After the first men’s major of the year at the Masters and the fifth signature event of the 2024 season at the RBC Heritage, the PGA Tour has teed up a little team golf down in the Bayou this week.
A field of 80 two-player teams have made their way to TPC Louisiana in Avondale for the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which features a unique format. The teams will play fourball in the first and third rounds and foursomes (alternate shot) for the second and fourth rounds.
From defending and past champions to a handful of brothers and rising stars, these are the teams you should keep an eye on this week in the Big Easy.
Zurich Classic: Picks to win, odds
Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry
Team Europe golfer Rory McIlroy (left) smiles talking to golfer Shane Lowry (right) on the first hole during a practice round of the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Rory McIlroy, the world No. 2, makes his debut at the event alongside good friend Shane Lowry. McIlroy and Lowry have been teammates on the last two Ryder Cups with Team Europe but have only played together once in a losing effort, 4 and 3, in 2021 to Tony Finau and Harris English in fourball.
Sahith Theegala, Will Zalatoris
Will Zalatoris plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the third round of the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network)
This might be the most fun pairing of the bunch. Two rising stars on Tour that can go low should pick TPC Louisiana apart.
Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele
Patrick Cantlay (L) and Xander Schauffele (R) bump fists during the third day of the Presidents Cup in Melbourne on December 14, 2019. (Photo by William West/ AFP via Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, Nos. 6 and 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking, respectively, are the betting favorites and for good reason. The pair won the event in 2022 and tied for fourth last year.
Collin Morikawa, Kurt Kitayama
Collin Morikawa prepares to play his shot on the first tee during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
This isn’t the most exciting group of players, but Morikawa has found his form again with finishes of T-3 at the Masters two weeks ago and ninth at the RBC Heritage last week.
Nick Hardy, Davis Riley
Davis Riley and Nick Hardy celebrate winning the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Photo: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports)
Last year’s winners took the title at 30 under and are back to defend their title once again this season. The names don’t jump off the screen, but four rounds of 66 or better sure do. Can they run it back?
Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin
Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin wait to putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. (Photo: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports)
The Canadian twosome finished second last year, two shots back of Hardy and Riley.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Alex Fitzpatrick
Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick walk off the 10th green during the first round of the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Photo: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports)
The Brothers Fitzpatrick finished T-19 last year and will most likely have a few more fans following this year after their episode in season two of Full Swing.
Parker Coody, Pierceson Coody
Pierceson Coody and Parker Coody watch a shot from the 12th tee during the first round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 28, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)
The Texas twins are starting to pick up the pace early in their careers and each has top-25 finishes this season (Parker has three, including a T-6 last week in Puntacana).
Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus Hojgaard
Rasmus Hojgaard poses with his twin brother Nicolai Hojgaard after winning the Made in HimmerLand at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort on July 09, 2023 in Denmark. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Another set of twins, the 23-year-old Danes have earned early success on the DP World Tour (Nicolai has three wins, Rasmus has four) but only Nicolai has contended on the PGA Tour. He finished runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year and T-16 two weeks ago at the Masters.
Keith Mitchell, Joel Dahmen
Joel Dahmen and Keith Mitchell practice prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 02, 2022 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Name a group that’ll have better vibes out on the course. I’ll wait. Both finished in the top 12 (with different partners) last year.
Honorable mentions
Scott Brown (left) and Kevin Kisner (right) share a laugh on the 18th hole during the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament at TPC Louisiana. (Photo: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports)
Kevin Kisner, Scott Brown
They may not win or contend but nobody will have more fun than these two. The pair have previously finished second (2017) and fifth (2019) at TPC Louisiana.
Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald
The European Ryder Cup captain and vice captain make for an intriguing pairing this week. Donald hasn’t played as much as NBC courts him for their open lead analyst role and Molinari has only made two out of six cuts this season on Tour.
Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker
Do they hit it as far as other teams? Nope. But these vets could be ham and egg master chefs and make a run.
Alejandro Tosti, Ted Potter, Jr.
Tosti has been known to get a little hot under the collar on the course, which could make for some fun (and chaos) in a team event.
