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Mixed martial arts Zurich Classic of New Orleans Best Bet: 31.00 Value Pick This Weekend
Zurich Classic of New Orleans Best Bet: Thursday, April 20th
The PGA Tour moves to Louisiana this week and we have analysed the betting markets to bring you our Zurich Classic of New Orleans best bet.
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Zurich Classic of New Orleans Preview
Thursday, 20th April, 13.00 (UK)
Formerly an individual event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is now the PGA Tour’s only regular season team event. Since 2017, the event has been played in a pairs format with players competing in a better ball and alternate stroke format. Eight of the world’s top 20 have opted to tee it up this week, in a rare chance to play with a friend, college teammate or even a sibling.
TPC Louisiana is once again the host course, having hosted since 2005. A Pete Dye design, it tests players visually but offers plenty of scoring opportunities. As you’d expect from a course that was created around wetlands, water hazards feature throughout the course.
Defending champions, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, are back to defend their title and are understandable market favourites given their course and recent form credentials. Both players finished inside the top five last week at the RBC Heritage and are certainly respected in the betting.
Players will play in fourballs for round one before switching to foursomes in round two. Only 33 pairs (and ties) will make the cut, after which teams will once again play in the fourball and foursomes format. Schauffele and Cantlay triumphed with an event record score of 29 under par last year and low scoring will once again be the order of the day given the format.
Thunderstorms are forecast for Friday at the time of writing but the other three days look warm and sunny. The weather shouldn’t be a factor this week.
Zurich Classic of New Orleans Best Bet
The first two editions of the pairs format may have generated surprise winners but we’ve seen strong pairings prevail in each of the past three editions. Winners of this event of late have been able to dovetail nicely and each pairing is only as strong as its weakest link. The combined world ranking of the last three team winners of the Zurich Classic has been less than 90 and that’s very much a consideration this week.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick may not have a combined world ranking below 90 but their close relationship as brothers makes them an interesting proposition this week. Matt was the winner at the RBC Heritage last week and comes in as world number eight. Alex is world number 705 but he’s making his way as a professional and several top 20 finishes last year on the DP World Tour show he’s not just trading off the family name. It’s now a household name. Matt was featured heavily in the recent Netflix show, Full Swing. His trait of near-obsessive note-taking of his shots intrigued an audience that grew to love this popular behind-the-scenes look at some of the sport’s best players.
The brothers may be making their debut in this event but a strong team bond can go a long way in this format. Alex caddied for Matt when he won the 2013 US Amateur Championship and Matt is said to have talked Alex out of joining LIV Golf last year. It also shouldn’t be lost on the pair that a win this week would give Alex PGA Tour membership, something he doesn’t currently have. They are worthy of consideration this week, especially if you have access to bet365’s Bet Boost, which prices them at 51.00.
In terms of the best bet for this event, it seems a prudent play to take the top three teams out of the equation given their strength. Bet365 offer a ‘Betting Without” market and the pick of this week’s bets at the Zurich Classic comes in the without Schauffele/Cantlay, Homa/Morikawa and Kim/Kim market. The team of Taylor Moore and Matthew NeSmith can be backed at 31.00 in that market and that’s a price that should give each way interest.
Moore and NeSmith combined well last year to finish 4th in this event, the pair having been friends ever since their amateur days. That finish was particularly impressive given Moore was in the hospital two days before the event started with food poisoning. A more accomplished player now, he comes into this week as world number 42.
NeSmith hasn’t had the best of years but he was solid for three of four rounds last week at the RBC Heritage. Normally competent from tee to green, he should provide a solid platform for the pairing. With the top three in the betting taken out of the market and five each way places on offer with bet365, Moore and NeSmith are worth backing each way.
- Selection: Moore/NeSmith (without Schauffele/Cantlay, Homa/Morikawa and Kim/Kim)
- Best Odds: 31.00 (bet365)
- Stakes: 1/10
Odds via bet365 as at 18.00 April 18th 2023. Odds may now differ.
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