2021 Zurich Classic of New Orleans: PGA Tour Betting Odds
The team of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer is favoured on the golf odds.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans dates in some form to 1938 and had been a typical stroke-play event. However, it was changed to a two-man team event in 2017. In an effort to lure some of the top players, guys can choose who their partner will be. There are 80 two-player teams and the format is four-ball in the first and third round and foursomes in the second and fourth round. There is a normal cut after 36 holes.
The tournament is played at TPC Louisiana, a par 72 measuring 7,425 yards. The course opened in 2004 and the signature hole is the par-5 18th. Guys can reach it in two, but there’s water all down the right side of the hole.
Because of the COVID pandemic, the Zurich Classic was cancelled in 2020, so the defending champions are 2019 winners Rahm of Spain and Palmer of the USA. They finished at 26-under 262 to beat out Spain’s Sergio Garcia and England’s Tommy Fleetwood by three shots.
Rahm’s and Palmer’s 65 in the second round was the lowest score in the alternate-shot format since this tournament shifted to team play. Brian Gay and Rory Sabbatini combined for a 60 in the first round’s best-ball format and that tied for the best in tournament history.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans Golf Odds
Rahm and Palmer are priced +600 to repeat, while the only team to feature a pair of Top 10 players in the world, Xander Schauffele & Patrick Cantlay, is +650. Cantlay missed the cut in 2019 with Patrick Reed, while Schauffele, who recently finished T3 at the Masters, hasn’t played here since 2017.
Aussies Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith are +900. Smith, playing with Jonas Blixt, won the first Zurich Classic team event in 2017 in a playoff against Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, gold and silver medalists from the Rio Olympics, are +2500.
Canadian George Knudson won this tournament in 1967 by a stroke over legendary Jack Nicklaus. David Hearn partnered with Ireland’s Seamus Power in 2019 and they finished T5 at 20 under. Nick Taylor played with Scotland’s Martin Laird and they were T9. Adam Hadwin was with American Jim Knous and they were T13. Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes played together and were T30. Adam Svensson and American Ollie Schniederjans missed the cut. Conners, Hughes and Hadwin are among those skipping this year.
This week, Taylor and Laird are +6000, Hearn and Power +9000, Roger Sloan and Aaron Baddeley +12500, and Michael Gligic and Vincent Whaley +20000.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans Golf Predictions
We like Brown and Kisner at +3300. They had that playoff loss in 2017, the 54-hole lead in 2018 before finishing T15 and a tie for fifth in 2019.