By J.T. CHADWELL
RECAP
The swing in form we have seen from Matt Fitzpatrick over the last year has been nothing short of amazing. The guy is on a phenomenal run as he took down Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at Harbour Town. The back end the of the card last week was ugly as Poston, Putnam, and Hisatsune were pretty much dead from the start. We got nice weeks however from Scottie, Cantlay, and Brian Harman, but it wasn’t enough to turn a profit for the week. As we turn the pages at Harbour Town, the PGA heads further south to Louisiana for most golf bettors and fans least favorite event of the year the Zurich Classic. The Zurich Classic is a 2 man team event, so not much data and form to get into this week.
ZURICH CLASSIC PAST WINNERS
- 2025: Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak (20/1)
- 2024: Rory McIlory/Shane Lowry (4/1)
- 2023: Nick Hardy/Davis Riley (45/1)
- 2022: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (8/1)
- 2021: Marc Leishman/Cameron Smith (25/1)
THE BETTING CARD
Back to outrights this week. Full disclosure … this is one of the worst betting events of the year on the PGA calendar. There really isn’t much data available to give us an idea of where some betting value could be. The Zurich is a birdie contest that requires someone, or multiple someones, to have their putter get absurdly hot. Tread lightly this week, I am.
- MICHAEL BRENNAN/JOHNNY KEEFER (+2500) – The two most hyped rookies of the PGA Tour team up this week. Both guys hit the ball a country mile and both have very streaky putters. Maybe we get the best of both worlds from each of them this week and they take down this field together.
- MARCO PENGE/MATT WALLACE (+2500) – Two of the last five teams to win this event were internationals from the same country. Here we get two Englishmen whose games compliment each other quite nicely. Penge is otherworldly off the tee and Wallace brings the touch around the greens. If the team chemistry is good, this team will definitely be competing for a trophy on Sunday.
- MAX MCGREEVY/KEVIN ROY (+2800) – Another small trend we have seen here, is a player showing potential for an upcoming win getting their first trophy (Hardy 2023, Novak 2025). Both these players fit the bill for this and have been playing some good golf this season. Max brings the irons, Kevin brings the driver and the putter to compliment each other perfectly.
- ZACH BAUCHOU/SAM STEVENS (+3000) – Much like the aforementioned pairing of McGreevy and Roy, Stevens and Bachou are pretty much in the same boat. Between the two they only have three missed cuts all season to go along with eight top 25 finishes.
- SEAMUS POWER/MATTI SCHMID (+4000) – Very interesting team here as the former ETSU Buc Power pairs with Schmid. Seamus has played this event lots, but has never paired up with someone with as much firepower as Schmid. Both have had pretty decent starts to the season, and both need to make the most of all the starts they get.
- BLADES BROWN/LUKE CLANTON (+6600) – One thing I learned about playing golf myself early in life … when you play with someone who is better than you, your game naturally elevates itself. That’s what we need here. Clanton has been in a funk since turning pro. As an amateur he put together an incredible summer last year with multiple top 10 finishes and almost claiming multiple wins. That’s where Blades comes in because he has finished in the top three in three of the last five events he has played, split between the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. If Blades can elevate Clanton’s game this team could be a force to be reckoned with.