Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2025 Tips: Four pairs to back this week

The PGA Tour heads to TPC Louisiana this week for a team event and a big purse of $9,200,000 and 400 FedEx points up for grabs in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Our golf tipster has been enjoying some Easter chocolate but he's been at his laptop this Bank Holiday Monday to put together his in-depth preview of the event. He has picked out four pairs to bet on as he takes us through his Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2025 Betting Tips...

With our second major of the season just over three weeks away, we now have a welcome change of pace on the PGA Tour. As a certain Grand Slam-winning Northern Irishman makes his return to action at TPC Louisiana, where he and Shane Lowry will defend their Zurich Classic title.  

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans – originally the New Orleans Open – was first held in 1938 and has been won by several of the game's greats, with Gary Player (1972), Jack Nicklaus (1973) and Seve Ballesteros (1985) all past champions. However, after establishing a team format for the event in 2017, it is a wholly different competition to that which those stars won. 

The tournament now sees 80 two-man teams competing against one another in a stroke play format; playing fourballs (Better Ball) on Thursday/Saturday and foursomes (Alternate Shot) on Friday/Sunday. 

Last five winners: 

• 2024 – Winners: Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry (-25, playoff) 

Runners-up: Chad Ramey & Martin Trainer (-25) 

• 2023 – Winners: Nick Hardy & Davis Riley (-30) 

Runners-up: Adam Hadwin & Nick Taylor (-28) 

• 2022 – Winners: Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (-29) 

Runners-up: Sam Burns & Billy Horschel (-27) 

• 2021 – Winners: Cameron Smith & Marc Leishman (-20, playoff) 

Runners-up: Louis Oosthuizen & Charl Schwartzel (-20) 

• 2019 – Winners: Jon Rahm & Ryan Palmer (-26) 

Runners-up: Tommy Fleetwood & Sergio Garcia (-23) 

Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry teamed up in the event for the first time last year and duly won the title, beating Chad Ramey & Martin Trainer in a playoff. They return to defend this week; with Rory making a reasonably swift reappearance after his Augusta heroics.  

THE COURSE 

TPC Louisiana is another Pete Dye design that opened for play in 2004. It has been the host of the Zurich Classic since 2007. 

A par 72 measuring 7425 yards, it possesses 4x par 3s (207-221 yards), 10x par 4s (355-492 yards) and 4x par 5s (548-585 yards). 

This open and well-maintained course is reasonably simple if the wind doesn't blow, with little in the way of elevation changes and the smattering of oak and cypress trees not impeding on play too much.  

Water and sand offer the main protection, with water hazards in-play on eight holes – including each of the last three, making for an exciting risk/reward finish – and over 100 bunkers situated around the layout, from large waste bunkers to those trademark Pete Dye pot bunkers. 

The fairways are generous, though whilst there is a lack of rough, that abundance of bunkers often sits adjacent the landing areas.  

Meanwhile, the small and undulating greens – which are bermudagrass at the base but overseeded with poa trivialis this week – are abound with run-offs. They are further guarded by greenside bunkers, many of which are placed at a distance from the green, making for awkward-length bunker shots; whilst there is no shortage of tightly-mown chipping areas. 

As you would expect for an event such as this, TPC Louisiana is a fun, scoreable course with each of the four par 5s reachable in two and we also have the potentially drivable par 4 16th. There are few holes to cause the players too much concern, weather permitting, and we should expect birdies to flow again this week. 

THE WEATHER 

The buildup to this week's event is forecast to be blighted by thunderstorms from Monday – Wednesday, bringing with them plenty of rainfall and likely leaving us with a soft, receptive course. 

It will remain a threat through the tournament days and whilst there is the possibility of 25mph gusts, the winds look largely unproblematic, which should aid low scoring. 

KEY STATS 

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation 

Unsurprisingly, due to the small, tricky greens, teams that win here usually carry some strong iron play into the event. Something that I expect to be more prevalent in the wet conditions this week. 

Shane Lowry entered last year's contest as the third-best player on the PGA Tour in approach, and Rory McIlroy had been largely solid too. 

Approach play was the strongest area for each of 2023's winning duo, as Davis Riley ranked 40th for the season up to that point and Nick Hardy was 61st; Xander Schauffele ranked 7th in 2022, with his teammate, Patrick Cantlay ranking 38th; 2021 winners, Marc Leishman and Cam Smith have both been strong in this area; as was each player from the 2019 and 2018 winning teams, with Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer and Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy all ranking inside the top 50 in approach in their respective years. 

• Driving Distance 

Most renewals of this event have favoured teams that pack more power off the tee than accuracy. 

Of course, Rory McIlroy is one of the longest players on tour, ranking 3rd at this point of the season in driving distance last year and although Shane Lowry isn't as long as he once was, he's by no means short. Furthermore, of the twosome they beat into 2nd, Martin Trainer was long a player we associated with big hitting.  

Nick Hardy and Davis Riley ranked 34th and 52nd respectively in driving distance in 2023; Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele each ranked inside the top 40 in 2022; 2021 winners, Cam Smith and Marc Leishman are certainly longer than they are accurate; whilst 2019 champions, Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer ranked 20th and 60th for driving distance respectively. 

• SG: Putting (poa trivialis overseed) 

• Birdie Average 

Additionally, a proven ability to putt similar surfaces to these – which we've seen in several events this year, such as last week's RBC Heritage, along with the Texas Open, Houston Open, Phoenix Open, Valspar Championship and PLAYERS Championship – is a plus. 

Whilst it also stands to reason that teams in which both players rank high in birdie making will be a danger in this format. 

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES) 

I'm not sure that there's a great deal to be gained from focusing too deeply on comp events/courses this week due to the format. 

There is, however, the obvious Pete Dye angle, and with several tour events played on his courses, such as THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands and two rounds of The AmEx at the Dye Stadium Course, form in any of these events should be treated as a positive. 

Host of the Sanderson Farms Championship, the Country Club of Jackson is an equally low-lying venue of a similar length that often sees good scoring and favours long hitters due to its forgiving driving test. 

Lastly, I wondered if the Houston Open at Memorial Park could also be of interest. Both courses are situated on the Gulf Coast, feature generous fairways and poa trivialis overseeded greens. 

THE FIELD 

Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry return as the defending champions and are by far the highest-ranking duo of our 80, with McIlroy #2 in the world and Lowry #13. 

There is just one additional winning team in attendance, as 2023 champions, Davis Riley & Nick Hardy look to recapture their title. 2019 winner alongside Jon Rahm, Ryan Palmer also returns, this time partnered with Zach Johnson, whilst half of the 2018 winning team, Billy Horschel, will tee it up with Tom Hoge. 

We have three sets of brothers among the pairings, two of which are identical twins: Nicolai Hojgaard/Rasmus Hojgaard, Jeremy Paul/Yannik Paul and Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick. Meanwhile, the DP World Tour's Spanish duo of Alejandro Del Rey & Angel Ayora make up the final team in the event. 

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry 18/5, Collin Morikawa & Kurt Kitayama 12/1, Robert MacIntyre & Thomas Detry 18/1, Keith Mitchell & J.T. Poston 18/1, Wyndham Clark & Taylor Moore 20/1 

Although the majority of recent winners have been some of the highest-ranking teams, the top of the leaderboard here is often littered with surprises and it's not an event in which I want to take market leaders as short as we have this week. 

Instead, I'm going to turn to another former winner of this event, Billy Horschel and his new partner, Tom Hoge, who also has some positive form in this event. 

Billy Horschel & Tom Hoge 

Each of these players arrive with some positive form, with Horschel having finished 4th in the Valspar Championship three starts ago and Hoge recording four straight top 20s, including top 5s in THE PLAYERS Championship and Texas Open, as well as a 14th-place finish in The Masters. 

Hoge has been typically strong in approach, ranking 14th and is currently in the midst of his best season on the greens, ranking 51st. Meanwhile, Horschel has recently rediscovered form in approach, gaining strokes in his last three starts and ranks just one place behind his partner on the greens, with both looking good on similarly overseeded surfaces. Indeed, Hoge ranked 2nd on the greens in the RBC Heritage last week. 

Horschel's record in this event is excellent, not only did he win under this format in 2018 alongside Scott Piercy, before then recording finishes of 2nd and 4th in 2022 and 2021 when paired with Sam Burns, but he also won when it was a regular stroke play event in 2013.  

Hoge's finishes may not be quite as impressive, but he has finished 10th and 13th with varying partners. Also possessing an impressive set of results on Dye designs, finishing inside the top three in THE PLAYERS, Travelers Championship and The AmEx, he could be a perfect partner for Horschel this week. 

Max Greyserman & Nico Echavarria 

The team of Max Greyserman & Nico Echavarria made an eye-catching debut in this event together last year, finishing 4th. They now return with some solid recent form between them and combining to create one of the strongest-putting teams in the event, they're well worth a shot. 

Greyserman has been playing steady golf all year, recording five top-25 finishes in 12 starts and will tee it up this week after finishing 27th in the RBC Heritage; immediately following him making a taking debut in The Masters, finishing 32nd. Echavarria also made his debut at Augusta this year, finishing 51st and has shown somewhat of a return to form lately, finishing 16th in the Valspar Championship and 32nd in the Houston Open on his two prior starts. 

Iron play wouldn't be a main strength of either player's game, but they have been a little better in this area over recent starts. They make up for this on the greens, with Echavarria ranking 1st and Greyserman – the second-ranked putter last year – ranking 42nd and both also making plenty of birdies, ranking inside the top 60 in birdie average. 

That 4th-place finish in this event last year saw them shoot rounds of 64 and 63 in fourballs and a pair of 69s in foursomes. Greyserman also has some handy comp form to his name, finishing 7th in Houston and The AmEx, which strengthens their already strong case. 

Jeremy Paul & Yannik Paul 

Identical twins, Jeremy and Yannik Paul each arrive at TPC Louisiana after producing their best performances of the season last week. Positivity that I'm hoping they can carry over into their debut Zurich Classic appearances. 

Jeremy has shown lots of promise in his rookie season on the PGA Tour and he entered last week's Corales Puntacana Championship having recorded three top 25s in his previous six starts. He finished an excellent 2nd there, just a shot behind eventual winner Garrick Higgo and this came a few hours after Yannik put aside his poor form on the DP World Tour this season to finish 3rd in the China Open. 

Their games do have a nice contrast that means they could combine to be an excellent team. Jeremy is more explosive off-the-tee, ranking 34th this season and is also top 30 in driving distance. Yannik is by no means short but he's very much at his best in approach, ranking 9th last week and is also comfortable on the greens. 

There's little to go off in terms of trying to predict how they'll take to this event, but they do have experience of playing alongside each other in a team setting from their amateur days, and with confidence no doubt high after last week, they are well worth chancing.  

Davis Riley & Nick Hardy 

My final selection is our 2023 winners, Davis Riley & Nick Hardy. Hardy may not come here in the best of form, but that was also the case in 2023 when they won and with Riley looking good over recent starts, and both players producing some solid recent approach play, they look a big price to go well.  

Riley made a poor start to this season, but his game has improved markedly recently, recording finishes of 6th in Puerto Rico, 7th in the Valspar Championship and 21st in The Masters in his last five starts. Hardy has made just two cuts this season, both of which came in alternate events, but the ball striking hasn't looked all that far away, ranking 28th in greens-in-regulation and I'm hoping memories in this event will spark him into life. 

Both are long off the tee and with Riley now starting to fire in approach, ranking 5th in this area in The Masters and Valspar Championship in his last three starts, this duo should create a lot of birdie opportunities. It's just about whether they can take them and I'm happy to roll the dice on them doing that at this price. 

The two players debuted in this event in 2022 and had some success, with Riley finishing 4th when teamed with Will Zalatoris and Hardy 21st together with Curtis Thompson. They then won as a pair in 2023 with little recent form to their names and then finishing 28th last year, again with their latest performances lacking a great deal of quality, there's plenty of proof that this partnership can heighten their level in this format.   

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