Weekly PGA Preview: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.

Zurich Classic of New Orleans

TPC Louisiana
Avondale, LA

The PGA Tour heads to Louisiana for another edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Before we get to that, of course we need to take a look back at what is becoming quite ridiculous and that's the play of Scottie Scheffler. At this point, there's not much to add to what's already been said and written, but I will say I'm curious to see how Scheffler comes out of the break in a few weeks. The next Signature Event is the Wells Fargo Championship in three weeks. By that time, we can assume that Scheffler will be a father and he might not be the same guy. He's passed all the other challenges that he's faced to this point, most recently the challenge of playing well the week after a major victory, but he's dealt with that before. This will be an entirely new challenge and one that isn't an easy sometimes. Scheffler will likely be a week or two into parenting, and perhaps slightly rusty, so how does he respond? Okay, he'll probably play the same as he's been playing all season, but hey, you never know. I told you that we're running out of things to say about Scheffler, right? We're now forced to speculate on things that haven't occurred yet.

Okay, onto this week, it's the lone official team event of the season and honestly, it could use a spark because this gimmick hasn't exactly captured the imagination of the golf public. I'm not sure what can be done, as even the best players playing well hasn't really moved the needle, but it would be nice if there was more anticipation entering this week for an event that's unlike any other on the PGA Tour schedule.

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 7:00 PM ET Tuesday.                   

LAST TIME

Nick Hardy and Davis Riley shot a final-round 65 on their way to a two-stroke victory over Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin.

FAVORITES

Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele (9-2) 

Cantlay and Schauffele have played well together at this event over the past three years, with a win in 2022, a T4 this past year and a T11 in 2021. Based on combined talent, this is the best team in the field and both have pretty good form entering the week, but the number here just isn't big enough. It's one thing to rely on one guy's mental ability on a Sunday afternoon, but when you have to trust two guys, it just isn't worth it at this number.

Rory McIlroy / Shane Lowry (15-2)

This is probably the most interesting pairing on the board. Lowry has played here four times with little success and McIlroy has never played this event. We can't be certain that Lowry's poor results here are more on him or his partner, but whatever the case, he's not coming here with a good feeling about this event. That could change however with his new partner and perhaps they find some Ryder Cup magic this week...or perhaps they fizzle out when they realize this event does not have nearly the excitement that the Ryder Cup has.

Sahith Theegala / Will Zalatoris (15-2)

This is also an interesting pairing as there's plenty of talent on this team. Zalatoris finished T4 in his only start here, while Theegala hasn't had much success. This will be their first pairing, which is always interesting because we have no idea how they'll play together. Theegala is in better form right now, while Zalatoris has struggled since a hot start. There are simply to many unknowns to place a wager at these odds, though. I could see this team playing well and I can see them fizzling out, all of which requires a number higher than this.

THE NEXT TIER

Collin Morikawa / Kurt Kitayama (11-1)

I generally like to find some higher odds for my first mid-tier play, but the way the odds are laid out this week isn't conducive to that. After this pairing there are a couple of the brother pairings, which don't excite me and then we are almost to the long shots, so I'll place this team here. This pick is based mostly on Morikawa, who has found his game over the past couple weeks. Kitayama hasn't played his best this season, but we know he's got a pretty high upside when he's on.

Nick Taylor / Adam Hadwin (22-1)

I'm a little surprised that these guys are listed here given that they finished runner-up this past year, but there are some big names in the field this week, so I get it. Here's the thing though, this week isn't about individual talent, it's about collective talent and the ability to play as a team, especially during alternate shot. This team proved it could thrive in that format this past year and I think they make a run this year as well, especially with the improving game of Taylor.

Keith Mitchell / Joel Dahmen (35-1)          

Now we're starting to get into long shot territory, but that's just how the odds shook out this week. There were a handful of teams in the 25-1 range that didn't look appealing, so I'm forced to go with some long odds as my last mid-tier play. As for this team, well, both of these players have played well in spots, but they've never played together, so going with the theory that their partners let them down in previous years, I'm thinking this pairing could work. Okay, it's a stretch, but with this format, you have to take some leaps no matter who you pick.

LONG SHOTS

Billy Horschel / Tyson Alexander (45-1)    

If Horschel had a more accomplished partner, his odds would certainly be much better than this, as he's coming off a win of his own this past week and his track record here is amazing. We won this event in 2013 when it was a solo event and he won it in 2018 as a team event. He's also placed in the top-4 in two of the past three years and he's finished no worse than T13 over his past five starts here. This one really comes down to how Alexander plays.

Nick Hardy / Davis Riley (55-1)    

The defending champs at a price like this? I'll bite. Again, this event is not just about individual talent, it's about how two guys play in tandem and these guys won the damn thing this past year. Prior to being paired up this past year, Riley finished T4 at this event, so he obviously has a feel for this course and this event. Is it likely they'll go back-to-back? No, but at these odds, they're certainly worth a look.

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Collin Morikawa / Kurt Kitayama - Most OAD leagues allow you to take just one player from a team and not burn the other one and if that's the case in your league, then this pairing offers the most upside as you likely aren't worried about using Kitayama at this point. The other big-name teams with high upside this week don't offer this luxury as you probably don't want to use Cantlay or Schauffele in a non-Signature Event and the same might be true for McIlroy and Lowry.

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Sahith Theegala / Will Zalatoris - This is a borderline play as both of these guys might be better suited for Signature Events, but outside of the majors, there really aren't that many Signature Events left, so if you have used either of these guys yet, you might want to deploy one of them here, the question is, which one?

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Nick Taylor / Adam Hadwin - If history is any indication, I'm expecting most OAD players to pick a team with a big-name player and a lower-end player as to essentially get a free play on someone like Morikawa or Fitzpatrick. It that's the case, then that opens the door for you to gain ground with a solid team, like this one. The question here again is which player to choose? Hadwin is more consistent, but Taylor is having the better season.

Buyer Beware: Unbalanced Teams - It's certainly tempting to burn a nobody in order to get a high-end player, but the history of such teams isn't great. Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex Fitzpatrick come to mind this week, but I don't see that ending well. Morikawa and Kitayama is about as unbalanced as I would go this week and that's only because Morikawa is playing well lately and Kitayama has beaten strong fields before.

This Week: Nick Taylor - This is actually kind of funny. I initially was going to use Taylor instead of Hadwin because I wanted to save Hadwin potentially for the RBC Canadian Open, only to realize that Taylor actually won the Canadian Open this past year. However, the Canadian Open will be held on a different course this year and the pressures of defending might adversely affect Taylor, so in the end I came back to my original notion of saving Hadwin for later.

Previous Results

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

This Week: Nick Taylor - I'm using Taylor here as well because Hadwin should be a good chip to use for the Canadian Open. As for this week, I like the chemistry that these two showed this past year and I shouldn't have to worry about one player having to carry the entire load.

Previous Results