Great weekend in PGA Tour betting as one of our best bets for the RBC Heritage Invitational in Matt Kuchar finished in second place. The tour rolls on this weekend as we head to Avondale in Louisiana for the annual Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
We take a look at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which gets underway Thursday night (AEST) and give our betting tips below!
2019 PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans Betting Tips
Since 2017, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has been played under a new team format. Teams of two will compete throughout the four rounds, with Rounds 1 and 3 being four-ball (best ball) format and Round 2 and 4 being foursomes (alternate shot) format.
For Foursomes play, players will rotate tee shots. One player will hit the tee shots on all the odd-numbered holes, and the other will hit the tee shot on even-numbered holes. Example: Player A and Player B are partners. On the first hole, Player A tees off; Player B plays the second shot; Player A plays the third shot; and so on until the ball is holed. The total strokes taken will result in the team’s score for that hole.
For Four-Ball play, the players on each team will each play his own ball throughout the entirety of the round, with the best score on each hole recorded. Example: On the first hole, both golfers on each team tee off. Player A pars the hole and Player B birdies it. The team will be credited with a birdie.
The Course
TPC Louisiana has hosted the Zurich Classic of New Orleans every year since 2005 except for 2006 when damage from Hurricane Katrina forced the event back to English Turn Golf & Country Club. The course is a 7,425 yard, Par 72 and was designed by world famous golf course designer Pete Dye. True to the Louisiana habitat, the course is set on over 250 acres of wetlands and is littered with over 100 bunkers and five water traps throughout the 18 holes.
If there’s one thing that TPC Louisiana promotes, it’s scoring. While going for them can be costly at times, chances for birdies are in abundance here, and throughout the last few seasons in the PGA Tour, TPC Louisiana has regularly ranked in the top third in low scores, the team format over the past few seasons only accentuates that stat.
Field
The starting field for the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans will consist of of 80 teams (160 total players). Each of the top players from the PGA Tour Priority Rankings list who has made themselves available for the tournament will get the opportunity to choose their own partner, however, each partner must have PGA Tour status as well.
The format has thrown up a few interesting partnerships, headlined by the likes of World No.3 Brooks Koepka, who will get the opportunity to play alongside his brother Chase, who is currently ranked No.898 in the world. Amongst the top parings will be Australian duo Adam Scott and Jason Day and the European pair of Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia.
All in all there will be five groupings who feature major winners on both sides. Including Henrik Stenson/Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel, Jim Furyk/David Duval and Ernie Els/Trevor Immelman.
Tips
It’s tough to look much further past the list of major winners here. Adam Scott and Jason Day both played some fantastic golf at The Masters a few weeks ago and are worthy favourites heading into the tournament. Scott will be a reliable partner capable of hitting plenty of fairways and greens in regulations throughout the four days which will allow Jason Day to be much more aggressive, particularly in the best ball format. They’ll also have a fantastic relationship as Australians and should be playing hard for each-other all weekend.
Another team we love this weekend is Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes. Aggression is key in team format, particularly in the best ball rounds and Holmes and Bubba have that in spades. In terms of pure scoring ability, there might not be a better pair on course this weekend, and Bubba had a great weekend at The Masters a few weeks ago.
