Zurich Classic 2025 First Round Leader Tips: Three pairs to go low on Thursday

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley's busy start to the week here at Betfred Insights ends with his look at the first round of the Zurich Classic, starting on Thursday over in Louisiana.

He previews the opening round and gives his thoughts on the players who he feels have a good chance of getting off to a flying start. Check out his Zurich Classic 2025 FRL Tips below...

Zurich Classic of New Orleans Odds

The Zurich Classic begins tomorrow with its first round of fourballs, and with kind conditions on the way, the teams will need to stack up the birdies to have any chance of landing the first-round lead at TPC Louisiana.

The 80 two-man teams will be split into morning and afternoon waves, though with only a mild breeze and clear conditions predicted throughout the opening day, I don’t expect any kind of bias to develop.

Fourballs, also known as better-ball, is all about making birdies, as each player plays the hole and the best score between the two is recorded. Therefore, I’m going to largely focus on those strongest birdie-making teams; although, there’s also a nod to a pair of players who are good friends, which I’m hoping will spur them on to a good performance on Thursday.

You can read Jamie's full in-depth preview and Zurich Classic 2025 Golf Tips elsewhere on Betfred Insights.

1.25 pts Jesper Svensson & Niklas Norgaard each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 35/1

Start time: 13:49

First up is the Scandi duo of Jesper Svensson & Niklas Norgaard. The pair have shown promise so far in their rookie seasons and as two of the longest hitters on tour who are typically solid on the greens, it’s no surprise to see them rank as the best birdie-making team in attendance.

Svensson has the stronger results on the PGA Tour this year, making eight of his 10 cuts and recording a best of 10^th in the Sony Open. Whereas Norgaard began the season with an excellent 4^th-place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour, though after initially giving a good account of himself on the PGA Tour, making three of his first four cuts, he’s missed his last three.

The two players rank behind Rory McIlroy alone as the best combined drivers and putters in this field, and with Svensson ranking 11^th in birdie-or-better percentage and Norgaard 12^th, there is no team here with better scoring stats.

1 pt Ryan Gerard & Danny Walker each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 40/1

Start time: 07:13

The Florida-based team of Ryan Gerard & Danny Walker have amassed some quality results between them in recent weeks and with both players not afraid to go low, they hold substantial appeal in this market.

Gerard has been in excellent form on his return to the PGA Tour this season, missing one cut in 11 starts and recording five top 25s, going best when 2^nd in the Texas Open two starts ago.

His teammate’s season had been a little slower to get going, but Walker then caught everyone’s attention when holding his own in THE PLAYERS Championship, finishing 6^th. After missing his three cuts following that, it was a positive to see him show somewhat of a return to form last week, finishing 31^st in the Corales Puntacana Championship.

These are again two players who rank high in birdie-or-better, with Walker 17^th and Gerard 48^th. They’ve also each looked good in approach – Gerard ranking 12^th and Walker 32^nd – and with no shortage of power between the pair and Gerard a very strong putter, they should make plenty of birdies tomorrow.

0.75 pts Matt McCarty & Mason Andersen (1/4 - 5 places) @ 80/1

Start time: 13:23

Finally, Matt McCarty and Mason Andersen grew up playing together in Arizona and with both players putting up some improved results in recent weeks, they can rely on that comfort to make a fast start to this event tomorrow.

McCarty of course made that impressive start to life on the PGA Tour at the end of last year, winning the Black Desert Championship in just his second event on the tour and has returned to form in recent weeks after a slow start to the season; recording top 20s on his Masters and PLAYERS Championship debuts in his last four starts.

Meanwhile, Andersen struggled at the beginning of the season, missing four of his first five cuts but he’s flipped that around completely, making four of his previous five entering this week.

I’m hoping that playing alongside his friend will bring him on even more here and said (by McCarty) to be a formidable partnership when teaming up together, don’t be surprised to see this strong-putting team near the top of the leaderboard on Thursday.

You can find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub.