The First Look: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

The PGA TOUR’s lone official team event returns to the schedule in 2021 after being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last season. Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer are back to defend their title from 2019 against a big-time field of FedExCup contenders, TOUR winners, and major champions. FIELD NOTES: Henrik Stenson, 2013 FedExCup champion, teams up with fellow Olympic medalist Justin Rose. The pair are reunited after breaking up in 2019… Reigning PGA Champ Collin Morikawa is making his Zurich debut alongside Matthew Wolff… Danny Willett is joining forces with fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton; they played together in the third round of the RBC Heritage on Saturday… Fresh off his T3 finish at the Masters, Xander Schauffele is pairing up with another top-10 golfer in the world, Patrick Cantlay… Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, both of Aiken, South Carolina, are looking to finally take it across the finish line in New Orleans. They lost in a playoff in 2017, had the 54-hole lead in 2018, and finished T5 in 2019… Other notable pairings include South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, the long-hitting tandem of Cameron Champ and Tony Finau, European squads of Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura plus Graeme McDowell and Matt Wallace, and Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith (who with Jonas Blixt won this event in 2017). FEDEXCUP: Winners receive 400 FedExCup points each. STORYLINES: FedExCup points are distributed as if the partners tied for first. The winning duos will split the 500 points usually reserved for an individual champion plus the 300 points to the golfer who finishes second for 400 points each… The unique team format sees golfers play best-ball on Thursday and Saturday and alternate-shot on Friday and Sunday… There are plenty of potential Presidents Cup (Leishman/Smith) and Ryder Cup (Willett/Hatton; Hovland/Ventura) teams in New Orleans… This is the fourth year the event will be played as a team format. It’s one of the longest-standing events on TOUR, having started in 1938. COURSE: TPC Louisiana, par 72, 7,425 yards. The Pete Dye design is just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans and while water is featured prominently, it is also one of the TOUR’s most scoreable layouts. The course, which boasts Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson as consultants, moves through 250 acres of wetlands with more than 100 bunkers. 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: 65, Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer (2nd Round, 2019) 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), Brian Gay/Rory Sabbatini (1st round, 2019) LAST TIME: Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer won by three over Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia in ’19. Fleetwood and Garcia pressured Rahm and Palmer by making birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 but it was too little, too late. It was Palmer’s first TOUR title in almost a decade, since the 2010 Sony Open. KH Lee/Matt Every and Brian Gay/Rory Sabbatini finished T3, while Seamus Power/David Hearn, Roberto Castro/Cameron Tringale, Hank Lebioda/Curtis Luck, and Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown – who lost a playoff to Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt in ’17 – finished T5 HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Groups); Friday, 9:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Groups); Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes); Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete.

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