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Zurich Classic of New Orleans Preview, Picks & Analysis

By: Golfshake Editor | Mon 24 Apr 2017


Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements


HATS off to the PGA Tour and sponsors Zurich for coming up with a whole new format for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. For one week only, we will see a two-man team format featuring foursomes (alternate shot) during the first and third rounds and fourball (best ball) during the second and fourth rounds.

The starting field will consist of 80 teams (160 players). Each of the top available players from the PGA TOUR Priority Rankings who commits to the tournament will choose his partner, who in turn must have PGA TOUR status unless he is chosen as a tournament sponsor exemption. It may all sound rather complicated and convoluted but it really isn't.

It should make for a fascinating four days and there are some mouthwatering pairings ready to take on the challenge. In an ideal world, you would want a pairing that consists of a player who finds fairways with somebody who takes chances and can string lots of birdies together.

And the standout pairing just has to be Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. Former world number one Day has had his struggles both on and off the course in 2017 but returned to action at The Masters and showed flashes of the form that took him to the top of the world rankings and helped him land his first major title, the 2015 US PGA Championship. Fowler is finally back to his best. He had a disappointing 2016 but has returned to the winners' circle this season. Fowler is a brilliant putter, certainly one of the best in the world, and is also extremely accurate from the tee. At his best, precisely the same could be said of Day.

His mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it affected him deeply but she recently had an operation that, by all accounts, went extremely well. It might just provide the trigger for Day to finally get his season kick-started. The absolute certainty is that this pair will record a lot of birdies over the four days, but can they keep the mistakes to a minimum?

And one pair you would bet your life savings on in that respect is the one of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. Rose was desperately unlucky not to win The Masters and arrives here knowing that his game is in fantastic shape. He is one of the steadiest players in the game, a golfer upon whom you can always depend to put plenty of pars together. The conundrum for Rose is all about the short stick - the harsh truth is that he misses an awful lot of birdie putts. So he will tee it up on Thursday morning happy in the knowledge that, in Stenson, he has a partner who can shoot the lights out. They know each other well, having formed a superb partnership for Europe in the Ryder Cup.

The pair who will probably take the largest galleries with them are Bubba Watson and JB Holmes. There will not be a huge amount of finesse on display as two of the biggest hitters in golf knock the living daylights out of their poor, defenceless golf balls. If nothing else, it will be entertaining. And it should not be forgotten that Watson has twice won The Masters, and nobody does that without being able to putt well. Watson's game has gone off the boil this year, but you sense that it wouldn't take a great deal to spark him back into life again. He and Holmes are close friends off the course, and JB just might be the man to get the best from Watson. And do not underestimate Holmes' prowess on and around the greens.

However, my pick is the pairing of Daniel Berger and Thomas Pieters. Berger is a wonderful ball striker who makes bucketloads of birdies, and also possesses a terrific temperament, while Pieters has surprised nobody by taking to life on the PGA Tour like a duck to water. The giant Belgian is the complete package - he hits the ball into the middle of next week, he is accurate, he is a great iron player and he proved at Augusta that he can also putt with the best of them. Both players are surely major champions of the not-too-distant future. Pieters came of age at the Ryder Cup last year and the great news for his ever-growing army of admirers is that he has kicked on from that experience.

Self-belief is a big, big thing in any sport. Pieters has it in abundance, but knows he still has much to learn. He will enjoy playing with Berger, who is one of the best manipulators of a golf ball on the PGA Tour.

To Win

Daniel Berger and Thomas Pieters. Could easily dominate from start to finish

Each Way

Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. A great pairing

Each Way

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. Established Ryder Cup pair

Fantasy Picks

Daniel Berger and Thomas Pieters. There will be a lot of birdies

Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. Should be fun to watch

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. Much depends on Rose's putter

Tyrrell Hatton and Jamie Donaldson. Hatton is loving life on the PGA Tour

Bubba Watson and JB Holmes. Crash! Bang! Wallop!

Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen. Two great golf swings

Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer. Spieth must find more fairways

Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay. These two could be the surprise package

Billy Horschel and Matt Every. Dark horses

Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly. Don't write off the old boys

 


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Tags: PGA Tour FedEx Cup



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