The Zurich Classic of New Orleans: 2024 PGA Tour Betting Odds
We have come to the portion of this year’s PGA Tour schedule where the only annual team event arrives, and that’s the Zurich Classic of New Orleans where players can choose with whom they want to play.
There are 80 two-man teams competing this week and there is a cut. They play four-balls (best ball) during the opening round, where players each play their own ball and the best score on each hole goes to towards the team total, then the format switches to foursomes (alternate shot) for the second round. In foursomes, each team uses one ball with one player hitting tee shots on all the odd-numbered holes and the other on the even-numbered ones, etc. The top 33 teams and ties progress to the weekend, and it’s back to four-balls on Saturday and foursomes on Sunday.
Because guys can pick their teammate, we see some unusual pairings. For example, former Team USA Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, now mostly a Champions Tour player, is teeing it up this week with Matt Kuchar, both of whom have a lot of Ryder Cup and Presidents’ Cup playing experience – which is important this week with the format.
England’s Luke Donald was captain of the victorious 2023 European Ryder Cup team, already has been named captain again for the 2025 competition to be held at Bethpage Black in New York and is playing this week with Italy’s Francesco Molinari, a Ryder Cup playing veteran.
There will also be multiple brothers teaming up with the Fitzpatricks (Matt and Alex), Hojgaards (Nicolai and Rasmus) and Coodys (Parker and Pierceson) are all competing.
American Billy Horschel is the only player to win as an individual (2013) and in the two-man team format (2018 with Scott Piercy) in New Orleans. Horschel has partnered the last couple of years with Sam Burns, a former All-American golfer at nearby LSU, but Burns is skipping this year as he and his wife are expecting their first child. Horschel, who finished 11th with Burns last year and runner-up in 2022, will now play with Tyson Alexander, a new Tour member who is yet to win. They are +4500.
TPC Louisiana hosts again, a par 72 at 7,425 yards that includes wetlands and 100 bunkers. The signature hole is the par-5 18th. The defending champions are Americans Nick Hardy and Davis Riley as they shot a tournament-record 30-under 258 to beat out the Canadian pair of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor by two shots. Hardy and Riley birdied four of their final six holes for the first PGA Tour win for both. They began the final round three shots back and closed with a 7-under 65. Neither has won since. They are +5000 to repeat, which no one has done in the team competition.
Hadwin and Taylor shot a final-round 63, tying the course record in alternate shot and finished their round tied for the lead but the eventual winners were still on the course and had a few more birdies in them. Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler, who finished each of the first three rounds atop the leaderboard, shot a final-round 71 to finish third, three shots back.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans Golf Odds
Americans Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – who often play together in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup — are the +450 favourites to win here a second time as they finished at 29-under 259 in 2022 to beat out Sam Burns and Billy Horschel by two shots. Cantlay and Schauffele finished tied for fourth last year.
I’m somewhat surprised Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is playing a fourth straight week on Tour and he’s paired Ireland’s Shane Lowry. They are +750. While McIlroy, who has never played this event, and Lowry have been Ryder Cup teammates in the past, they played only one session together, a loss to Tony Finau and Harris English in four-balls in 2021. McIlroy and Lowry are neighbors in South Florida.
No Canadian has won this tournament in either format. Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith are +2500. Conners didn’t play last year, while Pendrith was T13 with Michael Gligic. We mentioned Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor above, and they are +4000. Roger Sloan is playing with American Josh Teater, and they are +25000.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans Golf Predictions
We backed Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele last year to repeat at +350. That looked good after a first-round 59 before finishing T4. Still the most talented twosome in the field, so we go back to them at +450.