The weekly PGA Tour event will be presented in a non-traditional way for the second time in a month. However, the Zurich Classic is even more unique than last month’s WGC-Dell Match Play, as golfers will be paired this week and will play two rounds of best-ball and two rounds of alternate shot to determine a champion. . He was not the winner of this event in almost two years, as the COVID-19 pandemic completely wiped out the week in 2020, after the win of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s contest with odds offered through the William Hill Sportsbook.
Event information
Event: Zurich Classic | Date: April 22-25
Location: TPC Louisiana – Avondale, Louisiana
Three things to know
1. Weekend format: So far, most people are used to the best ball formats and alternative photos from the years and years of the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup competitions. However, if you are unfamiliar, the best ball simply means that both golfers on a team play a whole hole, and your team’s score is the best score of the two players. So, if Collin Morikawa makes the first bird and Matthew Wolff doubles, the Morikawa-Wolff team gets a bird for their score. The alternative shot is just that – Morikawa hits the first shot, and Wolff has to hit from wherever he lands. Your team’s score is everything you collect on a given hole, which makes it much more difficult than the best ball. The format that should be used on Sunday with the balance tournament was debated. This year’s decision is to use an alternate shot, which probably creates more volatility than the best ball, but also makes it difficult to increase the standings for teams that follow well in round 4.
2. Predicting the Ryder Cup: We like to overlap with the Ryder Cup theme about four months too early, but there are certainly some interesting teams this week that could be teams at the Whistle Strait in September. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele played together at the Royal Melbourne Presidents’ Cup in December 2019 and both will likely be in the Ryder Cup in September. Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa are less likely to be both on the team – Morikawa is a locksmith, but Wolff fought late – but it’s definitely fun to think about what they could do together at future team events. On the European side, Ryder Cup lions Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose will play together, as will Ryder Cuppers, Danny Willett and Tyrrell Hatton. It’s likely that only one or two of these teams will get to play together later this year, and I can’t believe the captain of any team will take a ton off this week, but it’s still a fun mini-story.
3. Fascinating teams: There are several “wait … what?” matings this week. At the top of the list are Scott Piercy and Akshay Bhatia. The first is a 42-year-old calf, while the second is a 19-year-old potential superstar who has played only three events this year. I’m curious how they really know each other, but even more so how they teamed up. Other entertainments include Kristoffer Venture and Viktor Hovland (former teammates from the state of Oklahoma in Norway), Doug Ghim and Justin Suh (college superstars), Sungjae Im and Ben An (Presidents Cup teammates), Bill Haas and Hunter Mahan (once contested for FedEx Cup!) And Woody Austin and Rocco Mediate (combined age: 115).
Want the clearest DFS tips, choices and data-driven golf analysis? Listen below and subscribe to The First Cut Golf podcast, where we explain what’s going on on the course so you can win from it.
Land grading
This week’s terrain is not bad. It’s not even amazing. Although, to be fair, most of the areas between the Masters Championship and the PGA are not amazing, but there are intrigues around Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler . as enough interesting sub-stories to generate general interest for this event. Grade: C +
Zurich Classic elections
Winners: Collin Morikawa-Matthew Wolff (16-1) – Wolff clearly fought, and his body language at Augusta National was abysmal. However, I think his biggest problems now are the discomfort with the nuances of professional life. He is so gregarious and so extroverted that I think he will actually thrive as part of a team, alongside the guy who has been the best of anyone in this field from tee to green in the last three months.
Top 10: Cameron Smith-Marc Leishman (12-1 to win) – You could make a decent case that this duo should be the favorite to win this tournament, how well they both played at the Masters a few weeks ago and how hot Smith was overall (top 20 at his last five events stroke-play type). Smith has a win here before (along with Jonas Blixt) and there are real question marks with the two teams with lower odds (Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay).
Sleepers: Doug Ghim-Justin Suh (50-1) – I’m in love with this duo because they were both so elected to college and they both came a little in the last few months. The pedigrees are there, the talent is there, the momentum exists and there is a scenario where they fit in with all this and play together the best golf of the year.