Zurich Classic: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele ready to defend wire-to-wire win
With the Masters and the RBC Heritage behind us, it’s time for the PGA Tour to hit New Orleans. The annual team event will pair up 160 golfers for two days of alternate shots and best-ball rounds.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:
Zurich Classic of New Orleans — tournament basics
April 20-24
TPC Louisiana | Avondale, Louisiana
Par 72 | 7,425
Purse: $8.6 million
FedExCup points for winner: 400
Betting favorite, via BetMGM: Cantlay/Schauffele (+300)
Last time out: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele go wire-to-wire
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele ran away with the tournament last year. The duo led the entire way through and beat Sam Burns and Billy Horschel by two strokes to become the first wire-to-wire winners at the event, going 29-under. They entered Sunday with a massive, 5-stroke lead.
“I think it's easier as a team. You kind of share the burden of stress and anxiety that comes with winning a golf tournament, versus it being all on your own,” Schauffele said Wednesday.
“If you hit a bad shot, obviously when you're playing a tournament by yourself, you have to pick yourself up. This rare opportunity with this tournament and one other this year, most years your partner can pick you up when you're down. So I think it's probably a little bit easier to go wire-to-wire.”
Cantlay and Schauffele are massive favorites to win again this year, and it’s easy to see why.
Cantlay has been in the mix the past two weeks. He finished T14 at the Masters but started the day in the penultimate group at Augusta National, and he finished third at last week’s RBC Heritage. He has climbed back to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Schauffele isn’t far behind. At No. 5 in the OWGR, Schauffele finished fourth last week to back up his T10 finish at the Masters. Between the two of them, they have 11 top-10 finishes this season.
“I feel like, when you're defending a title, you come into the week with a little higher expectation — which can be good and can be bad,” Cantlay said. “I think it's nice to come to a tournament knowing you can win and have won the tournament. It's obviously a golf course that you like and a tournament that you like.
“So I think we'll just try and keep carrying all the good momentum from last year into this year.”
Burns and Horschel are back in the field this year, too, and Collin Morikawa and Max Homa are pairing up for the first time. Other notable teams include Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, and Ben An and S.H. Kim.
Pace of play an issue again
Matthew Fitzpatrick called out the PGA Tour’s pace of play again this week following his win at the RBC Heritage.
Fitzpatrick, who was playing with Cantlay in the final group at Harbour Town, said the issue is “truly appalling.”
Cantlay has been the center of the criticism after Brooks Koepka indirectly called him out following the Masters. But Cantlay, who defended himself after Augusta National, did so again Wednesday in New Orleans. He said that while he knows he’s a slow golfer, he hasn’t been warned or out of position once.
“I'm definitely slower than average, have been my whole career,” he said. “I definitely take my time. And when I hit my ball on a bulkhead, I'm definitely going to take my time to make sure I make the right decision and try to get the ball back into the right spot.”
Fitzpatrick is in the field this week playing with his brother, Alex.
Tiger Woods out indefinitely
Unrelated to the Zurich Classic, Tiger Woods is now out indefinitely.
Woods’ team announced Wednesday on social media that he had undergone surgery on his foot. Woods underwent a fusion procedure to help fix a previous talus fracture in his foot, something he sustained during his life-threatening car crash in 2021.
Woods withdrew from the Masters on Sunday due to his foot pain. It’s now unclear when he will be able to golf competitively again.
