Knox |
Doc Redman | Sam Ryder |
Hank Lebioda | Chase Seiffert |
Denny McCarthy | Ben Kohles |
Adam Hadwin | Adam Svensson |
James Hahn | Kevin Chappell |
Matthew NeSmith | Taylor Moore |
Kyle Stanley | Camilo Villegas |
Brice Garnett | Scott Stallings |
Chesson Hadley | Jonathan Byrd |
Will Zalatoris | Davis Riley |
Danny Lee | Sangmoon Bae |
Seung-Yul Noh | Michael Kim |
Sahith Theegala | Beau Hossler |
Alex Smalley | Hayden Buckley |
Lee Hodges | Vince Whaley |
Patrick Rodgers | Brandon Wu |
Aaron Rai | David Lipsky |
Max McGreevy | Andrew Novak |
Kurt Kitayama | Kiradech Aphibarnrat |
Trey Mullinax | Wesley Bryan |
Curtis Thompson | Nick Hardy |
Seth Reeves | Jared Wolfe |
Justin Lower | Dylan Wu |
Austin Cook | Jason Dufner |
Callum Tarren | David Skinns |
Scott Gutschewski | D.A. Points |
Michael Gligic | Ryan Armour |
Dawie van der Walt | Brett Drewitt |
Bo Van Pelt | Ben Martin |
Collin Morikawa & Viktor Hovland (+650 – DraftKings)
These two will pair up at the Zurich for the first time and are your current favorites at +650. Both of these guys are currently ranked inside the Top 10 in the World with ranking 2nd and 5th respectively. Collin and Viktor are elite iron players both ranking inside the top 10 in terms of SG: Approach. They’re also great off the tee with the only area of concern for these two being their short game (SG: Around the Green).
Morikawa played with Matthew Wolff last year where they missed the cut finishing 3 over. Viktor Hovland played well fellow country-men Kris Ventura last year finishing T25 at 11 under-par.
Scottie Scheffler & Ryan Palmer (+900 – DraftKings)
The Worlds best and hottest golfer, Scottie Scheffler is playing with Ryan Palmer. As I previously mentioned in this article, given Palmer’s recruiting skills it’s not all that surprising. Scheffler has been nuclear in the past few months while Ryan Palmer brings the veteran presence to this team having won back in 2019. Oddly enough, that was the last time Ryan Palmer has won on Tour. Scheffler also doesn’t have a bad course history as well finishing T8 at this event in 2021 with Bubba Watson.
Cam Smith & Marc Leishman (+1000 – DraftKings)
The defending Champions will look to retain their crown at TPC Louisiana. Cam Smith has won twice on Tour this season along with finishing T3 at the Masters. Leishman has yet to win on Tour this year but, hasn’t had a bad season finishing top 10 in three of his twelve events.
Both of these guys are great approach players while also ranking well in SG: Around the Green and Putting. Leishman has the distance off the tee while Smith is a better iron player so it’ll be interesting watching them try and structure that on alternate shot days.
Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (+800 – DraftKings)
This pairing finished T11 at last years event and also played as a team in the Ryder Cup. Cantlay is coming off a playoff loss to Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage last week so I’m sure he’ll be looking to put that one behind him quickly. Despite failing to win on Tour this season, the defending FedExCup Champion has had a good start to the year finishing T10 in five of his nine events played. Xander on the other hand, only has one T10 finish this year despite ranking well in most Strokes Gained categories.
Xander is a great iron and short game player with Cantlay ranking better in SG: Off the Tee and Putting. This should be an interesting pairing for sure given the chemistry they’ve developed and how their skill sets compliment each other.
To see the most up to date odds, you can click the following link.
To find out how everyone in the field has qualified, you can click the following link.
Previous Winners Scores
Prior to 2017, this was an individual event.
- 2021: Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith (-20)
- 2020: No Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- 2019: Jon Rahm & Ryan Palmer (-26)
- 2018: Billy Horschel & Scott Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Cameron Smith & Jonas Blixt (-27)
Picks (Outright):
- Billy Horschel/ Sam Burns (+1300) – FanDuel
- Risk 0.62 to win 8.06 Units
- Shane Lowry/ Ian Poulter (+2200) – DraftKings
- Risk 0.37 to win 8.14 Units
Total Risk on Outrights: 0.99 Units
Picks (Top 10):
- Max Homa/ Talor Gooch (+210) – FanDuel
- Risk 1.00 to win 2.10 Units
Total Risk on Top 10: 1.00 Units
Picks (Top 20):
- Will Zalatoris/ Davis Riley (+120) – DraftKings
- Risk 1.00 to win 1.20 Units
Total Risk on Top 20: 1.00 Units
Total Risk on the Zurich Classic of New Orleans: 2.99 Units
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.