After a couple of stressful weeks during which they took on The Masters and the RBC Heritage, PGA Tour players have a more relaxing event to look forward to in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. We take a look at this team event played at the TPC Louisiana from a betting angle.
FORMAT
80 teams will take to the 1st tee and the lowest scoring 33 teams and ties will play in the final 36 holes. Rounds 1 and 3 are played using the Best Ball format and the 2nd and 4th rounds are Foursomes (where players play alternate shots).
THE COURSE
TPC Louisiana is a par 72 and it has been the host course of this event since 2007. The course plays fairly easily for the top pros and the last two years the winning scores have been -29 and -30. Scrambling and a hot putter look like the keys to success here, but the fairways are very generous and length off the tee does not seem to be a massive advantage.
This will be the 7th time this event has been played using the team format.
PAST WINNERS
2023 – Nick Hardy / Davis Riley -30
2022 – Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele -29
2021 – Marc Leishman / Cameron Smith -20*
2020 – Cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 – Ryan Palmer / Jon Rahm -26
*playoff
BETTING – Click here to bet
Xander Schauffele / Patrick Cantlay 4/1
Will Zalatoris / Sahith Theegala 7/1
Shane Lowry / Rory McIlroy 15/2
Kurt Kitayama / Collin Morikawa 11/1
25/1 and better the balance, prices correct at the time of posting but subject to change
Suggested Bets:
Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick each way at 25/1 (5/1 Top 5)
The brothers paired up here for the first time last year, finishing inside the Top 20 and looking at the individual form in recent weeks, Matt Fitzpatrick has been solid with a Top 25 at The Masters and a 28th place at the Heritage. Prior to that he had a pair of Top 10 finishes. Alex has also been showing some solid form with a Top 25 last week and I think as a combination they are set to go well this week.
Zach Johnson and Ryan Palmer each way at 150/1 (22/1 Top 5)
Palmer hasn’t been in the best of form, but he is a past winner of this event back in 2019 when he paired up with Jon Rahm. Johnson has really been struggling of late and I am hoping that this team event will bring the best out of him and he and his partner did finish 15th here back in 2018. This is my Hail Mary play of the week.
Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay win only at 4/1
This is an obvious pairing as they won the event in 2022 and finished 4th last year. They are also playing some excellent golf at the moment with Schauffele having 3 Top 5’s and not finishing outside the Top 25 in his last 6 starts. While Cantlay threatened at The Masters before dropping back and then finished 3rd at the Heritage last week. I tried leaving them out but keep on coming back to them as the obvious winners.
Have a couple of bets on this Tournament and then sit back and enjoy what should be a great event.
