PGA Tour golfers will pair up for this year’s Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana. There is no PGA daily fantasy on DraftKings this week due to the event’s quirky two-man format, therefore, no fantasy rankings. However, I will still provide you with a breakdown of the event, One and Done league options to consider, and a few betting odds that caught my eye…even some bombers for the Euro Tour’s Volvo China Open.
Valero Finishes
Kevin Chappell, or “Chappy” as @Tlip_316 nicknamed him, broke free from a tightly packed leaderboard Sunday afternoon and picked up his first PGA Tour victory. This is now back-to-back weeks where we’ve witnessed first-time winners on Tour (Bryan at the RBC Heritage the week prior).
The weather conditions were brutal at TPC San Antonio, especially Friday-Saturday. It’s hard to predict how golfers will react to the unfavorable forecast, and which golfers will play better than others in the tough environment. Weather obstacles aside, we still had a number of players in our rankings finish pretty well. Twelve finished in 40th place or better at the Valero Texas Open:
Rank Player Finish
4 T. Finau T3
5 M. Laird T18
7 S. Kang T6
8 J. Vegas T34
9 S. Cink T22
13 R. Moore T18
14 B. An T40
15 C. Hoffman T40
18 O. Schniederjans T11
21 J. Herman T18
22 J. Lovemark T40
25 J. Huh T22
If you participate in a One and Done league, the top three options I listed in last week’s rankings article should have fared well for you. Branden Grace, my top choice, finished T10; Ryan Moore with a T18; and, Charley Hoffman ended the weekend at T40.
Zurich Classic | Breakdown
The new format for the Zurich Classic is going to be weird. I mean that for fantasy and betting purposes only. It should still be a really fun tournament to watch on your mom’s Sanyo. The TPC Louisiana will see 80 pairings of professional golfers tee it up on Thursday. The new format for the Zurich Classic will be:
- Rounds 1 and 3 = alternate shot
- Rounds 2 and 4 = best ball
- The cut after Friday will consist of the low 35 teams and ties.
Now, I don’t know what to expect here. Each team will have to work well together and complement each other for four straight days to win. That’s a tough task. I will look for the pairings that have succeeded in the Ryder and President’s Cups, and/or who are good friends.
For example: Brothers Brooks and Chase Koepka, will be teamed up together. This pairing has the potential to be terrific or a complete disaster. Brooks finished solo 2nd last weekend in Texas and his lesser known brother, Chase, finished T19 at last year’s Czech Masters.
The complete list of teams competing can be found here.
Zurich Classic | One and Done Pics
Note: *For One and Done this week, my league’s rule is to pick one player and his portion of the pairing’s earnings (half of the $$) will be applied.
My top 3 One and Done options for the Valero Texas Open:
1) Ryan Palmer – Spieth/Palmer
2) Hideto Tanihara – Matsuyama/Tanihara
3) Bud Cauley – Thomas/Cauley
Already used: Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Bill Haas, Charles Howell III, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, Russell Henley, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner, Branden Grace
Year-to-Date earnings = $3,630,663
Zurich Classic & Volvo China Open | Odds
IF I was a betting man, these are the lines I would consider taking this week.
To Win – Zurich Classic:
S.W. Kim/Kang (+6600)
Koepka/Koepka (+6600)
Blixt/Cam Smith (+10000)
1st Round Leader:
Berger/Pieters (+2000)
Bradley/Steele (+4000)
Top 5 Finish:
Berger/Pieters (+275)
To Win – Volvo China Open:
Pigem (+10000)
Porteous (+10000)
@Eddie_ThePAS