Ricky Rothstein
April 25, 2017

Zurich Classic Of New Orleans PGA Golf Odds And Predictions

The PGA Tour generally skews older in terms of fan support. In an effort to bring in some new fans, new Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been very open to changes. One such change arrives this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which introduces an interesting two-man team format in the event’s 69^th year. Let’s break it down with Sports Interaction golf odds.

Zurich Classic Of New Orleans

There are scheduled to be a season-high 160 players in the field at TPC Louisiana, which is a par 72 measuring as long as 7,425 yards. The 80 two-man teams will play alternate shot (foursomes) in the first and third rounds, and the second and final rounds will be best ball (four-ball). The event clearly is trying to drum up some excitement like seen at the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. There are a few pairings that could be a preview of the Presidents Cup later this year, including South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace. Most of the top players from the PGA Tour’s priority rankings chose his partner.

It’s the first official PGA Tour event featuring two-man teams since the Walt Disney World National Team Championship in 1981. The low 35 teams and ties after 36 holes survive the cut. If more than 40 teams survive, a second cut of low 35 teams and ties occurs after 54 holes. If there’s a tie after 72 holes, there will be a sudden-death playoff using the best-ball format.

Both winners would get two-year PGA Tour exemptions and invitations to tournaments such as the PGA Championship, the Players Championship and 2018-opening Tournament of Champions. Official world golf rankings points will not be distributed in this tournament.

Zurich Classic Of New Orleans Betting Odds

England’s Justin Rose and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson are the +608 favourites on golf odds. They are familiar with playing with each other from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where Rose won the gold medal and Stenson the silver. Rose was our pick to win the Masters a couple of weeks ago, and he lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia. Rose won this tournament in 2015 at 22-under 266 but missed the cut a year ago. Stenson was playing great earlier this year but is scuffling off missed cuts at his past three tournaments.

Aussie Jason Day and American Rickie Fowler are +632. Day was 22^nd at the Masters and finished in the Top 5 at this tournament each of the past two years. Fowler was 11^th at Augusta and 20^th here a year ago after missing the cut in 2015 & ’14.

Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer are at +1900. These two Texas natives are friends, and it’s likely Spieth would have skipped the event if not for the format change. Spieth, 11^th at the Masters, last played here in 2013 and missed the cut. Palmer was sixth last week and has a best result of fourth in this event in 2012.

The Canadian duo of is Graham DeLaet and David Hearn is +4800. DeLaet comes off a sixth-place finish at the RBC Heritage and was fourth in New Orleans five years ago. Hearn missed the cut last week in San Antonio but was sixth here in 2015. Mackenzie Hughes and Nick Taylor are +10000. Hughes was 22^nd last week and hasn’t finished better than 36^th in two trips to New Orleans. Hearn missed the cut last week and hasn’t played this tournament.

Zurich Classic Of New Orleans Predictions

Obviously not an easy tournament to handicap because of this format. I would go Rose/Stenson and JB Holmes/Bubba Watson for Top 10s. I’ll pick the Japanese duo of Hideki Matsuyama and Hideto Tanihara to win at +2200 as these two players complement each other’s strengths well and are comfortable playing together.