The PGA Tour heads to another Pete Dye design in TPC Louisiana for the fifth installment of the Zurich Classic team event. 2017 marked the first time the Zurich Classic odds installed the team format with fourball (best ball) for Rounds 1 and 3 and foursomes (alternate shot) in Rounds 2 and 4.
We’ve got 80 pairings showing up to Louisiana this week with the Top 33 and ties making the cut after Friday’s foursomes action. Marc Leishman and Cam Smith are your defending champs after Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel bowed out of the first playoff hole in 2021 thanks to a water ball off the tee from Louie.
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Zurich Classic picks
- Niemann/Pereira Outright (+2,500)
- Bradley/Steele Outright (+4,500)
- Kizzire/Poston Outright (+6,000)
- Kisner/Brown Top 10 (+700)
- Noren/Norlander Top 10 (+700)
Picks made on 4/19/2022 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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TPC Louisiana stats that matter
Embrace the variance of the Zurich Classic. Team golf is different. While this isn’t match play like the Ryder Cup or President’s Cup, it's still very much team golf. Good vibes matter. Team chemistry matters.
Don’t get bogged down in the stats and models this week. We’ve seen plenty of teams in this event defy the stats and data nerds with good old-fashioned chemistry. We like guys that have played in the event in the past, but it’s not a requirement. It’s also not necessarily a bad thing if they’ve played before but sucked.
There are also a ton of guys in the field that need this victory more than others and see this event as a unique opportunity to lock up status or a PGA Tour card for the next two years. The winners get a two-year PGA Tour exemption, 400 FedEx Cup points each, their share of $2.4 million, an invite into the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2023, all the invitational events, and a spot in the PGA Championship.
- Team chemistry.
- Team golf experience, history at Zurich Classic.
- Recent form.
- Pete Dye course history and prowess.
- Strokes gained ball striking (off the tee, on approach).
Zurich Classic outright predictions
Joaquin Niemann/Mito Pereira (+2,500)
These two young ball-striking Chileans will strike fear into even the top end of this field given their recent form and ball-striking combo. We love the Chilean connection and the fact that Niemann is coming off of another PGA Tour victory back at the Genesis.
Mito Pereira is 100% a name you need to know if you don’t already. This kid won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour last season earning a battlefield exemption straight to the big leagues. While he hasn’t yet contended late on a Sunday, it’s only a matter of time.
This team has all the tee-to-green game to win, and the added motivation to get Mito his first PGA Tour victory as well as to do it for the country of Chile (a la the defending champs last year).
Keegan Bradley/Brendan Steele (+4,500)
The law office of Bradley and Steele finished fourth at this event last year, and both players are trending just as well this year.
Keegan nearly won The PLAYERS and Steele has finally started to get back to his tee to green ball-striking ways. It’s all about making putts for this duo, but both are far removed from their last PGA Tour victory and should arrive motivated to taste victory again.
This marks the third time they’ve partnered at the Zurich and the 45/1 line is just too good to pass up in the event if even one of these guys finds it on the greens this week.
Patton Kizzire/J.T. Poston (+6,000)
Here we find ourselves with a couple of Tour winners, a couple of Sea Island Georgia residents, and a couple of best buddies (we’re the two best friends that anyone could have…we’re the two best friends…).
Patton and J.T. live near each other, they play practice rounds together, and they’ve just got all the chemistry you could ask for coming into the Zurich. Patton’s quietly had a very solid 2022 with four Top 30s in just 10 events. J.T. would be the question mark here given his recent play, but his play at the RBC Heritage last week has our betting trigger finger clicking away at 60/1.
JT fired a 7-under 64 on Sunday at RBC and gained strokes in every category. Both of these guys thrive on Pete Dye designs, and both arrive in trending form.
Zurich Classic top finisher predictions
Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown Top 10 (+700)
In four tries at the Zurich Classic, this team has finished MC, T5, T15, and solo-second.
Like Poston and Kizzire, these guys live in Aiken, SC right next to each other, they play Palmetto Golf Club together during off weeks, and they’re notorious for taking money from even the best in a Tuesday practice round out on the PGA Tour.
Add to that Kisner’s recent flashes of form, and the motivation for Scott Brown to get back to the PGA Tour after losing his card last year, and you’ve got a recipe for a Top-10 performance from the Zurich Classic veterans. We also highlighted this duo in this week's outright predictions lineup.
Alex Noren/Henrik Norlander Top 10 (+700)
The team from Sweden makes their second appearance here at the Zurich after finishing T21 here a year ago.
Alex Noren has been playing exceptionally well this season and is firing on all cylinders from tee to green. Norlander on the other hand hasn’t been himself, but he’s shown some promise. He needs FedEx Cup points badly, and both men have come close, on multiple occasions, to their first Tour win.
This could be the week if Norlander can elevate his game to his veteran partner’s level. The win feels like a reach given Norlander’s lack of form, but a Top 10 is certainly in play at an attractive 7/1 number.
