The PGA Tour heads to New Orleans for the only official team event of the season.
Established in 1938, this will be the 74th playing of the Zurich Classic. An individual event up until 2016, in 2017 the Zurich Classic was converted to a stroke play team competition.
There has been one player to win the event as an individual as well as a team event. Billy Horschel won in 2013, and in 2018 when paired with Scott Piercy.
Since 2005 the Zurich Classic has been played at TPC Louisiana at Avondale. The course was designed by world renowned architect Pete Dye and opened in 2004.
The Zurich Classic was not elevated as a designated event so the purse and field reflect a lack of the top talent in the field. Only 11 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will be in the field this week. Additionally the Zurich is sandwiched between designated events leading to some of the top players taking this week off.
Coming off the Masters two weeks ago, the RBC Heritage last week, and the Wells Fargo Championship the week following the trip to New Orleans its understandable that some of the top talent has taken this week off to recover.
The purse for this years event didn’t receive a bump as most of the previous events, including the non-designated events, have received.
This year is the same as it was in 2022 with the field competing for a purse of $8.3 million with $1,199,350 going to the each of the winners.
Notables in the field
| Patrick Cantlay | Xander Schauffele | Collin Morikawa |
| Sam Burns | Max Homa | Matt Fitzpatrick |
| Billy Horschel | Sungjae Im | Kurt Kitayama |
| Tom Kim | Sahith Theegala |
Four previous Zurich Classic champions will not be in the field this week.
Lee Westwood (1998), Bubba Watson (2011), Cameron Smith (2017 & 2021), and Marc Leishman (2021), joined LIV Golf in 2022 and were suspended by the PGA Tour from further events.
Calvin Peete won the 1985 USF&G Classic for one of his 13 career wins on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods has never competed in any iteration of the Zurich Classic.
Players to watch
Sahith Theegala
This will be Sahith’s second trip to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. Last year he missed the cut with teammate Beau Hossler.
This year he will be paired with Justin Suh.
In 16 events so far this season Sahith has nine top-25 finishes including seven top-10s.
His most recent event was the RBC Heritage where he finished in a tie for 5th place which followed a ninth place finish at the Masters two weeks ago.
Sahith does have success this season in team events. In the unofficial event the QBE Shootout, he won with partner Tom Hoge.
Sahith is currently ranked 11th in the FedEx Cup, and 23rd in the Official World Golf Ranking.
JJ Spaun
This will be JJs fifth trip to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. In four previous trips JJ has one cut made which resulted in a 22nd place finish in 2019.
JJ will be paired with Hayden Buckley for this year’s competition.
So far this season in 16 events played, JJ has eight top-25s, including two top-10s. His best finish this season was a tie for fifth place at the Sentry Tournament of Champions back in January.
JJ is currently ranked 53rd in the FedEx Cup and 71st in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Joseph Bramlett
This will be Joseph’s fourth trip to TPC Louisiana for the Zurich Classic. In three previous trips Joseph has one made cut which came in 2011.
This year Joseph will be paired with Brandon Wu.
So far in 16 events on the PGA Tour this season, Joseph has four top-25 finishes, including two top-10s. His best finish this year was a tie for seventh place at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Joseph is currently ranked 85th in the FedEx Cup and 188th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Tee Times
Theegala/Suh: Thursday – 8:26 AM EDT; Friday – 1:57 PM EDT
Spaun/Buckley: Thursday – 9:05 AM EDT; Friday – 2:30 PM EDT
Bramlett/Wu: Thursday – 9:31 AM EDT; Friday – 2:52 PM EDT
How to watch
Thursday (4/20) & Friday (4/21): 3 – 6 PM (Golf Channel)
Saturday (4/22) & Sunday (4/23): 1 – 3 PM (Golf Channel); 3 – 6 PM (CBS)