The PGA Tour will travel to Louisiana this week for the Zurich Classic. The field must be complete crap following The Masters and an elevated event at the RBC Heritage, right? Well, that is not the case. The Zurich Classic will feature 12 of the top-30 golfers in the World Golf Rankings, but there is a catch. These golfers will not be playing stroke-play against each other. The golfers will be paired together and compete in four-ball, best ball and alternate shot competitions. There will be 80 teams (2 golfers of each team) and the top 33 teams will make the cut after Friday’s round (40%). I am not a big fan of this tournament, and it is not great for DFS contests, but I will throw some money at it and hope to win some cash this week.
Here is a link to the team pairings this week: Zurich Classic Teams
DRAFTKINGS SCORING FOR ZURRICH CLASSIC
– All 160 golfers will be listed in the player pool on DraftKings, but you will not be allowed to select two golfers from the same team. So, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are paired together so you can only use Cantlay or Schaffeler in your lineup.
– Each golfer will receive the same points as his teammate. So, if Cantlay scores 70 DK points, Schauffeler will also receive 70 DK points.
– If a golfer does not compete in an event, he will not receive any points.
So does this sound confusing. Well, it is and that is why I am not a big fan of throwing too much money at this tournament this week.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The course this week is TPC Louisiana. It is part of the TPC Network of courses, so it is similar to TPC Sawgrass where THE PLAYERS is player, TPC River Highlands that hosts the Travelers Championship and TPC Boston which hosts the Northern Trust at the end of the season. I used the golfer’s course history at those courses for my picks this week.
This Pete Dye style course tests each aspect of a golfer’s game. The course plays 7,400 yards in length. There are over 100 bunkers strategically placed to ensure the golfers will have to use the right strategy to get their shots on the greens.
This is the week to stick with golfers who are accurate off the tee and accurate with their approach shots. It will also be very important to be strategic with your shots because ball placement is everything at TPC Louisiana. The scores will likely be really low, but some golfers who are too aggressive could post high scores.
Click here to see the course: TPC Louisiana
KEY STATS FOR ZURRICH CLASSIC
– Accuracy Off-the-Tee
– Ball Striking
– Strokes Gained Putting
– Strokes Gained Par 5s
– Birdie or Better %
TOP 15 TEAMS
*This tournament is about as random as the race this week at Talladega. These rankings are based on the stats. The groups are very close this week. Just because I used a group lower in the rankings, it does not mean I like them more than the groups ranked higher. It is most likely because of ownership or price.
ZURRICH CLASSIC STRATEGY
The pricing on DraftKings is extremely tight this week. It will be difficult to build a competitive lineup without using a “stars and scrubs” construction format. It is also tough to get 6/6 golfers through to the weekend when you are digging through the trash for golfers for your teams. I will be building mostly “stars and scrubs” lineups and hope the value picks I use pay off.
The winning lineups for this event have looked the same the last two years. There is usually one higher-priced team who plays well and then the rest of the lineup is filled with the mid-tier golfers.
Here are the winning lineups in the $3 Birdie Contest (20 Max Entry) over the last two seasons…
* You could not win without Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in your lineup last year. That will likely be the case again Sunday.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
XANDER SCHAUFFELE /PATRICK CANTLAY ($11,100): I am all in with the Schauffele /Cantlay group this week. They will be in most of my DFS lineups and I will be betting on them. I rather loose with them in my lineup, than to have them go off like they did last year (they scored 164 DK Points) and kick myself for not playing them.
DAVID LIPSKY /AARON RAI ($9,000): Lipsky and Rai finished fourth in this tournament last year. They come into the Zurich Classic with a little better form than they had last year. This duo played a lot of golf together on the European Tour. Chemistry means something this week, and they have it. I will play Lipsky and Rai and hope they do what they did last year and finish in the top-five.
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK / ALEX FITZPATRICK ($8,200): I get Matthew Fitzpatrick for $8,200? I will take it. I do not care if I was his partner. Matthew should be able to carry this team to a top-10 finish. His older brother is no duffer. Alex excels with his iron game and usually avoids mistakes (Just like Matthew). I think this is a good price for last week’s winner.
THOMAS DETRY / VICTOR PEREZ ($7,900): I played Detry a lot early in the season and he won me some cash. I stopped using him lately, but he should be good in the crazy format and weak field. Perez won the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship earlier this season. That was a strong field (unlike this one). Detry has been solid all season. This group is too talented to be priced in the $7K range.
BYEONG HUN AN / S.H. KIM ($7,100): The most miss-price group on the DraftKings site is BH An and SH Kim. They have made 16 of their 18 cuts in 2023. That is much better than anyone in the $7K price range, yet they are only $7,100. BY An finished 14th in this tournament last year. I will take the discount with this group at the Zurich Classic.
TANO GOTA /TREVOR WERBYLO ($6,700): I need a punt play for this lineup to fit under the salary cap, so I will play Gota and Werbylo. You are probably asking yourself, “who the heck are they?” Gota has made seven of his last eight cuts on tour and Werbylo has made eight of his last nine cuts on tour. I will admit that I am not very familiar with this group, but I will take a chance with a pair that has made 16 of their last 18 cuts on tour.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
XANDER SCHAUFFELE /PATRICK CANTLAY ($11,100): I will eat the chalk and play the red hot Schauffele and Cantlay this week. They are almost a lock for a top-three finish.
SI WOO KIM / THOMAS KIM ($9,700): You cannot have too much Kim in your lineup this week and I will have four of them. It will start off with Si Woo Kim and Thomas Kim. Most of Si Woo Kim’s top finishes have been on Pete Dye courses. Si Woo Kim and Thomas Kim beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the President’s Cup last fall. They may win this tournament if they play like that this week.
NICOLI HOJGAARD /THORBJORN OLESEN ($7,900): Hojgaard and Olesen have been playing really good golf. Hojgaard has made all nine cuts on tour, including a second-place finish last month at the Puntacana Championship. Olesen has made all five of his cuts on the DP World Tour, including a win at the Thailand Classic. They are two good golfers in good form.
SCOTT STALLINGS / TREY MULLINAX ($7,400): Stallings and Mullinax are no stranger to TPC Louisiana. Stallings has played this tournament 11 years in a row and Mullinax played it four of the last five seasons. These two teamed together for an 11th-place finish two seasons ago. Stallings has made his last three cuts in a row, while Mullinax is not in very good form. This is a risky play, but I have a gut feeling they will sneak their way into the top-10 Sunday.
BYEONG HUN AN / S.H. KIM ($7,100): This pairing is just too good to pass up. I know they will be the chalk pick, but as long as they play well, I will take it. Also, I am playing the “All-Kim Lineup” this week.
S-L NOH / MICHAEL KIM ($6,800): Hey look…It is another Kim. This time it is Michael Kim. This Kim has made six of his last seven cuts. That includes a fifth-place finish at the Puerto Rico Open. S-L Noh has been in good form too. He has made seven of his last nine cuts and he won on this course in 2014. I really like the Koreans this week.
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
(No Tournament this Week)
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: (No Contest this week)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Sungjae Im (7TH), Jordan Spieth (4th), Si Woo Kim (39th), Tyrrell Hatton (60th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zalatoris (53rd), Matt Kuchar (MC), Tony Finau (20), Xander Schauffele (10th), Seamus Power (15th), Max Homa (1st), Brian Harman (MC), and Corey Conners (12th)
SEASON LONG ONE & DONE PICK: KEITH MITCHELL (ZURICH CLASIC)
Players Used This Season in One & Done: Tom Kim (MC), Brooks Koepka (2nd), Matt Kuchar (3rd), Wyndham Clark (6th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zallatoris (53rd), Sungjae Im (42nd), Max Homa (2), Xander Schauffele (10th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Jon Rahm (7th), Taylor Montgomery (5th), Russell Henley (32nd), Seamus Power (25th), Brian Harman (2nd), Maverick McNealy (27th), Emiliano Grillo (42nd), Nick Hardy (28th), Terrell Hatton (13TH) Christian Bezuidenhout (29th), Cameron Davis (37th), Denny McCarthy (39th), Brendon Steele (CUT)
BEST BETS FOR ZURICH CLASSIC
I am betting the matchups this week. Here are the groups I like this week..
Schaufflele & Cantlay (-165) over Morikawa & Homa
Olesen & Hojgaard (+100) over English & Hoge
Dahmen & McCarthy (+105) over Spaun & Buckley
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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