The "Team Golf Is Dream Golf" 2018 Zurich Classic Preview
There are 48 events on the PGA TOUR. How many are team events? One. Last year, the Zurich Classic introduced the TOUR’s first team event since 1981. It was a rousing success — our buddy Kevin Kisner did THIS, in the dark, to get him and partner Scott Brown into a Monday playoff.
They ultimately lost to Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt on the fourth extra hole.
The team aspect enticed plenty of star power last year, and that’s only increased this year. Ten of the top fourteen players in the world are here.
It’s a four-round stroke play competition with two different formats. On Thursday and Saturday, they’ll play best ball (each play your own ball, lowest score on the hole is your team’s score). On Friday and Sunday, they’ll play alternate shot (simply alternate who plays each shot, with one player teeing off on the even holes and the other on the odd). This is a change from last year, as Sunday will see alternate shot (which is tougher) versus the best ball that it saw last year (more birdies, more fireworks).
Teams
They’re introducing walk-up music this year, which people are freaking out about. I couldn’t possibly care less about this. Golfers can’t even high-five correctly but they’re going to have cool walk-up routines? Come on. The only entertainment factor here will be how awkwardly out of place these guys look. Not a hater, but this just wreaks of golf forcing an effort to be cool and hip. This isn’t the WWE.
Some notable squads.
Justin Rose – Henrik Stenson
Bud Cauley – Justin Thomas
Patrick Reed – Patrick Cantlay
Ryan Palmer – Jordan Spieth
Bubba Watson – Matt Kuchar
Rafael Cabrera – Bello-Sergio Garcia
Jon Rahm – Wesley Bryan
Sean O’Hair – Jimmy Walker
Jason Day – Ryan Ruffels
Jim Furyk – David Duval
Ian Poulter – Graeme McDowell
Louis Oosthuizen – Charl Schwartzel
Daniel Berger – Gary Woodland
The Track
TPC Louisiana’s got wide fairways, tons of room, and tons of water. It traditionally plays windy, which we like. Gimme trouble. Gimme confusion. Gimme carnage.
Notable holes.
8th, 372 yards, par 4
Tossed this in because ZB tweeted that cool pic.
9th, 207 yards, par 3
18th, 585 yards, par 5
Clubhouse
Eh, nothing special. Nothing disrespectful.
TPC Louisiana clubhouse, 5.0.
Weather
This event was rain-soaked and diminished by the weather last year. Forecast looks much better this time around.
Predictions
Winners
Jon Rahm and Wesley Bryan are a weird pair. What is their connection? I have absolutely no clue. But I do know that while Rahm is clearly a hot-headed psychopath, Bryan is a level-headed cool customer. Both are very good at golf, and Rahm’s coming off a win in his home country of Spain. At 22/1, I like these two a lot.
Winners, Rahm/Bryan.
Dark Horse
This team will absolutely not win but my favorite team in the event is Jim Furyk and David Duval. What a throwback! I was just watching these two battle it out at Augusta on Masters reruns from like 1999-2006… and they both look IDENTICAL to what they looked like then.
Dark horse but also not really, Furyk/Duval.
Steven Bowditch Memorial DFL Award
How about the balls on Tom Lovelady hitching his wagon to our buddy Smylie Kaufman? Yikes.
DFL, Smylie/Lovelady.
Coverage
Thursday & Friday: Golf Channel, 2:30-6:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday: Golf Channel, 1-2:45 pm; CBS, 3-6 pm
Final Thoughts
You’ve probably heard of Streamsong. You’ve probably wondered what it’s like. If it’s worth it. Three courses. Renowned architects. Wild terrain.
FULL Streamsong breakdown and review on this week’s show, plus an hour of From The Galleries.
Enjoy the team event.