Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana – Betting Preview

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The PGA Tour heads down to Bayou Country just southwest of New Orleans for a unique team event at TPC Louisiana known as the Zurich Classic. With its origins 88 years ago, the tournament was a regular, stroke-play PGA event until 2017, when it became a two-man team event. With 80 teams in the field, one player from each team is initially chosen via the Tour priority rankings. That player can choose any partner who is also a PGA Tour member. The teams will play “best ball” format during the first and third rounds, while the second and fourth rounds will be “alternate shot” format. After Friday’s round, the top 33 teams (and ties) will make it through the cut line. The PGA Tour further describes the format in more detail:

For Foursomes play, players will rotate tee shots. One player will hit the tee shots on all the odd-numbered holes, and the other will hit the tee shot on even-numbered holes. Example: Player A and Player B are partners. On the first hole, Player A tees off; Player B plays the second shot; Player A plays the third shot; and so on until the ball is holed. The total strokes taken will result in the team’s score for that hole.

For Four-Ball play, the players on each team will each play his own ball throughout the entirety of the round, with the best score on each hole recorded. Example: On the first hole, both golfers on each team tee off. Player A pars the hole and Player B birdies it. The team will be credited with a birdie.

The winners earn 500 FedEx Cup points and two-year exemptions, but no world ranking points are awarded, which takes away some pressure to make the cut. Both winners will earn invitations to the Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship, and the PGA Championship.

It’s a unique competition and provides a way for players to relax after some strenuous past events, such as the Masters, and before others like the upcoming PGA Championship. The format typically makes for interesting teams, from best friends to countrymen to random pairings. The New Orleans food and culture also add to the “pull” of this event, and why there are typically numerous high-ranked players in attendance each year.

The Field

This year’s tournament appears to have even fewer upper-tier players than in the past due to the recent string of consecutive signature events. Some high-ranking players are teaming up, including defending champions Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak, brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka, Ryan Gerard and Sudarshan Yellamaraju, and Sahith Theegala and Aaron Rai.

Other interesting pairings include TPC Louisiana stalwart, Billy Horschel with Tom Hoge, Tony Finau and Max Greyserman, Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen, and Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore. After these groups and a smaller second tier, the talent level of the teams declines quickly.

Past Winners & Odds

Zurich Classic – Final Model

In each preview article and on Discord, I present my final model, which gives a detailed player ranking of the most important stats and splits for the week. My modeling is based on the PGA’s Strokes Gained data, which is categorized into SG: Off the Tee (OTT), SG: Approach (APP), SG: Around the Green (ARG), and SG: Putting (P). Learn more about Strokes Gained and why it can be so useful in analyzing the past and predicting future performance. Many of these specific metrics and conditions can be found in “The Rabbit Hole“, with my final model exclusively published here and in the Discord for subscribers.