• Banner 1

    Blog

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans became the lone team event on the PGA Tour schedule in 2017, with 80 duos competing in a unique scoring format. Thursday and Saturday will feature best-ball scoring at the 2023 Zurich Classic, while Friday and Sunday will be alternate shot. Presidents Cup teammates and defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele headline the 2023 Zurich Classic field. They are 4-1 favorites in the latest 2023 Zurich Classic odds, followed by Collin Morikawa and Max Homa (17-2). 

No other team is priced inside of 10-1, so there are plenty of longshots available on the PGA odds board. Which teams should you include in your 2023 Zurich Classic bets?

SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, the model is up over $7,300 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.

McClure's model predicted Jon Rahm would finish on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. And at the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the third round, but the model still projected him as the winner.

In addition, the model included J.T. Poston in its best bets to win the 2022 John Deere Classic. That bet hit at +5500, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned almost $1,100. McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright at the 2021 Open Championship, even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 longshot.

This same model has also nailed a whopping nine majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns. 

Now that the 2023 Zurich Classic field is locked, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising.

 

Top 2023 Zurich Classic predictions 

One major surprise the model is calling for at the Zurich Classic 2023: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, the defending champions and the heavy favorites on the PGA odds board, fail to defend their title. The duo shot an event-record 29-under par across four rounds last year, but there are several 2023 Zurich Classic contenders ready to get revenge this year.  

Billy Horschel and Sam Burns, who finished in second place in 2022, are back in the field this week. Homa and Morikawa are teaming up for the first time, creating a serious threat for the defending champions. There are also two teams that have been together for every edition of the Zurich Classic (Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney and Kevin Tway/Kelly Kraft). In addition, since the Zurich Classic switched to a team format, no team has successfully defended their title at TPC Louisiana. 

Another surprise: Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, 28-1 longshots, make a strong run at the title. They have a much better chance to win it all than their odds imply, so they are a target for anyone looking for a big payday. Taylor has been a contender in several individual events over the last few months, which includes a second-place finish at the WM Phoenix Open. 

He added a pair of top-15 finishes at the Valspar Championship and the Valero Texas Open, so he is in strong form heading into this tournament. Hadwin has only missed the cut three times in 14 tournaments this season, carding a top-15 at the Players Championship. Taylor and Hadwin are a dangerous pairing who have value as longshots on the PGA odds board

How to make 2023 Zurich Classic picks

The model is also targeting several other longshot pairing at the Zurich Classic 2023. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big.

So who will win the Zurich Classic 2023? And which longshots stun the golfing world? Check out the 2023 Zurich Classic odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2023 Zurich Classic leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed nine golf majors.

2023 Zurich Classic odds, field

Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay +400
Collin Morikawa/Max Homa +850
Sungjae Im/Keith Mitchell +1400
Si Woo Kim/Tom Kim +1600
Sam Burns/Billy Horschel +1800
Taylor Montgomery/Kurt Kitayama +2200
Justin Suh/Sahith Theegala +2200
Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick +2200
Beau Hossler/Wyndham Clark +2500
Victor Perez/Thomas Detry +2800
Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin +2800
Thorbjorn Olesen/Nicolai Hojgaard +3000
Harris English/Tom Hoge +3000
Byeong Hun An/S.H. Kim +3000
J.J. Spaun/Hayden Buckley +3500
Denny McCarthy/Joel Dahmen +3500
Will Gordon/Davis Thompson +3500
Matthew NeSmith/Taylor Moore +4000
Davis Riley/Nick Hardy +4000
Callum Shinkwin/Matt Wallace +4000
Robby Shelton/Lee Hodges +4500
Brendon Todd/Patton Kizire +4500
Ben Griffin/Ryan Gerard +4500
Scott Stallings/Trey Mullinax +4500
Ben Martin/Chesson Hadley +5000
Doc Redman/Sam Ryder +5000
Brandon Wu/Joseph Bramlett +5500
Akshay Bhatia/Harry Hall +5500
Erik van Rooyen/MJ Daffue +6000
Luke List/Henrik Norlander +6500
Aaron Rai/David Lipsky +6500
Scott Piercy/Ryan Palmer +7000
Michael Kim/S.Y. Noh +7000
Ben Taylor/Callum Tarren +7000
Justin Lower/Dylan Wu +7500
Sam Saunders/Eric Cole +8000
Hank Lebioda/Tyler Duncan +8000
Doug Ghim/Kramer Hickok +8000
Vincent Norman/Matthias Schwab +9000

 
 
 
 Source: CBSSports

Jon Rahm has a little less than a year to figure out his menu for next year’s Champions Dinner ahead of the 88th Masters, but it’s never too early to start working on the menu. Good thing that Golfweek asked him in Hawaii in January for this year’s

Here’s how Rahm answered our question:

“I have an idea, yes,” he said. “It would be Spanish cuisine. I’m lucky to be friends with chef Jose Andres (owner of restaurants in several cities around the United States and winner of a number of awards for his cooking) and I would seek out his help a little bit.”

As it turned out, Andres participated in the 2023 Masters Par 3 Contest, caddying for Sergio Garcia. Andres also got a chance to take aim at the ninth green during the event. Spanish cuisine has been a popular pick for past Spanish winners of the Masters. In 2018, Garcia served up a menu full of Spanish-inspired dishes, including a dish called Arroz Caldoso de Bogavante, which is described as a traditional Spanish lobster rice dish. In 1995, Jose Maria Olazabal went with paella and hake, plus tapas.

This year, Scottie Scheffler’s menu had a Texas flavor to it and was a big hit with his Scottie Style sliders, although his tortilla soup was declared way too spicy. So, Rahm is now on the clock. Here’s hoping it’s paella for everyone.

Source: Golfweek

 

2023 Masters: From Tiger to Phil to sleeper picks, here's everything you need to know

The first major of the year is here, and the anticipation for this year's Masters could not be higher.

Between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being back, the first meeting of LIV Golf and PGA Tour players at Augusta National Country Club, as well as Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy continuing to play hot potato with the No. 1 world ranking, there are plenty of compelling storylines as the golf world descends on the sport's most famous venue.

Here's what to watch for in Georgia this week:

What can we expect from Tiger this week?

Mark Schlabach: Last year, Tiger hadn't played competitively in 508 days and showed up at the Masters and made his 23rd consecutive cut. He played well over the first 36 holes, but the cold weather caught up with his surgically repaired right leg and back, making one of the most difficult walks in all of golf even tougher. He carded a 6-over 78 in each of the last two rounds, his worst score at the Masters. He looked better physically at the Genesis and said his right leg is stronger than it was a year ago, but he's still being bothered by his right ankle. I think he'll make the cut again because he knows the course better than anyone else in the field. I think a top-25 finish isn't completely out of the question for Tiger, but I'd find it difficult to believe he can do better than that.

Paolo Uggetti: Given what we saw at Riviera, where Tiger looked a bit more comfortable walking while his game showed plenty of promising flashes, I think making the cut will be the low bar that he should be able to clear. In an ideal world, the five-time champion would have had at least one more appearance before arriving at the Masters, but health is more paramount than ensuring his game is sharp. If Tiger can succeed at any place with just one competitive tournament under his belt, it's Augusta. Even if the walk is tougher than most courses, the warm weather should help him, and I'd venture to guess he is going to get an early start Thursday and a long break before his second round Friday. I won't go as far as to say he will contend, but it should be another promising step in this new stage of his career.

What can we expect from Phil this week?

Schlabach: Given the way Mickelson played in the majors last year and what he did in LIV Golf's first three tournaments this season, finishing 27th in Mexico, 32nd in Tucson, Arizona, and 41st in Orlando, Florida, I wouldn't expect much of anything. He isn't playing well and hasn't in a while, and it's going to be a circus around him in Augusta. Mickelson won't address the media in a formal news conference before the Masters starts Thursday, so there's going to be a microscope on him during practice and the early rounds, after he skipped this event, which he has won three times, in 2022. There will still be some patrons cheering for him.

Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.

Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?

Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.

Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.

Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?

Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.

Who's your dark horse pick for the week?

Schlabach: It's probably not too much of a stretch to say that a guy who finished runner-up in his first Masters appearance and tied for eighth in his third would be a dark horse, but I'm not sure there are too many people picking Sungjae Im to win a green jacket this week. In 2020, the South Korean became the first Asian player to finish runner-up, and he held the first-round lead two years later. Im has won two times on tour and loves playing at Augusta National. Im doesn't hit the ball especially far off the tee, but he keeps it in the fairway and has a solid all-around game.

Uggetti: It feels like every big tournament these days is going to be won by either Scheffler, McIlroy or Rahm, which makes it difficult to look beyond them to find an unexpected winner. I'll take Jason Day. He's obviously been trending in the right direction -- five top-10s in the past six tournaments and 11 top-20 finishes this season -- and it appears the swing changes he has made have paid dividends. Day has missed the cut in the past two Masters he has played in, but he finished top-5 in 2019. A win at Augusta would be a fitting, storybook-like way to cap what has been a long, up-and-down road back to the top of the game.

Who are you definitely not picking this week?

Schlabach: Patrick Cantlay is one of the best players in the world, especially with a driver in his hand. But his performance in major championships is perplexing, to say the least. He has only one top-5 finish in a major -- a tie for third at the 2019 PGA Championship -- and one top-10 at the Masters, a tie for ninth in 2019. The light switch is going to go off for Cantlay at some point and he's going to contend for a major championship. I just don't think it's going to be this week.

Uggetti: Will Zalatoris. This could look like a poor choice in retrospect, given that Zalatoris has proved to be a supremely better player when playing in majors, but be it injury or putting woes, Zalatoris has struggled this season. After finishing tied for 11th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Zalatoris finished tied for 36th and missed the cut before finishing fourth at Riviera. In the past three tournaments, however, Zalatoris has finished tied for 53rd, 73rd and tied for 59th. Even more damning, Zalatoris is ranked 137th in strokes gained putting one year after finishing 103rd in the same stat last season.

SOURCE: [ESPN.COM]

Kirkwood Mixed Couple Tournament blog 3

5th Annual Mixed Couples Tournament
August 12th & 13th 2023 

Saturday 12pm Shotgun
Sunday 9am Shotgun

$300 Per Couple
$280 Per Couple (w/ own cart)
Mulligans will be available at registration for $20 per couple (four total and only two can be used per round).

Please send registration forms to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Download Registration Form HERE!

'What a week': Sam Burns storms through field, wins Match Play

 

AUSTIN, Texas -- The final hours of the last WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play turned into a dud for everyone but Sam Burns.

Burns went on a tear Sunday afternoon in the championship match with eight birdies on his final 10 holes and enough help from Cameron Young for a 6-and-5 victory. It was the second-largest margin in an 18-hole match in this tournament.

Burns won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour. Young, who had a late rally with clutch birdies to eliminate Rory McIlroy in the semifinals, had to settle for his sixth runner-up finish in the past 18 months.

"What a week," Burns said. "I'm so tired."

Burns made it to the championship match Sunday afternoon only when defending champion Scottie Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole of their semifinal match. Given new life, Burns made birdie from a fairway bunker with a 15-foot putt to advance.

Young had an early lead. Burns squared the match on the fifth hole and took the lead with a chip-and-putt birdie on the par-5 sixth. And then on the next hole, Young missed a 6-foot par putt to fall 2-down. It was his first bogey since the seventh hole Thursday.

All the momentum Young had built up over the week seemed to vanish. And the silky putting stroke of Burns was never better.

He holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 8. He made a 12-footer on No. 10 to go 4-up. He birdied the 11th hole from 25 feet -- Young made his from 20 to halve the hole -- and then it ended so abruptly.

Young pulled his shot from rough into the water on the par-5 12th, and then he came up short of the green and into the water on the reachable par-4 13th.

Burns chipped to just inside 3 feet, and Young removed his cap without making him putt.

"It's easy to think you're so close," Young said. "There's one guy standing between you and winning the tournament. And that one guy is Sam Burns playing really well."

The highlight was his semifinal win over McIlroy, who was in full flight for so much of the week. McIlroy was 2-up with three holes to play when Young won the 16th with a birdie and then hit a nifty pitch-and-run up the slope and his purest putt of the week.

On the first extra hole at the par-5 12th, Young was in such a bad spot in the bunker next to the lip that he could blast out to only 169 yards, with McIlroy just over 200 yards for his second. Young hammered pitching wedge to 9 feet and made birdie. McIlroy played short and right of the green, chipped to just inside 9 feet and missed.

That was the kind of theater that graced Austin Country Club all week, particularly Sunday morning. Scheffler was trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners, and he had a 2-up lead over Burns through 10 holes.

Burns rallied back against his best friend on tour, and Scheffler had to get up-and-down from short of the 18th green for birdie to force overtime. He had it won on the second extra hole at No. 13 -- except he missed the putt -- and Burns escaped.

"That's the nature of this match play," Burns said. "It's one holed putt or missed putt away from winning or losing. He gave me a gift there on 13."

Burns in the championship match was close to unbeatable.

"There might not have been anybody beating him today the way he played," Young said.

McIlroy and Scheffler wound up in the consolation match, which McIlroy won 2 and 1. That gave the thin crowd something to watch when Burns ended the title match early. Scheffler played four years for the Longhorns. McIlroy is popular everywhere.

And while that was going on, the Longhorns were on TV trying to get to the Final Four in a game they ultimately lost to Miami.

It was a flat ending to what has been 23 dynamic events of Match Play since the World Golf Championships began in 1999. Match Play was the first one, a 38-hole final won by Jeff Maggert at La Costa. That was a nail-biter. This was a rout.

Match Play will not be on the schedule in 2024 as the PGA Tour moves toward elevated events for the top 70 or so players, a response to the threat from Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

Burns, who made 40 birdies for the week, moved to No. 10 in the world and collected $3.5 million from the $20 million purse. Young got $2.2 million for finishing second, though a trophy after so many close calls would seem to be invaluable.

Receive Exclusive Deals

Join Our E-Club

Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Close