The weekly event at the PGA Tour is 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 game, as golfers are paired this week and play two rounds of best ball and hold two rounds of alternatives to determine a champion. There has been no winner of this event in almost two years, as the COVID-19 pandemic completely wiped out the week in 2020 after a victory of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s match with the odds offered via William Hill Sportsbook.
Event information
Event: Zurich Classic | Date: April 22-25
Location: TPC Louisiana – Avondale, Louisiana
Three things to know
1. Weekend format: By now, most people are accustomed to the best ball and alternative shot formats from years and years of Presidential and Ryder Cup competitions. However, if you are not familiar, the best ball simply means that both golfers in a team play a whole hole, and the score of your team is the best score of the two players. So if Collin Morikawa birdies at first and Matthew Wolff doubles, Morikawa-Wolff’s team gets a birdie for their score. The alternative shot is just that – Morikawa hits the first shot, and Wolff has to hit from wherever the shot lands. The score of your team is whatever you put together on a given hole, making it much harder than the best ball. There was debate about which format should be used on Sunday with the tournament in the balance. The decision this year is to use an alternative shot, which is likely to create more volatility than the best ball, but also make it difficult to chase up the standings for teams that are lagging far behind in Round 4.
2. Forecast of Ryder Cup: We (I) like to replay the Ryder Cup theme about four months too early, but there are definitely some interesting teams that could be teams at Whistling Straits this week as well. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele played together at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in December 2019, and both are likely to be in the Ryder Cup squad in September. Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa are less likely to be on the team – Morikawa is a lock, but Wolff struggled – but it’s definitely fun to think about what they could do together during future gala events. On the European side, Ryder Cup lions Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose will play together, as will past and present Ryder Cuppers, Danny Willett and Tyrrell Hatton. It’s likely that only one or two of these teams will play together later this year, and I can ‘t think the captain of one team will take away a ton this week, but it’s still a fun mini-storyline.
3. Fascinating team: There are several “wait … what?” matings this week. At the top of the list are Scott Piercy and Akshay Bhatia. The former is a 42-year-old pregnant, while the latter is a 19-year-old potential superstar who has played just three events this year. I’m curious how they even know each other, but even more so how they teamed up. Other entertainers include Kristoffer Venture and Viktor Hovland (former teammates from the Oklahoma States of Norway), Doug Ghim and Justin Suh (university superstars), Sungjae Im and Ben An (teammates from the Presidential Cup), Bill Haas and Hunter Mahan (who once competed for the FedEx. Cup!) and Woody Austin and Rocco Mediate (combined age: 115).
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Rating of the field
The field this week is not bad. It’s not great either. Although, to be honest, most of the fields between the Masters and PGA Championship are not great, but there is also intrigue surrounding 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 arouse overall interest in this event. Degree: C +
Zurich Classic chooses
Winners: Collin Morikawa-Matthew Wolff (16-1) – Wolff clearly struggled, and his body language at Augusta National was horrible. However, I think his biggest problems right now are discomfort with the nuances of life as a professional. He is so deceptive and so extroverted that I think he will actually thrive again as part of a team, along with the man who has been the best of everyone in this field from tea to green for the last three months.
Top 10: Cameron Smith-Marc Leishman (12-1 to win) – You can make a decent case that this duo should be the favorite to win this tournament, with how well they both played at the Masters a few weeks ago and how scorching Smith was overall (top 20 on his last five shots ). Smith has won here before (along with Jonas Blixt), and there are real question marks among the two teams with shorter chances (Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay).
Sleepers: Doug Ghim-Justin Suh (50-1) – I love this duel because they were both so elite at university, and both have been getting a bit going over the last few months. The pedigrees are there, the talent is there, the momentum is there and there is a scenario where it all fits together and plays their best golf of the year together.