Updated Zurich Classic 2022 Odds & 7 Expert Picks for Joaquin Niemann & Mito Pereira, More

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After a few great weeks of golf, we’re going to deviate slightly from stroke play for one week on the PGA TOUR.

The Zurich Classic is a team event, with 80 pairs of the best in the world set to see it up at TPC Louisiana. The dream team of Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland is favored, although the duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele isn't far behind them.

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman are next on the board as the reigning champions. Smith has won this event twice since it switched to a team format in 2017, which is when he finished first with Jonas Blixt. The likes of Billy Horschel and Sam Burns, as well as Ryder Cup veterans Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia pairing up, means there will be plenty of quality on hand this week.

Oh, and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is playing for the first time since his Masters win, alongside Ryan Palmer.

Rounds 1 and 3 are best-ball format, which means each player will play the hole and the team will take the best score between the two. Rounds 2 and 4 are alternate shot, which is exactly what it sounds like. The top 33 teams (including ties) will make the cut.

Got it? Great, then here are out best bets for this week at TPC Louisiana.

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2022 Zurich Classic Picks

Keith Mitchell & Brandt Snedeker — Top 10 (+500)

Jason Sobel: I’m sure I’ll fire a few longshot (or semi-longshot) outrights this week, but rather than hoping your guys can beat the likes of Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland or Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, the smarter play might be to just find some decent prices on a few props in what is essentially just an 80-competitor field si(there are 160 players in the mix, but 80 teams).

When they played together last year – finishing in a share of fourth place – Snedeker raved about his partner, Mitchell, calling it one of the better performances off the tee that he’d ever witnessed. I’ve been extremely bullish in Mitchell myself this year and think he’s due (or perhaps overdue) for a serious title contention. In Sneds, he gets a steady veteran presence who keeps the ball in play and can get hot with the flatstick. Don’t be surprised if they match last year’s result – or even surpass it.

Joaquin Niemann & Mito Pereira +2500

Chris Murphy: I’m sticking with my gut pick this week as two young Chileans are set to tee it up together at the Zurich Classic.

Joaquin Niemann has taken a step forward with his overall game this year, capturing a win at the Genesis Invitational and posting two other top-12 finishes including last week at the RBC Heritage. Possibly the most impressive thing we have seen from Niemann this year is his improvement around the greens, which has him as more than just a ball striker and that will certainly come in handy this week at TPC Louisiana.

Niemann’s partner and good friend, Mito Pereira, has been playing some good golf in his own right, but hasn’t quite put it all together for a top finish. He comes in after a solid week on Hilton Head where he gained more than six shots on the field with his ball striking and that will fit right in line with Joaco, especially as they get into the alternate shot rounds.

Their comfort with each other will also go a long way to positioning them for a top finish and at +2500 they present good value coming into a week where that is hard to find.

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Tommy Fleetwood & Sergio Garcia +1600

Matt Vincenzi: Tommy Fleetwood is amidst one of the best stretches of PGA TOUR golf in his career. In his past six starts, he hasn't finished worse than 22nd and was T10 last week at the RBC Heritage.

That strong finish at Harbour finish was fueled by a Saturday 64, which encapsulates why I am so fascinated with the Englishman in this format. It's going to take low rounds and birdies in bunches in the Thursday and Saturday best-ball format, and Fleetwood can go low with the best of them.

Sergio Garcia has also shown some encouraging signs of late. After missing the cut three straight years at the Masters, he bounced back this year with a 23rd-place finish this year.

Perhaps more impressively, the Spaniard was third in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach (+6.8) at Augusta National. If his elite iron play is indeed back, TPC Louisiana should be a great fit for him. The course is just a bit south of where he won his last PGA TOUR event (Country Club of Jackson) and he's also played well here in the past.

Fleetwood and Garcia had a close call in this event back in 2019, when they finished in second place to Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer. Both have been parts of two of the best duos in recent Ryder Cup History (Fleetwood and Molinari at Le Golf National and Garcia and Rahm at Whistling Straits), which shows that they have what it takes to thrive in the best-ball and alternate-shot formats.

Sungjae Im & Byeong Hun An +4000

Joshua Perry: Im is coming off one of his better ball-striking weeks at the RBC Heritage where he gained nearly 10 strokes from tee to green. He also finished in the top 10 at the Masters.

An was forced to drop to the Korn Ferry Tour this year but has basically secured his return next year with a win in February and a runner-up finish last week. An also had his best finish on the PGA TOUR here, losing in a playoff prior to the event being moved to the team setup.

Sungjae Im & Byeong Hun An — Top 10 (+300)

Rob Bolton: For the conservative gamer, team events are no-plays. There are too many intangibles to consider in what already is the most difficult sport to forecast most performances. So, if you’re going to belly up to the window – as one does – there are two primary strategies.

The first is to invest in missed cuts. The four-edition history of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as a team event (2017-19, ‘21) is littered with better-laid plans. In fact, it includes the An-Im combo just last year, but An was really scuffling. Not anymore.

The other approach is to stay away from the outrights and top-5s. My philosophy in individual competitions already is to chase top 10s, leaving top fives as bonuses and wins as reasons to celebrate. So, to apply pressure to expectations in this tournament is the opposite adjustment.

The South Koreans are No. 10 in my Power Rankings at PGATOUR.com, so they slide just inside the target. They’re playing well enough on their own to challenge for the title.

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Doug Ghim & Matthias Schwab — Top-10 (+500)

Landon Silinsky: Last year, Ghim played with Korn Ferry Tour mainstay Justin Suh and will be getting a major upgrade this year in Matthias Schwab.

These two compliment each other beautifully, as Ghim is one of the better ball-strikers on TOUR, but equally as bad with his short game. Enter Schwab, who ranks fifth in this field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, and 24th in SG: Putting over his past 24 rounds.

Ghim’s team finished T11 last year and now he’ll be adding someone who has posted three top-8 finishes over his past six starts. This is one of the more sneaky pairings and getting 5-1 to top 10 in this spot looks like good value.

Alex Noren & Henrik Norlander — Top 5 (+1400)

Derek Farnsworth: This is one of those events where you can build a betting card based on a number of paths. You can chase form, you can chase course fit, or you can chase team chemistry. The sample size of this team format is too small to draw any real conclusions, so I like siding with the numbers. If a narrative happens to go with it, even better.

That’s what we have this week with Noren and Norlander. The Swedes played in this event together last year (T21), so they should be very familiar with each other’s games.

The other tough part about this event is deciding whether to target teams that have matching skill sets (Hovland and Morikawa) or teams with complementary skill sets. Noren has always been known for his short game, while Norlander has always been known for his ball striking. They complete each other’s weaknesses, which could be good or bad once we get down to the alternate shot format in rounds two and four.

Ultimately, I like the form for Noren, I like the course fit for both golfers, I like the team chemistry angle, and I like the odds. They are +10000 to win and +1400 to finish in the top five.

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