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Hello folks, and welcome back to Horse For The Course. Matt Fitzpatrick carried some positive momentum from a strong Masters performance with him to Hilton Head last week and triumphed over Jordan Spieth in a playoff to capture the RBC Heritage title. It was the Englishman's second win on American soil in the past year, and after a sluggish start to 2023, Fitzy now appears primed for more success as the season progresses.
After a couple of blockbuster events, the PGA Tour now takes us to Louisiana for the Zurich Classic, an event that stands as the only "team" format on the schedule. It's an attempt by the Tour to shake things up on a schedule that's otherwise the same week in and week out.
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our excellent PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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2023 Zurich Classic
After a couple of pressure-packed weeks with the Masters and the elevated RBC Heritage, the PGA Tour loosens things up a bit with the Zurich Classic in Louisiana. The Zurich is the schedule's only "team" event. Pros will pair up into two-man squads to compete in best-ball and alternate-shot golf across four rounds.
If we zoom out and take the 30,000-foot view, diversity on the PGA Tour schedule is probably a very good thing for the sport as a whole. However, the majority of weekly PGA DFS grinders prefer what they know, which is 72-hole stroke play with a 36-hole cut. Needless to say, the Zurich presents a unique challenge from a DFS perspective, though not a slate that all fantasy golf fans will be dying to play this week.
Perhaps the most fun thing about the Zurich Classic is seeing which golfers team up with each other. The powerhouse pairing of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele won last year's edition and will be back to defend this year. They'll square off against some unique teams that include Collin Morikawa and Max Homa, Si Woo and Tom Kim, as well as last week's winner Matt Fitzpatrick and his little brother Alex. While I suppose it's not a huge surprise in a sport as individualistic as golf, it is interesting to find how few of these "teams" actually stay together year after year. It's also interesting to see the impact that LIV has had on this event, as many golfers that played this event together have bolted from the PGA Tour. Maybe they just really like being part of a team? As a result of that rather high turnover - and to keep my sanity somewhat intact - this week's HFTC is a fairly brief edition.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
Recent Zurich Classic Winners & Scoring Info
- 2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
- 2021: Smith/Leishman (-20)
- 2019: Rahm/Palmer (-26)
- 2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Smith/Blixt (-27)
- Average Winning Score Last Five Years: -24.8
The Horses
Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele
- Notable Course History: Win (2022), T11 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $11,100
No big surprises here, as the defending Zurich Classic champions enter their title defense as the odds-on-betting favorites and the highest-priced team on the DraftKings salary scale.
It's with good reason, as the duo of Cantlay/Schauffele offer a trifecta of talent, recent form, and experience in this unique event. The Americans rank first and second among this week's entrants in DraftKings points scored over the last 50 rounds, while both recorded top-five finishes in last week's RBC Heritage.
Perhaps most importantly, Cantlay and Schauffele are intimately familiar with playing together as a team, which isn't the case for many squads in the Zurich. In addition to their strong history in this event, the dynamic duo has gone 4-2 as a team across their last Ryder and President's Cup appearances.
The Ponies
Sam Burns & Billy Horschel
- Notable Course History: 2nd ('22), T4 ('21), Win* ('18 - *Horschel with Scott Piercy)
- DraftKings Price: $9,500
Another tried and true duo, this will be the third time that Sam Burns and Billy Horschel have teamed up in the Zurich Classic. They've found tremendous success across their first two attempts, notching a solo second last year and a T4 in 2021.
Stretching back even further, Horschel has proven himself to be a legit player to ride at TPC Louisiana by winning the Zurich with then-partner Scott Piercy in 2018, as well as taking down the event when it was still an individual stroke-play tournament back in 2013. He's gotten off to a rocky start in 2023 while weighing some swing changes, but his familiarity and comfort with this week's layout are certainly reasons for optimism.
As for Burns, he's a Louisiana native that's intimately familiar with the area and golf course. Before finding a successful partnership with Horschel, Burns had less lucrative one-off stints in this event with William McGirt and Cameron Champ. The 26-year-old enters the week in sharp form. In addition to an impressive win at the WGC Dell Match Play, Burns has gained strokes T2G in each of his last four stroke-play starts, posting rock-solid results at Valspar, the Masters, and last week's RBC Heritage.
Sam Ryder & Doc Redman
- Notable Course History: 3rd ('22), T17 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $8,300
The squad of Sam Ryder and Doc Redman might be a bit low on star power, but they are heavy on results and experience. The pair logged an impressive solo third-place finish in last year's Zurich Classic and they also posted a rock-solid T17 in the 2021 edition.
This team is a study in cohesiveness with a true "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" feel. That said, both Ryder and Redman bring some positives to the table this week.
The 33-year-old Ryder is playing perhaps the best golf of his career at the moment. He leads the PGA Tour in Total Putting this season and grades out first in this Zurich field in SG: Putting over the last 24 rounds. Across his last eight 2023 starts, Ryder has tallied a pair of top-five finishes with three top-25 results.
While Redman has failed to find the same type of success as Ryder this year, there's reason to believe the 2017 U.S. Amateur winner is heading in the right direction. Redman scored his best finish of the season last month at the Valspar (T16) and has now gained strokes both OTT and on Approach in each of his last three starts on the PGA Tour.
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End of the Season Totals: @rotoballer @BettorGolfPod
2017 +54.26 Units
2018 +55.88 Units
2019 +27.743 Units
2020 + 37.015 Units
2021 + 68.846 Units
2022 +67.485 UnitsTotal Winnings: +311.229 Units
Total Outright Wins Since 2017: 36
H2H Totals Inside Thread… https://t.co/pNQrSK1rFE
— Spencer Aguiar (@TeeOffSports) December 12, 2022
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