Diane Knox Balas
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The weekend at Harbour Town Golf Links ended with a stellar playoff between two major champions, Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick, before Fitzy stuck a 9-iron to 12 inches on the third extra hole and won the trophy (and tartan jacket).
It was a pretty dismal week for my picks overall, and we just missed out on a Sungjae Im top 5 after he bogeyed his last hole to finish T7. Anyway, like every week, we move on.
This week it’s the PGA Tour’s only team event in the regular schedule: the Zurich Classic. Last year Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele lifted the trophy after breaking the scoring record and shooting 29-under par. They’ll be back to try to defend their title after finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively, last week at the RBC Heritage.
There are some great new pairings to watch this week: Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim and Sahith Theegala and Justin Suh. Even legends of the game John Daly and David Duval are teaming up to play! Plus, last week’s winner Fitzpatrick has invited his brother Alex to be his partner. That seems like the perfect way to celebrate after winning the designated event (and $3.6 million) in Hilton Head.
It’s so nice to have a break-from the norm and feel a little refreshed at this point in the golf season. I’m sure the guys feel the same, especially knowing the winners each receive $1.5 million and 400 FedExCup points.
A total of 80 duos will compete in four-ball (best ball) and foursomes (alternate-shot) formats. Thursday is best ball, which means lots of birdies and low scores right out of the gate. On Friday the format changes to alternate shot. After that, 33 teams and ties will move onto the weekend, where the pattern repeats with Four-ball on Saturday and Foursomes on Sunday.
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TPC Louisiana: What you need to know
We’re in our “Pete Dye” phase of the PGA Tour schedule, as we move from one Dye design to another in TPC Louisiana. I know quite a bit about this course as my co-host on a weekly show I do, Steve Elkington, helped Pete with the design and build.
It’s a par 72 and measures 7,425 yards. The course was constructed on the wetlands of New Orleans, so they had to pile up layers and layers of sand to create the structure of the course. There are more than 100 bunkers and lots of prominent water hazards, but the course yields a lot of scoring opportunities. Off-the-tee seems to be fairly forgiving, so the premium will be on the second shot, plus the ability to hole big pressure-packed putts when it matters.
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Knox’s Knockout Zurich Classic Picks
Sam Burns and Billy Horschel (+1800) DK Sportsbook
This pairing will be considered a favorite this week, due to their track record and current form — especially in Burns. The guys finished runner-up last year and 4th in 2021, so they clearly work well together. Billy also won this event in 2018 alongside Scott Piercy. He hasn’t been playing all that great lately, aside from a top 10 at the Match Play which bodes well for this week. Plus, Burns won the Match Play and has two additional top-10s this calendar year. Horschel loves the course and always plays well here, and I love these guys to finally cross the finish line first this year.
Sahith Theegala and Justin Suh (+2200)
I cannot wait to see Theegala get his debut win on tour. It might come this week, with the help of rising talent Suh. Theegala is having a tremendous season with 7 top-10s so far, including a T5 last week in Hilton Head and a 9th-place finish at the Masters. His game is so impressive! His approach shots are always pretty dialed in, and the weeks that they’re off are the only weeks he’s had poor finishes (compared to the rest). Suh is a fellow Cali kid who is having an impressive rookie season of late on tour, with a T5 at the Honda and a T6 at the Players. They’re both high-energy birdie makers and they could be a real force to be reckoned with around this course.
Sam Ryder and Doc Redman (+5000)
When looking at the teams, I’m really looking at current form, tournament history and that all important camaraderie. These guys are great friends and know each other’s games inside out, and the success of Schauffele and Cantlay shows how important that is (combined with their insane talent, lol). We saw Ryder almost win at Torrey Pines earlier this year, and since then he’s notched up four more top-20 finishes, highlighted with a T3 at the Valero Texas Open a few weeks ago. He gained almost 4 strokes on the field in approach and putting in his last performance. Redman’s season has been quite the opposite, but he did play well enough for a T16 at the Valspar last month. Here’s hoping Ryder rubs off on him and he can regain some of that form for the team.
David Lingmerth and Jonas Blixt (+18000)
Lingmerth is having an excellent season; I’ve been picking him a lot in 2023. He’s had five top-11 finishes, including a T6 at the Players on another Pete Dye course. Blixt plays between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour right now, but he is a past champion here after winning alongside Cam Smith back in 2017. Lingmerth and Blixt are close friends, both live in Ponte Vedra Beach and play practice rounds together frequently, therefore the “team” element is going to be strong. I like them as my longshot.
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