After the pressure-cooker environments at Augusta and HArbour Towns, the PGA Tour is back this week for a more relaxed, novel team event: the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
2024 US PGA Tour
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
TPC Louisiana
25 – 28 April
Scottie Scheffler underlined his status as the most dominant player since Tiger Woods with a comfortable victory at last week’s RBC Heritage. He has now won four times in five starts, romping to victory on a behemoth like Augusta before a serene win on a pernickety course like Harbour Town.
The rest of the PGA Tour will rest easy knowing that the affable Scheffler will be taking a break this week. The tour shifts down a gear this week for the seventh edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans
This team events allows players to partner up with their buddies and enjoy a somewhat more casual outing. The players need to decompress this week, with the recent Masters followed swiftly by the Signature Event in Harbour Town.
This event’s origins actually date all the way back to 1938. It was formerly a conventional stroke-play event and has been a fixture on the tour since 1958. This was once an illustrious outing, with the likes of Nicklaus, Player and Watson tasting victory.
But interest in the event waned over the years and the PGA Tour decided to take drastic action back in 2017, completely transforming this event by making it the only two-man team event on the tour. Players responded enthusiastically to a format that offered some respite from what is a fundamentally solitary endeavour (sorry caddies).
The Format
This 72-hole stroke-play event will feature a starting field of 80 two-man teams. The teams will play four-ball (better ball) in rounds one and three. The teams will play foursomes (alternate shot) in rounds two and four. The low 33 teams and ties after 36 holes will make the weekend.
TPC Louisiana
TPC Louisiana took charge of this event back in 2005 but Hurricane Katrina forced it to relinquish hosting duties in 2006. But it has hosted every renewal since 2007. This is yet another exquisite Pete Dye design.
Honestly, it sometimes feels like we should call this portion of the season the Pete Dye Swing (Augusta aside). But this Bermuda grass layout feels more like the resort course version of TPC Sawgrass. The fairways are generous and the greens are receptive.
It’s fairly long and I would favor driving distance over accuracy this week. The power-duo of Schauffele and Cantlay highlighted this with an opening 59 in 2022. Players will also need to drain plenty of putts to stay in contention this year.
Xander Schauffle and Patrick Cantlay are obvious favourites. They are best friends who won this event back in 2022. Schauffele is playing some of the most consistent golf of his career while Cantlay has been a little more erratic.
But these two always bring out the best in each other and I see little reason why they won’t contend this year. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry make for a pretty mouthwatering Irish duo this week. Theegala and Zalatoris represent a real hipster option while the Fitzpatrick brothers and Hojgaard twins will be banking on familial chemistry.
All in all, this should be an entertaining week that allows some of the more buttoned-up pros the opportunity to let their guards down.
Past Winners
2023: Nick Harding and Davis Riley (-30)
2022: Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay (-29)
2021: Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith (-20)
2020: event cancelled
2019: Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer (-26)
To Win Outright: Cantlay/Schauffele 4/1 | McIlroy/Lowry 15/2 | Theegala/Zalatoris 9/1 | Morikawa/Kitayama 14/1 | Hojgaard/Hojgaard 18/1
Value Bet
Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid- To Win 60/1 | To Place 13/1
This pick is in honour of last year’s surprise winners: Nick Harding and Davis Riley. This is an intriguing new pairing that could dovetail nicely. Alex Smalley has endured a pretty tough year but did manage to pick up a T6 finish in Puntacana last week. Schimd has quietly gone about his business in recent weeks, posting four top-25 finishes in his last six starts. Both players hit it longer than average and I think they could go really low in the better-ball format.
The Team to Beat- Tom Hoge and Maverick McNealy- To Win 25/1 | To Place 11/2
Tom Hoge has been in absolutely brilliant, under-the-radar form of late. He has made his last ten cuts, finishing in the top 20 in seven of those events. And he has also gained strokes on approach in all ten of those outings. He trails only Scheffler in Shots Gained: Approach this season. McNealy has made eight straight cuts, finishing in the top 15 in three of those events. Crucially, McNealy led the tour in Strokes Gained: Putting last year. His putting should perfectly complement Hoge’s elite ball-striking.
