Welcome back, golf fans. Time for something a little different this week as the PGA Tour heads to TPC Louisiana for the Zurich Classic. This event throws a bit of a wrench in the schedule as it is a team event where 80 teams of two players compete for the win. The format alternates between four-ball and foursomes, with four-ball being alternate shot and foursomes where each player plays their own ball with the best score recorded on each hole. Rounds one and three will be four-ball, and rounds two and four will be foursomes. There is still a cut following the second round where the Top 33 teams and ties move on to the weekend.
With the event sandwiched between the Masters and PGA Championship with a signature event in there as well, the field is not the strongest overall but does feature some top players. It is headlined by the defending champion and Masters winner Rory McIlroy and teammate Shane Lowry. The field also includes two other players in Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark who both rank inside the Top 10 in the DataGolf World rankings.
Let’s jump in and take a look at the course, top stats, and some best bets for this week.
The Course: TPC Louisiana
TPC Louisiana is a Pete Dye designed Par 72 course that is listed at 7,425 yards on the scorecard. Like most Pete Dye courses, positioning off the tee becomes very important as there is a combination of trees, fairway bunkers, water, and doglegs that can get a golfer into trouble in a hurry. Unlike some of his designs, however, distance can be very important as the course is the fourth-longest Par 72 on the regular tour schedule. If you don’t have the distance or wanna play the positioning game off the tee, you better be dialed in with the long irons as there is a much higher than average amount of approaches that come from 200+ yards. All four of the Par 3 holes are over 200 yards, and four of the Par 4 holes are 476 yards or more. Even with that projected difficulty, TPC Louisiana averages over 70% greens in regulation, so we normally see very low scores. A hot putter can carry a team up the leaderboard.
Key Stats:
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Proximity from 200+ Yards
- Strokes Gained: Putting
- Birdie or Better %
Best Bets: Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore/Wyndham Clark Outright (+2000)
Moore and Clark will be paired together for the first time, and both return to the Zurich Classic with multiple Top 10s on their team format resume. Moore missed the cut with Matthew NeSmith last season, but the pairing put together back-to-back Top 5s in the two years prior. Clark, on the other hand, has had a different playing partner in each of his five appearances but has finished inside the Top 20 in three straight after missing the cut in his first trip to TPC Louisiana. Statistically, I like that Moore is one of just three players to rank Top-40 in driving distance and fairways gained over the last 24 rounds, while Clark has displayed an excellent short game, and both players also rank Top-20 in birdies gained during that stretch.
This is the only other group outside of McIlroy and Lowry where both players rank Top 10 in my model this week. If not betting the +360 on the former, this is my favourite outright bet of the week.
Sepp Straka/Brice Garnett Outright (+3000) / Top 10 (+320)
In their first year teamed up together, Straka and Garnett finished T11 in 2024 and were one of just four teams to shoot -3 or better in all four rounds. Nothing really stands out for Garnett outside of his accuracy off the tee, which has helped him make seven of his last nine cuts. My confidence comes on the back of Straka’s red-hot start to the season as he has made 10 of 12 cuts, including a win at the American Express and eight Top 15 finishes. The root of his success has come from the iron play as he ranks 1st in Strokes Gained: Approach, 12th in Driving Accuracy, 2nd in Fairway Proximity, 9th in Proximity from 200+ yards, and 1st in Birdie or Better % in this field.
My favourite bet for this pairing is the +320 Top 10, but I will also have a piece of the outright, as well.
Nick Watney/Charley Hoffman Top 10 (+1400) / Top 20 (+450)
A couple of veterans that I like some prop bets on to fill out the bet card this week. They have played together each season since the Zurich became a team event and have finished Top 20 in five of those seven trips, and Hoffman also finished T11 in the final year of the solo stroke play version of the event. Neither comes in with positive form, but they seem to play very well together here at TPC Louisiana, so I will put some units on the Top 10 and Top 20 based on their course history together.
