Zurich Classic Predictions: Conservative/Aggressive Plays for Every Type of Bettor

If you’ve ever played in your club’s member-guest or competed in any sort of golf team competition, or hell, even just teamed up with a buddy in an attempt to win some money off your other pals, this week’s Zurich Classic is for you.

The only team event on the annual PGA Tour schedule, this New Orleans-based tourney might not have the drama and passion of the Ryder Cup – or even the Presidents Cup – but it offers a window into how some players at the uppermost professional level approach a partnered aspect to the proceedings.

With a fourballs (best-ball) format in Rounds 1 and 3 and a foursomes (alternate shot) format in Rounds 2 and 4, tandems will need to go low, as four of the past six winners posted scores of 26-under or better, with Davis Riley and Nick Hardy’s 30-under total setting the all-time record last year.

As usual, this edition of the event is a bit top-heavy, with Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry, Sahith Theegala/Will Zalatoris and Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama occupying the top-four spots on the odds board, while the bottom of the list includes plenty of guys without full-time PGA Tour status.

Let’s get right to the picks for this unique week of golf betting, with aggressive and conservative plays in each market, as usual.

Zurich Classic Outright Picks

Conservative: Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (+450)

The initial idea here was Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (+750) at a few points longer, but if we’ve been reminded of anything recently, it’s that a heavy favorite is in that position for good reason. 

With McIlroy, the world No. 2, helping create a bigger gap lately between Scottie Scheffler and himself – and not in a good way – and Lowry failing to contend after massive support in this preview the past two weeks, that idea was quickly shelved for the buddy duo of Cantlay and Schauffele, who could easily walk in the footsteps of Scheffler and Nelly Korda (not to mention UConn men’s hoops and South Carolina women’s hoops) as winners from the betting pole position. 

The champions in 2022, they finished T-11 the previous year and T-4 last year. With Schauffele posting seven top-10s in 10 starts so far this year and Cantlay fresh off a T-3 last week, they’re not just two of the best players in the field but in-form, as well. If you hate the number, perhaps a parlay with your favorite NBA/NHL playoff wager(s) will help make it a bit more palatable.

Aggressive: Beau Hossler/Sam Ryder (+5000)

Last year, Hossler teamed with Wyndham Clark and the duo raced out to the opening-round lead, eventually finishing in sole possession of third place. Clark parlayed that momentum into his first career PGA Tour victory at the subsequent Wells Fargo Championship, then won the U.S. Open a month later on his way to becoming a top-10 player in the world. 

That might be an unattainable ceiling for either Hossler or Ryder, but they’re both worthy of winning for the first time at this level, perhaps later in their respective careers (Hossler is 29; Ryder is 34) than many would’ve expected. 

Like Clark, they’re both excellent putters with wonky iron games, which is sort of the opposite of the types we like to target on a regular basis, but like any member-guest, the team that makes the most putts should win this week – strokes gained long-ball studies be damned.

Zurich Classic Top-5 Picks

Conservative: Nicolai Hojgaard/Rasmus Hojgaard (+450)

One of two sets of twins entered in this week’s event (along with Parker and Pierceson Coody), the Hojgaard brothers should be… let’s say… in tune with each other’s game. Over the past year, Nicolai has turned into the better prospect, claiming his full playing privileges on the PGA Tour and helping the European team win the Ryder Cup. 

However, Rasmus is no Chase Koepka, as three of his four DP World Tour wins actually came before Nicolai won any of his three. I’m going to assume there’s nothing Nicolai would like more than to win this week and keep his bro on the U.S. circuit full-time, so there’s plenty of motivation for them.

Aggressive: Aaron Rai/David Lipsky (+1000)

Over the past few years, I’ve liked this duo so much as a partnership that I’ve started placing them together in previews for stroke-play events because they mirror each other’s game so well. They’re both bright, well-spoken guys who have traveled the world playing a variety of tours and tend to fit the fairways-and-greens profile as opposed to those who can bang it a long way. 

It can be argued whether like-minded players are the better fit in this event or whether opposites attract – and that probably depends more on the day’s format – but Rai and Lipsky shouldn’t be the type of team that gets into too much trouble and could climb the board more in alternate shot than best-ball.

Zurich Classic Top-10 Picks

Conservative: Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy (+210)

What was I just saying about opposites potentially attracting here? McNealy is a guy who hits it a long way off the tee and makes a disproportionate number of putts, while Hoge is one of the best iron players in the game. (If you want to extend this comparison, McNealy is also the son of a billionaire, while Hoge famously flies coach from one tourney to the next.) 

I might be a little concerned about team camaraderie here, just from the outsider’s perspective of them apparently not having too much in common, but we thought the same thing about Keith Mitchell and Sungjae Im last year when they cruised up the leaderboard for three rounds before ultimately cooling off on Sunday.

Aggressive: Patton Kizzire/Ben Kohles (+800)

The play here is an aggressive bet on a top-10 result, but Kizzire and Kohles represent the lone triple-digit outright price (+12500) that actually has me intrigued. 

Kizzire is hitting the ball much longer off the tee right now than he’s done for much of his career, while Kohles was the best player on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and should be ready to start posting some better results in the big leagues. It’s a nice price here for a top-10 in what’s only an 80-player field, but like I wrote, don’t be afraid to nibble a bit on the outright play, too.

Zurich Classic Top-20 Picks

Conservative: Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre (+140)

With the NFL Draft taking place soon, you’ll hear the following three words a lot: Best player available. That’s essentially where I’m going here, as this Belgium/Scotland connection owns plenty of talent and offensive firepower.

The prices aren’t great for any team to finish in just the top-25 percent on the leaderboard, but they’ve each shown some flashes this year and Europeans tend to acclimate to team golf much easier.

Aggressive: Matt Kuchar/Steve Stricker (+350)

It’s gotta mean something to Stricker if he’s going to take a week off from dominating PGA Tour Champions, so I wouldn’t look past this duo.

Armed with more experience than anyone else in the field, these two are a combined 102 years old and while Kuchar has uncharacteristically struggled this year (seven MCs in nine starts), perhaps a little help from an old buddy could be just what he’s needed.

Zurich Classic First-Round Leader Picks

Conservative: Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama (+2000)

The play here was almost Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin, but you’ve gotta read the fine print: The Canadians are likely better suited for alternate shot than best-ball, but the latter is the R1 format. 

Instead, I’ll go with Morikawa and Kitayama, though the truth is that I might’ve gone with Morikawa and anybody. In nine starts this year, Morikawa has posted Thursday scores of 67 or better on four occasions, including a 65 at last week’s RBC Heritage, while never shooting worse than 71. That should allow the aggressive Kitayama to swing hard and fire at a few flagsticks throughout the opening round.

Aggressive: Chad Ramey/Martin Trainer (+6600)

Look, I don’t know how many variables is enough to prove severe volatility, but a single-round investment in two players competing in the best-ball format should be enough to have you looking pretty far down this board. 

Ramey held co-FRL honors at the Cognizant Classic last month and ranks 70th in birdie average, while Trainer only has one finish better than 74th in five starts this year, but is a long-ball hitter who can take more chances with a partner backing him up. Again, I never dislike taking a shot in the dark in this market, but I like that idea even more in this format.