NBC on Yahoo SportsDay grouped with Lee, Stricker in NOLA
The PGA Tour heads to New Orleans this week for the Zurich Classic. Here are four featured groups to watch at TPC Louisiana:
Charley Hoffman, Smylie Kaufman, David Toms: 1:40 p.m. ET Thursday off 1/8:40 a.m. Friday off 10
Hoffman, last week’s winner at the Texas Open, makes his 10th career start in New Orleans. He has only one previous top-10 finish, a tie for fifth two years ago. Kaufman and Toms, a pair of LSU products, headline the rest of the group. Despite his plea to play alongside fellow spring breakerRickie Fowler, Kaufman will make his Zurich debut alongside Toms, who is making his 23rd start. He only has three top-10s.
Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, K.J. Choi: 1:50 p.m. Thursday off 1/8:50 a.m. Friday off 10
Rose won this event last year at 22-under 266 and has played well in each of his last three appearances, recording top-15s in all of those starts. He is coming off a tie for 10th at the Masters. Horschel (2013) and Choi (2002) are past winners of this event. Horschel tied for fourth last week in San Antonio, his best result of the season.
Jason Day, Danny Lee, Steve Stricker: 8:40 a.m. Thursday off 10/1:40 p.m. Friday off 1
Day tied for fourth here last year, when he finished three shots behind Rose. Entering this week, he has finished inside the top 25 in his last six starts, including back-to-back wins last month. Lee has been inconsistent this season, with only one top-10 in 14 starts, but he tied for 17th at the Masters. Stricker has missed four of his last six cuts, but he had top-11s at Riviera and Innisbrook.
Rickie Fowler, Ben Crane, Jason Bohn: 8:50 a.m. Thursday off 10/1:50 p.m. Friday off 1
Fowler, fresh off his Bahamas trip, has missed the cut here in his last two tries. His missed cut at the Masters snapped a streak of four consecutive top-10s in stroke-play events. Crane has managed only three top-25 in 15 starts this season, while Bohn, who won this event in 2010, is making his second start since suffering a heart attack during the Florida swing. He tied for 69th at the Heritage.
