The First Look: Zurich Classic

Brooks Koepka makes his first start since his share of second at the Masters, reunited with younger brother Chase as the PGA TOUR’s only two-man format conducts its third edition on the outskirts of New Orleans. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, who lost a playoff in the Zurich’s first team edition and held the 54-hole lead last year, return again to take another crack at the elusive title. Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy are defending champions; the format calls for best-ball play Thursday and alternate-shot Friday and Sunday. FIELD WATCH: A handful of prominent pros are changing up partners this year. Henrik Stenson, who partnered with Justin Rose twice in an Olympic gold/silver partnership, loses Rose but picks up another major winner in Graeme McDowell. There’s also a new major-winning Australian duo as Adam Scott tests the team event with Jason Day. Plus, Sergio Garcia plucks Ryder Cup teammate Tommy Fleetwood. … In all, five teams feature major champions on both sides of the equation. The others: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel, Jim Furyk/David Duval and Ernie Els/Trevor Immelman. … Wisconsin natives Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, both winners on PGA TOUR Champions, are back for a third run. They opted to team up in New Orleans rather than the concurrent Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on the Champions circuit. … Davis Love III takes part in the team format for the first time, bringing son Dru for the event’s first father/son combination. FEDEXCUP: Winning partners receive 400 points apiece. STORYLINES: Koepka, whose bid for a third major crown in 10 months went astray with a short birdie miss at Augusta National’s 18th, gets back into the swing with the help of his brother. Chase Koepka played on the European Tour last year; they tied for fifth at Zurich in 2017. … FedExCup points are distributed as though partners tied. As an example, the champions split the 500 points usually given to a tournament winner and 300 for second place – coming out to 400 points each. … Five of the past seven editions have crowned a first-time winner, including Cameron Smith in its first year in the team format. He paired with Jonas Blixt. COURSE: TPC Louisiana, 7,425 yards, par 72. Located just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans, the Pete Dye creation invites birdies event as it meanders through some 250 acres of wetlands. Stately stands of cypress and oak trees helped form the routing for Dye and consultants Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, who added more than 100 bunkers and five more ponds to increase the difficulty. Several large waste bunkers also are featured early in the back nine. Though water looms throughout the design, TPC Louisiana ranked among the PGA TOUR’s top third to go low even before the team format was introduced. The Zurich Classic first played there in 2005 and has made it its permanent home since 2007. For those visiting the New Orleans area, must-play courses include TPC Louisiana (Avondale, La.), Lakewood GC (New Orleans) and Bayou Oaks at City Park (New Orleans). Book your reservations via TeeOff.com. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt (2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (2017). Individual record: 262, Chip Beck (1988 at Lakewood CC). ALTERNATE SHOT RECORD: 66, Jordan Spieth/Ryan Palmer (1st round, 2017), Kyle Stanley/Ryan Ruffels (1st round, 2017). BEST BALL RECORD: 60, Retief Goosen/Tyrone van Aswegen (2nd round, 2017), Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown (4th round, 2017), Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover (1st round, 2018), Marty Dou/Xinjun Zhang (1st round, 2018). LAST YEAR: Horschel and Piercy overcame a three-shot deficit with a bogey-free 67 in alternate shot, enough to hold off Jason Dufner/Pat Perez by a stroke. Birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 propelled Horschel/Piercy to the front, holding steady with seven pars the rest of the way to finish at 22-under-par 266. Dufner had a chance to force a playoff with a 14-foot birdie putt at No.18, but couldn’t get it to drop. The victory was Horschel’s fifth on TOUR and Piercy’s fourth, with Horschel also becoming the first man to win the Zurich Classic title in both individual and team play. His first PGA TOUR win came at the 2013 edition. Kisner and Brown took a one-shot lead into the final day, but faded on the back nine on the way to a 77 that dropped them into a share of fifth. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Friday, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (featured groups). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). International subscribers (via GOLF.tv): Thursday, 12:00 to 22:30 GMT. Friday, 13:00 to 22:30. Saturday-Sunday, 13:00 to 22:00. RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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