Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2019 Early Betting Odds, Preview and Predictions

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is an 81-year old golf tournament that is held at Avondale in New Orleans, Louisiana. The name of the tournament is taken from Zurich Insurance which is the tournament’s main sponsor.

Since 2017, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has been reformatted as a team event with eighty teams of two participating in the event. The cut line for the tournament is 35 teams plus ties. The tournament format is four ball in the first and third rounds and alternate shot for the second and fourth rounds. The winner of the tournament earns 400 FedEx Cup points and two year exemptions but will not get invitations to the Masters. No world ranking points are also awarded for the event. Before you place your bet check out our golf betting tips.

The winners for the past two years when the format was changed to team play are the following:

2017: Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith

2018:  Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy

This year, Horschel and Piercy are among the teams which will be in Louisiana when the tournament tees off on April 25, 2019 at the TPC at Louisiana.

Here are the bet365 odds as of 4/22/19 and the confirmed teams to play in the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

The duo of Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy won this tournament last year. They were dubbed as Fire and Ice with Horschel being the wild child who is known to publicly display his emotions and Piercy the laid-back guy with the quiet demeanor. They played beautiful music together and won the Zurich Classic in 2018. 2014 FedEx Cup champion Horschel is coming off a T-56 at the Masters and his best finish of the year has been a T-8 at the Farmers Insurance Open. But remember that he had missed the cut in five out of six tournaments prior to the Zurich Classic last year and still won.

Piercy isn’t off to a hot start too and he a T-56 in his last tournament played which was THE PLAYERS Championship. He only has two Top-10 finishes this season and these were a T-6 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and a T-10 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Still, being the defending champions, Fire and Ice cannot be counted out this year.

Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown almost won it all in 2017 but lost to the duo of Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt in the fourth playoff hole to settle for 2nd place. Last year, Kisner and Brown combination led by one stroke at the start of the final round of this same tournament but scored a 77 in the final round to settle for T-15. Regardless, their two-year run here at Louisiana stands as one of the best and they should be considered as one of the favorites here.

Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel finished third in this tournament last year, losing by only two strokes. Oosthuizen is ranked 19th in the OWGR and was coming off a T-2 at the Valspar Championships and T-5 in the WGC Dell Match Play before a T-29 finish this weekend at Augusta. Schwartzel, ranked 104th in the world, has been cut in three out of his last four tournaments played including the Masters.

Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay Team Patrick finished 7th in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last year, finishing two strokes off the winners. Reed’s Masters title defense came up short as he finished at T-36 but the 18th ranked player in the world is coming off a 2018 where he won the Masters and finished 4th in the U.S. Open. The “other” Patrick finished 9th at the just concluded Masters and the 21st ranked golfer in the world has four other Top 10 finishes this season including a T-6 at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

Jason Day is the 14th ranked player in the world and is coming off a T-5 finish at the Masters. The Aussie has four Top-10 finishes this season including a T-8 at THE PLAYERS championship. Day ranks third in birdie average this season at 4.83. Adam Scott finished 18th in Augusta and the 29th ranked golfer in the world has three Top-10 finishes so far this season. Scott has played well in the first two big tournaments of the year as he was a T-12 at THE PLAYERS championship and T-18 at the just concluded 2019 Masters Tournament.

Who Wins?

The addition of European Ryder Cup teammates Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood has
shook up the list of favorites. Garcia is the 2018 Masters winner with a total of 10 PGA Tour
wins while Fleetwood is the #16 golfer in the world today. Garcia joined this tournament with
Rafa Cabrera Bello as teammate but missed the cut by one stroke after shooting 67 in
Round 1 while Fleetwood finished 4th in this tournament last year while paired with non-
exempt European player Chris Paisley.

I think the Jason Day-Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia-Tommy Fleetwood teams are
deserving of their tags as the favorites of this tournament. All four players are elite at the
world level and have played and performed at the big stage. But this is a unique event and
not an individual thing. That said, I think this goes to a team that has played together and
one that knows how to win together.

I’m going with the defending champions in this event- Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy. These
two played beautiful music together here last year and I think that’s their edge over their
opposition. However, the duo of Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown may have the best value at
+3300 considering how well they have played in Louisiana in the previous two years.

Prediction: Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy but I won’t mind if you pick Kevin Kisner
and Scott Brown instead.

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