The Zurich Classic
What an incredible two weeks on tour. The biggest news is fan favorite Jordan Spieth. Jordan is back in the winner’s circle after winning the RBC Heritage last week. Spieth ultimately defeated Patrick Cantlay in a playoff to capture his 13th career win. Jordan now has gone back to back years with a win, it’s been four years since he has won in back to back years. It’s pretty clear that Spieth has figured out his game and is officially back in business. I’ve always admired Jordan before, during and after his struggles because he takes responsibility for everything. Over the past three to four years especially during Jordan’s struggles he never blamed his poor play on anybody but himself. It takes a lot of courage to stare in the faces of 40 reporters and millions of fans and say that it’s all on you. Spieth never blamed the courses, his caddies, his coaches he took all the blame, and you seldom see that kind of fortitude. It’s been very impressive and fun watching Jordan turn his game around and ultimately become better than he was five years ago. Now, the next stop in Jordan’s career is the career grand slam. The final leg for Jordan is the PGA Championship. Unfortunately this is a tough major for Jordan to win, the courses don’t set up well for Jordan and historically has always struggled in the PGA. His best finish at the PGA Championship was a T-3 finish back in the 2018-2019 season. While it will be tough for Jordan, his chances of completing the career grand slam are much better than Rory McIlroy’s chances for his career grand slam. Rory has the toughest major to win to complete his. The Master’s for Rory has always provided tons and tons of let down. Even when he seemingly has it locked up, he finds a way to lose. This past year we’ve finally seen a glimmer of hope after Rory’s final round 64, but it always seems that Rory is just too little too late.
This week the tour heads to New Orleans for a really fun event, the Zurich Classic. The Zurich Classic is a fun week for the players, the format this week is a two man team better ball format. The better ball format is pretty simple, the lowest score better you and your partner is the score you take for the hole. Another really fun twist on this event is each player gets to pick a walk up song while they tee off. This is a unique event because you have to change your whole style of play. You and your partner have to work together and strategize on when and where to play it safe or aggressive. Often you’ll find one player will protect par and the other will play extremely aggressive especially on par 5’s. Tournaments like the Zurich Classic are a nice change of pace than your traditional tour event. In the future I’d expect the tour to continue to grow and create other events like the Zurich Classic. (Mike)
There are a ton of sneaky good teams this week at The Zurich. Bubba Watson and Harold Varner III will be fun to watch because they play golf in their unique style. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are an interesting group, but probably a few years too late to provide any real threat. Max Homa and Taylor Gooch have a legitimate chance to win this thing and are being overlooked by the sports books. This tournament provides a change of pace that is welcomed in between big stretches in the tour schedule.
Another huge storyline this week is Scottie Scheffler being back in action. If he and Ryan Palmer can find a way to win this week the conversation will explode about Scheffler. His run that he is on right now is historical, but if he finds a way to add two more wins and another major he will have essentially locked up a hall of fame career in one season. There is little doubt Scottie making the Ryder Cup team last fall did wonders for his confidence, but when someone is on a run like this it is best to just sit back and enjoy. (Tyler)
Pick’s of the Week:
Mike: Picking winners on tour is difficult, but this week gets that much harder. With that being said my winning pick goes to the team of Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter. For starters Shane Lowry is playing incredible golf. He’s fresh off a top 10 that will most definitely carry into this week. Ian Poulter is a bit of a wildcard. I'm going with him because he plays well in formats like these. It sort of takes the pressure off and allows him to play a little bit more free. Either way its going to take some stellar golf to win in this type of format. (Mike)
Tyler:
There is a lot of talk around the walkout songs for all the duos this week. I think Ian Poulter and Shane Lowry have the song of the tournament, but definitely a fun side of the tournament that allows the players to be a bit more personable.
That being said, my pick for this week is simple. I think Hovland and Morikawa are easily the best team in the field. I also think they will play up to their level and cruise to a victory this week. There are plenty of duos that have potential, but I do not think anyone will really have a chance come Sunday afternoon against Collin and Viktor. (Tyler)