Next up on the PGA Tour calendar is the one and only team event: the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana.
It's a pretty lax week for everyone involved, but there are a couple of heavyweight pairings at the top of the odds board, including defending champions and this week's betting favorites Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
We break down their chances and more in our Zurich Classic betting preview below, including outright odds, free golf picks, and more.
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Zurich Classic picks and predictions
Sahith Theegala/Justin Suh Top 20 (-105 at DraftKings)
Now feels like the right time to get on board the Sahith Theegala train. He’s quietly racked up seven Top 10s this season but one of those not so quietly came at the Masters a couple of weeks ago, which he followed up with a T5 at Harbour Town.
He’s been lights out on the greens over those two starts but — maybe more importantly — has also reined in his driver over the last 2+ months. He ranks 128th in strokes gained off-the-tee but has gained shots in seven of his last eight starts.
This will be his first start with teammate Justin Suh (missed cut with Beau Hossler in 2022), but Sahith did win the QBE Shootout — a similar, albeit unofficial, team event — with Tom Hoge back in December and I can see similar success coming this week given the form he's in.
Suh has been just fair over the last month but isn’t far removed from a stretch of golf that saw him finish T5 at the Honda, T24 at Bay Hill, and T6 at THE PLAYERS.
Between the casual nature of the week and Sahith’s hunger to make more noise, I think a good week for this pairing is certainly in order.
Sam Burns/Billy Horschel Top 20 (-120 at DraftKings)
No matter which way you slice it, Billy Horschel is not playing good golf right now. His only respectable finish over the last 3+ months came at the Dell Technologies Match Play, where he lost to finalist Cam Young in the Round of 16.
With that said, this is the perfect opportunity for him to get out of that rut. He’s back with a proven teammate that happens to be rolling right now, and is playing a format he's fared quite well in over the last decade.
The success these two have had in this format, both together and otherwise would be hard to overstate. Horschel won here in 2018 with Scott Piercy, finished runner-up a year ago with Burns, and has seven Top 5s at the QBE Shootout with nothing worse than T12 over 10 career starts — that also includes a runner-up with Burns in 2021.
And while Burns can be inconsistent at times, we seem to be catching him in form this week. He finished sixth at the Valspar ahead of his win at the Match Play, which he then followed up with a T29 at Augusta and a T15 at Harbour Town last week.
If Billy Ho raises his game and Burns continues to roll the rock as well as he has this season, I don’t see how these two aren’t in the mix again this week.
Odds to win 2023 Zurich Classic
| Golfers | Odds to win Zurich Classic |
|---|---|
| Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele | +400 |
| Collin Morikawa/Max Homa | +850 |
| Sungjae Im/Keith Mitchell | +1,400 |
| Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim | +1,600 |
| Sam Burns/Billy Horschel | +1,800 |
| Taylor Montgomery | +2,200 |
| Justin Suh/Sahith Theegala | +2,200 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick | +2,200 |
| Beau Hossler/Wyndham Clark | +2,500 |
| Victor Perez/Thomas Detry | +2,800 |
| Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin | +2,800 |
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of April 17, 2023.
Zurich Classic field and favorites
As mentioned at the onset, the defending champion pairing of Patrick Cantlay (OWGR No. 4) and Xander Schauffele (No. 5) is the team to beat this week and the odds reflect that, listing them as heavy +400 favorites. The two finished third and fourth, respectively, at Harbour Town over the weekend.
Second on the board is the California pairing of Max Homa (No. 7) and Collin Morikawa (No. 13) at +850, but beyond that, this field opens up rather quickly.
At 14/1, Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell are the best of the rest, while Presidents Cup teammates Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim sit at 16/1, and last year's runner-up pairing of Sam Burns and Billy Horschel (also the 2018 champ with Scott Piercy) round out the Top 5 at +1,800.
After winning the RBC Heritage last week, Matt Fitzpatrick is making his debut here alongside his younger brother Alex — they sit sixth on the odds board at +2,200.
Covers golf betting tools
Zurich Classic recent winners and odds history
Let's take a look at some recent Zurich Classic winners and their closing odds to win:
| Year | Golfer | Closing odds |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele | +900 |
| 2021 | Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman | +1,200 |
| 2020 | No event: COVID-related cancelation. | N/A |
| 2019 | Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer | +1,600 |
| 2018 | Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy | +4,000 |
| 2017 | Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt | +10,000 |
Odds courtesy of GolfOdds.
Zurich Classic Odds FAQs
The pairing of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantaly is entering the week as a +400 betting favorite to win the 2023 Zurich Classic.
Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay won the event in 2022 with closing odds of +900.
The purse for the 2022 Zurich Classic is $8.6 million, with $1.24 million going to each of the winners.
The 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans is played at TPC Louisiana. The permanent host of the Zurich Open since 2007, TPC Louisiana was designed by Pete Dye, Steve Elkington, and Kelly Gibson and is a 7,425-yard Par-72 that features Tifsport Bermuda grass fairways and Mini Verde Bermuda greens. Action begins on Thursday, April 20 and finishes up on Sunday, April 23.
