Choice of the 2021 Zurich Classic, format, pitch score, odds, best bets, predictions at TPC Louisiana

The weekly PGA Tour event will be presented in a non-traditional way for the second time in a month. The Zurich Classic, however, is even more unique than last month’s WGC-Dell Match Play, as golfers will be paired up this week and play two rounds of better ball and two rounds of alternating strokes to determine a champion. There hasn’t been a winner from this event for nearly two years, as the COVID-19 pandemic completely wiped out the week in 2020 following a victory for Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019.

Let’s take a closer look at this week’s contest with the odds provided via William Hill Sportsbook.

Event Info

Event: Zurich Classical | Dated: April 22-25
Location: TPC Louisiana – Avondale, Louisiana

Three things to know

1. Weekend format: By now, most people are used to the best ball and alternate shot formats from years and years of Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup competition. However, if you’re unfamiliar with the better ball just means that both golfers on a team play an entire hole and your team’s score is the higher score of those two players. So if Collin Morikawa birdies first and Matthew Wolff makes a brace, the Morikawa-Wolff team gets a birdie for their score. The alternate hit is just that – Morikawa hits the first hit, and Wolff has to hit from wherever that hit lands. Your team’s score is whatever you tinker with on a given hole, which makes it a lot harder than the best ball. There was a debate over which format to use on Sunday with the tournament hanging in the balance. This year’s decision is to use alternate shot, which likely creates more volatility than the best ball, but also makes it difficult to skyrocket the standings for teams that are way behind in Round 4.

2. Foreshadowing of the Ryder Cup: We love to overplay the Ryder Cup theme about four months too early, but there are certainly some interesting teams this week that could also be teams at Whistling Straits in September. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Sc chaudele played the Presidents Cup together at Royal Melbourne in December 2019, and both will likely be part of the Ryder Cup squad in September. Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa are less likely to be part of the squad – Morikawa is a lock, but Wolff has struggled lately – but it’s certainly fun to think about what they could do together in future. team events. On the European side, Ryder Cup Lions Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose will perform together, as will former and present Ryder Cuppers Danny Willett and Tyrrell Hatton. It’s likely that only one or two of those teams will end up playing together later this year, and I can’t think either team’s captain will take a ton off this week, but it’s still. a fun mini-scenario.

3. Fascinating teams: There are several “wait … what?” pairings this week. At the top of the list are Scott Piercy and Akshay Bhatia. The former is a 42-year-old journeyman while the latter is a potential 19-year-old superstar who has only appeared in three events this year. I am curious to know how they know each other, but even more how they associated. Other fun stuff included Kristoffer Venture and Viktor Hovland (former Norwegian Oklahoma State teammates), Doug Ghim and Justin Suh (college superstars), Sungjae Im and Ben An (Presidents Cup teammates), Bill Haas and Hunter. Mahan (once contested for the FedEx Cup!) And Woody Austin and Rocco Mediate (combined age: 115).

Note the terrain

The ground this week is not bad. It is not surprising either. Although, to be fair, most of the fields between the Masters and PGA Championships aren’t amazing, but there are also intrigues around Jon Rahm, Xander Sc Chaudele, Cameron Smith, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler. as enough intriguing sub-stories to spark general interest in this event. Quality: C +

Choice of Zurich Classic

Winners: Collin Morikawa-Matthew Wolff (16-1) – Wolff clearly struggled and his body language at Augusta National was appalling. However, I think his biggest issues right now are the discomfort with the nuances of life as a professional. He’s so gregarious and so outgoing that I think he will thrive again as a team alongside the guy who has been the best of all at it from tee to green for the past three months.

Top 10: Cameron Smith-Marc Leishman (12-1 to win) – You could argue that this duo should be the favorites to win this tournament with the way they both played at the Masters a few weeks ago and how hot Smith has been overall (top 20 in his five latest events in stroke play). Smith has already claimed a win here (alongside Jonas Blixt), and there are real question marks with the two shorter odds teams (Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer, Xander Sc Chaudele-Patrick Cantlay).

Sleepers: Doug Ghim-Justin Suh (50-1) – I’m in love with this duo because they were both so elite in college, and they’ve both been coming around a bit over the last few months. The pedigrees are there, the talent is there, the momentum is there and there is a scenario where they match it all and play their best golf of the year together.