Zurich Classic of New Orleans Betting Picks, Odds, Course Preview and Prediction
Zurich Classic of New Orleans Betting Picks, Odds, Course Preview and Prediction
After what has been a torrid start to the 2024 PGA Tour season, golf fans and bettors can finally exhale for a more casual event. Firstly, Scottie Scheffler is not in the field, so we don’t have to worry about the best player in the World steamrolling his competition. Secondly, the Zurich Classic is a more laidback team event with very little predictive value. In terms of the format, the field consists of 80 two-man teams. Rounds one and three will be best ball, and rounds two and four will be alternate shot, a far more entertaining format. The top 33 teams plus ties will advance to the weekend. The host venue is the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana.
The event was first contested in 1938 and has been a staple of the PGA Tour since in 1958, always played in the early to mid-spring. It has been hosted at TPC Louisiana since 2004, and prior to changing to a team event in 2017, the tournament was previous contested as an individual stroke play event. We do have some data from the individual stroke play rounds, but it is coming from over five years. The course has been lengthened by over 200 yards since, but the extra yardage hasn't really changed much of the character of the course, as technology has caught up as well. For what it's worth, this column has hit back-to-back winners at this event, with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in 2022, as well as Nick Hardy and Davis Riley at 60/1. Let’s go for the three-peat this week in New Orleans!
Zurich Classic of New Orleans DATE, START TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: April 25 - 28, 2024
- Where: Avondale, LA
- Where to Watch: Golf Channel, NBC, Peacock
Zurich Classic of New Orleans Odds
- Winner: Cantlay/Schauffele +500, McIlroy/Lowry +800, Zalatoris/Theegala +1100
Click here to see the Zurich Classic of New Oreleans odds
Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Course Preview
TPC Louisiana
TPC Louisiana draws a sharp juxtaposition to other short, positional, Pete Dye tracks such as Harbor Town and TPC Sawgrass that we have grown accustomed to over the past couple of months. Dye certainly steered away from his traditional model with TPC Louisiana, which is far more in the vein of a wide open, driver heavy golf course. Featuring wide fairways and incredibly benign Bermuda-grass rough, TPC Louisiana is one of the easiest golf courses on the PGA Tour. In 2015 and 2016, when this tournament was an individual stroke play event, the Dye design ranked as the seventh-easiest and second-easiest course on Tour, respectively.
The name of the game at TPC Louisiana is bomb away and get hot with the putter. Obviously in a team format, birdies are going to be heavily accentuated, and players should be encouraged to take an aggressive approach. This week I will primarily be looking for players who rate out highly in statistics such as going for the green birdie or better percentage, birdie or better percentage, strokes gained total: easy scoring conditions, and putting on Bermuda-over-seeded greens.
Zurich Classic Key Stats
- Driving Distance
- Birdies or Better Gained
- Proximity 200 yards plus
Zurich Classic: Outright Picks
Adam Hadwin & Nick Taylor +4000 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
As runner-up finishers at the Zurich Classic last year, Adam Hadwin & Nick Taylor have already shown their meddle as an all-Canadian tandem. Their strong showing was unsurprising, as Taylor and Hadwin have had considerable success over the last two years on the PGA Tour and can be reliably counted on to make birdies and bunches. Both possess complimentary skill-sets as well. Taylor is an excellent iron player and Hadwin is an elite putter. Teams that possess at least one great putter and one great approach player tend to perform extremely well at this event. Both Hadwin and Taylor also raise their baseline in easier scoring conditions, and outside of their success at TPC Louisiana, Taylor is the number one player in this field in strokes gained at TPC Scottsdale, and Hadwin is the number one player in this field in strokes gained at the Pete Dye designed PGA West. I expect the Canadian duo to continue to shine at TPC Louisiana.
Davis Thompson & Andrew Novak +4500 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
While Davis Thompson and Andrew Novak both played this event last year with lesser partners, I am highly encouraged by this duo teaming up this year. Thompson is a player I have been on all season due to his rock-solid approach play, particularly with his longer irons. The former Georgia standout has already experienced a modicum of success in the Southeast, and he significantly raises his baseline in easier scoring conditions. Novak has been on a similar tear this year with his irons, and he can get scorching hot on over-seeded Bermuda greens as well. On a second shot golf course like TPC Louisiana, I am getting two of the best overall approach players and birdie-makers in this field, and the market is severely underrating this tandem’s upside.
GOLF ODDS
Article Author
Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from Manhattan, New York. Andy came to OddsChecker in January 2022 after previously writing for Golf Digest, GolfWRX, Rotoballer, and the Score. Andy is also the host of a golf betting and daily fantasy podcast, Inside Golf Podcast, as well as "The Scramble” with Rick Gehman, and a recurring guest on the Pat Mayo Experience. In his free time, Andy is still grinding away at his lifelong dream of qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, and if not writing, can likely be found somewhere on a golf course.