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Zurich Classic

Zurich Classic 2022 DraftKings Preview

a duo duel going down in new orleans

Grab your buddy, your fellow countryman, or in Ryan Palmer's case whoever is the world #1. It's the Zurich Classic of New Orleans week. The PGA Tour heads to TPC Louisiana for the two-man team event. Let's get you set to see some green screens on DraftKings this weekend. 

What's up golf addicts! AC here, checking in week to week to provide a quick preview of the upcoming PGA Tour event. I’ll give you the lowdown on the course, the players, some key stats, and our favorite DraftKings picks for the week. 

Jordan Spieth really likes Easter. Last year, he won the Valero Texas Open on Easter Sunday. This year, he grabbed the tartan jacket at the RBC Heritage on Easter Sunday. Guess which event concludes on Easter Sunday next year. The mother-effing MASTERS! <eyeball emoji, eggplant emoji, drool emoji, etc>. Speaking of eggplant emojis... Big shout out to Nut Hut member and high rolling baller, Coby (TigerPawsSC). Coby took down all of the prizes last week for a $380k day!

All of the course data, player stats, and most of the information below can be found on Fantasy National Golf Club (FNGC). At FNGC you can view historic course conditions, course scoring breakdowns, tournament history, simulators, and official strokes gained data provided by the PGA Tour. Start building your models at Fantasy National now!

The Field and Tournament Details for the Zurich Classic

There are 160 players in the field this week divided into 80 teams of two. The pairs will play two rounds of fourballs and two rounds of foursomes. They will play a round of each starting with fourballs on Thursday and foursomes on Friday before the cut will reduce the field to the top 33 and ties. In fourballs, each player plays their own ball, and the best score between the two is recorded. For foursomes, the players will alternate shots to get the ball in the hole. One player tees off the odd holes with the teammate handling even hole duties.

This is more of a fun week but we still get some studs in the field. The team of Viktor Hovland & Collin Morikawa headline the event followed by Patrick Cantley & Xander Schauffele. The reigning Zurich Classic champions, all-Aussie duo Cameron Smith & Marc Leishman are in the field with Sam Burns & Billy Horschel rounding out the $10ks.

Ryan Palmer is very good at finding highly rated teammates. His recent partners include Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, and this year will tee it up with the current world #1, Scottie Scheffler. The rest of the $9ks are filled in by Shane Lowry & Ian Poulter, Tommy Fleetwood & Sergio Garcia, the Chilean duo of Joaquin Niemann & Mito Pereira, Talor Gooch & Max Homa, and Harold Varner III & Bubba Watson.

This is the fifth version of the Zurich Classic team event. Cameron Smith picked up his first title with Jonas Blixt in 2017. Scott Piercy & Horschel won in 2018. Palmer and Rahm were victorious in 2019 and of course Leishman & Smith last year. Over the last four years, the average winning score has been 264 (-24).

TPC Louisiana Course Breakdown

  • Course: TPC Louisiana
  • Location: Avondale, LA USA
  • Yardage: 7,425
  • Par: 72
  • Architect: Pete Dye
  • Grass: Bermudagrass overseeded w/ Poa trivialis
  • Comp Courses: TPC Sawgrass, TPC Scottsdale, Caves Valley GC, Silverado Resort, Corales GC

Back-to-back Pete Dye tracks. This one is a little different than some others. Much more on the easier side of things. Smallish greens but a bit wider fairways and not as many trees. There are even fewer trees now with the hurricane damage last year but some have been replaced.

A 7,425-yard par 72 that features Bermudagrass from tee to green but due to the current season, the greens have been overseeded with Poa trivialis. The same surface used on just about every event other than the Masters over the last two months.

The course is certainly gettable, however, there is some trouble around. Over 100 bunkers and water in play on eight holes. Then you'll have some Louisiana weather to deal with. The forecast looks kind of tame early in the week. There is likely to be some wind blowing through.

Key Stats for the Zurich Classic

  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Strokes Gained: Off the tee
  • Driving Distance
  • Opportunities Gained
  • Par 5 Scoring
  • Birdies!
  • Team Experience
  • Pete Dye History

Throw the models out of the window this week. Well... maybe not completely but in a team atmosphere, things are going to be a bit shaken up. Approach is key. It's a Dye track. The greens are small and you don't want to leave your partner in a shit spot. Opps gained is a great stat for that as well.

The teams will be a bit strategic off the tee as even holes favor a long drive and odd holes lean on an iron player. With the course being pretty open and rough not being terrible, I like a bit of pop off the bat. Leaning on strokes gained off the tee and more specifically, driving distance. The long ball will also help guys score on the four Par 5s. Scoring is huge here. Gotta make birdies. Lots of them. Eagles, birdies, birdies or better gained, and DK scoring are all available options on Fantasy National.

Finally, experience. Any team experience like Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Walker Cup, whatever Cup any of these guys played that involved team play. Knowing how to strategize your shots in fourballs and then leaving proper shots in the foursomes will go a long way. Having a good history on Pete Dye tracks will be helpful as well. It's proven every week.

Here's a tidbit from our Nut Hut in-house caddie: "The best ball, some teams have more firepower than others. Wind forecast this week, SE every day, should keep scoring in the low 20s and makes 1/2 of the 3’s into and 1/2 the par 5’s as well. Having that guy that’s a par 3 master is a big help"

If you are not yet a member, join the Tour Junkies crew and some brilliant minds in Goalby’s Nut Hut. The Nut Hut is a discord chat with tons of insight, caddie news, banter, trash talk, and most of all a collection of golf addicts that have won more than $4 million since the restart. Click the banner below to sign up!

Zurich Classic Picks & Fades

Each week we will give you some plays and a fade from each DraftKings salary range. For all of DB and Pat’s thoughts and picks make sure to check out and subscribe to the Tour Junkies Podcast.

To Play or Not to Play Brooks Koepka

BK is not in the field this week. Too bad, really. Koepka bros or kick Poults and grab Lowry!

$9K & Above 

Play - Sam Burns & Billy Horschel, Talor Gooch & Max Homa, Mito Periera & Joaquin Niemann  | Fade - Viktor Hovland & Collin Morikawa

Horschel and Burns finished T4 here last year which followed a run of T13 and a win from Billy Ho, separate from Burns. Both guys are playing some great golf. Burns is coming off a successful defense at the Valspar and Horschel is 11th in SG: Total over his last three measured events. Gooch and Homa sound like a crime-fighting duo. They should balance each other out nicely and be able to feed off of a T17 in 2021. Other than Burns and Ho, the Chilean duo rates out best combined in my models. Mito has yet to find glory on the PGA Tour but I think Niemann can help get him there.

There really isn't any balance between Vik and Kawa. They will both have to ball strike the shit out of it and hope the other can make a putt. Likely to be super chalk and obv the highest price. It's tough to return value on that.

$8K Range

Play - Brendan Steele & Keegan Bradley, Adam Hadwin & Adam Svensson | Fade - Benny An & Sungjae Im

I was skeptical of this team last year but they pulled out a T4. This time they both come in with some great form, especially Keegan. Won't be surprised with another T10. This is a no-brainer for me. Two Canadians and two Adams?? Both are playing some great golf and I think these two can really excel in the foursomes.

A lot of people are talking up Benny An and Sungjae Im. That's reason in itself to fade but one of these guys doesn't even hold a PGA Tour card anymore.

$7K Range

AC: Play - Robert Streb & Troy Merritt, Doug Ghim & Matthias Schwab, Alex Noren & Henrik Norlander | Fade - Joseph Bramlett & Mav McNealy

Streb and Merritt have a couple of T25s as a team and both have been playing well. They both should have peaked at the RBC last week but Streb fell away after being at the top. Merritt squeaked out a T12. Ghim and Schwab present some firepower. This will be Schwab's debut but Ghim rallied a T11 last year. Noren and Norlander. The Swedish duo. Noren has been a stud lately. Norlander... Not so much. The two should be able to bets their T21 from last year.

There is way too much steam on Bramlett and McNealy right now. It's looking like chalk city. Neither has done anything impressive and they missed the cut here last year.

$6K Range

AC: Play - Max McGreevy & Andrew Novak, Brandon Hagy & Cameron Percy, Kelly Kraft & Kevin Tway

McGreevy and Novak are a dart play. Super low owned. Hagy and Percy will be teeing up for the first time together but each has a top 30.  If you need to go down this far, this will be the fifth time Kraft and Tway have teamed up. They have a 3rd, MC, 13th, and an MC last year. Should be good for a top 25.

There ya go. Apologies for the delay. Weird week. Ownership may be hard to gauge but if you listen closely, the same names keep popping up. Find those leverage spots. Good luck!

THE INS & OUTS

OUT: Nothing yet

IN: 

Open qualifiers: No open qualifier

*The field is 160. 80 teams of 2. Top 33 and ties make the cut.