The PGA TOUR brings bettors a different look this week at the 2021 Zurich Classic in New Orleans.
Rather than a traditional stroke-play event, this tournament features pairings playing both best ball and alternate shot formats throughout the weekend. That'll provide a different experience for both viewing and betting.
TPC Louisiana hosts the tournament, which enters its fourth year as a team event.
Here's how it works.
Teams will play best ball on Thursday's opening round, which means both players will use their own shot throughout the round. However, only the lowest score on the hole will count for the scorecard. For example, if one player pars a hole and the other birdies, the birdie will go on the official scorecard.
On Friday for the second round the format changes to alternate shot. Players on each team will alternate who tees off on each hole with his partner taking the next shot and switching back and forth from there. For example, if one player tees off on the first hole, his partner will take the second shot and the player who teed off takes the third shot. On the next hole, whoever didn't tee off will take the tee shot on hole No. 2.
The top 35 teams plus ties will make the cut. There are 80 teams in the tournament.
Saturday's third round goes back to best ball. The final round on Sunday will be played as alternate shot.
Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer are the +600 betting favorites at DraftKings, just head of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (+650). Rahm and Palmer won this event in 2019, the last year it was played.
Australians Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith are tied for third on the oddsboard with young guns Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff at +1400. Scottie Scheffler and Bubba Watson (+1600) and Cameron Champ and Tony Finau (+1800) are the only other teams listed below +2000.
Billy Horschel was part of the winning team in 2018 with Scott Piercy, but Horschel will be paired with Sam Burns this time around and come in at +2500.
In the first year of team play, Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith won the event in a playoff over Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner. Brown and Kisner are partnered again at +6600.
2021 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Palmer/Rahm | +600 |
| Cantlay/Schauffele | +650 |
| Leishman/Smith | +1400 |
| Morikawa/Wolff | +1400 |
| Scheffler/Watson | +1600 |
| Champ/Finau | +1800 |
| Burns/Horschel | +2500 |
| Hatton/Willett | +2500 |
| Todd/Kirk | +2500 |
| Oosthuizen/Schwartzel | +2800 |
| Gooch/Homa | +3500 |
| Grace/Varner | +3500 |
| Kokrak/Perez | +4000 |
| Bradley/Steele | +4500 |
| An/Im | +4500 |
| Frittelli/Streelman | +4500 |
| Hovland/Ventura | +4500 |
| Rose/Stenson | +4500 |
| Glover/Reavie | +5000 |
| Lewis/Pieters | +5000 |
| Castro/Tringale | +5500 |
| Noren/Norlander | +5500 |
| Dahmen/Griffin | +6000 |
| Brown/Kisner | +6600 |
| Garnett/Stallings | +7000 |
| Ghim/Suh | +7000 |
| Hoffman/Watney | +7000 |
| Laird/Taylor | +7000 |
| McDowell/Wallace | +7000 |
| NeSmith/Seiffert | +7000 |
| Bramlett/McNealy | +9000 |
| Clark/van Rooyen | +9000 |
| Duncan/Schenk | +9000 |
| Gordon/Thompson | +9000 |
| Knox/Stuard | +9000 |
| Lee/Stanley | +9000 |
| Mitchell/Snedeker | +9000 |
| Straka/Teater | +9000 |
| Hadley/Martin | +10000 |
| Merritt/Streb | +10000 |
| Cook/Landry | +12500 |
| Hoag/Roach | +12500 |
| Hoge/Hossler | +12500 |
| Jones/Spaun | +12500 |
| Redman/Ryder | +12500 |
| Sloan/Baddeley | +12500 |
| Uihlein/Werenski | +12500 |
| Bhatia/Piercy | +15000 |
| Harrington/Putnam | +15000 |
| Hearn/Power | +15000 |
| Anderson/Campos | +17500 |
| Pan/Zhang | +17500 |
| Garrigus/Holmes | +17500 |
| Hojgaard/Taylor | +17500 |
| Burgoon/Lebioda | +20000 |
| Gligic/Whaley | +20000 |
| Cappelen/Hubbard | +25000 |
| Gellerman/Higgs | +25000 |
| Kraft/Tway | +20000 |
| Baker/Malnati | +27500 |
| Hahn/Trainer | +27500 |
| Hickok/Shelton | +27500 |
| Romero/Vegas | +27500 |
| Bae/Lee | +30000 |
| List/van Pelt | +30000 |
| Aphibarnrat/Atwal | +40000 |
| Barnes/Trahan | +40000 |
| Beljan/Every | +40000 |
| Blaum/Byrd | +40000 |
| Bozzelli/Dufner | +40000 |
| Chalmers/Percy | +40000 |
| Choi/Kang | +40000 |
| Gibson/Taylor | +40000 |
| Gomez/Ledesma | +40000 |
| Haas/Mahan | +40000 |
| Hagy/Kim | +40000 |
| McNeil/Wilkinson | +40000 |
| Murray/Oppenheim | +40000 |
| Stadler/Wagner | +40000 |
| Austin/Mediate | +125000 |
Odds via DraftKings as of April 19 morning.
