The top of the field at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans is as good as it has ever been. Among those in the field are the reigning Masters champion, as well as two other teams made up of players currently in the top 12 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer are among the headliners as Scheffler tries to win his fifth tournament in his last seven starts, which would be truly remarkable considering he went into February with no career PGA Tour wins. They aren’t the favorites, though, because the teams of Patrick Cantlay-Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa-Viktor Hovland share that honor.
The team they’ll all have to unseat is the Australian duo of Cameron Smith (who’s on a heater of his own) and Marc Leishman. Those two won in a playoff at TPC Louisiana last time around, and they’ll try to hold off a remarkably loaded field (especially for this portion of the golf season) to do it again.
This week provides something no other PGA Tour event on the calendar can claim, which is four rounds of team play with Rounds 1 and 3 played as four-ball and Rounds 2 and 4 played as alternate shot.
“I would say just because it’s so not the regular tournament, [it] kind of breaks up the monotony of it all,” said Cantlay. “It does feel like it’s a little more fun or a little more engaging just because you don’t play alternate-shot hardly at all the rest of the year. You don’t play best ball ever. When you do get the rare opportunities to do it, it is a little more fun just because it’s a break from the normal 72-hole stroke play tournament.”
With so many tremendous teams in the mix and a host of interesting individual storylines, combined with a format that’s only ever seen at the big international team events, this week’s event should be must-see TV. Here’s how you can watch.
All times Eastern; streaming start times approximated
Round 3 – Saturday
Round starts: 8:45 a.m.
PGA Tour Live (four streams): 8:45 a.m. – 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Live
Early TV coverage: 1-3 p.m. on Golf Channel
Live TV coverage: 3-6 p.m. on CBS
Live simulcast: 3-6 p.m. on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App
Radio: 1-6 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio
Round 4 – Sunday
Round starts: 10:30 a.m.
PGA Tour Live (four streams): 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Live
Early TV coverage: 1-3 p.m. on Golf Channel
Live TV coverage: 3-6 p.m. on CBS
Live simulcast: 3-6 p.m. on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App
Radio: 1-6 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio
