DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: Zurich Classic of New Orleans Cash and GPP Strategy

ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS

Purse: $9.5M
Winners' Share: $1.372,750M to each winner
FedEx Cup Points: 400 to each winner
Location: Avondale, La.
Course: TPC Louisiana
Yardage: 7,425
Par: 72
2025 champions: Ben Griffin - Andrew Novak

Tournament Preview

To paraphrase a famous golf broadcaster, the Zurich Classic is a tournament unlike any other.

Now set for its ninth iteration as a two-man-team event, the Zurich is not for everyone. It is perhaps the lone semi-lighthearted week amid an otherwise eight-month grind of a season. The Pebble Beach Pro-Am used to be another, but that four-day, celebrity-laden pro-am has gone away for good in the name of a signature event.

But let's not be mistaken: This is an important week for many guys on Tour, a chance to secure a lot of FedEx Cup points and a lot of cash. And if they happen to win, both players get the same two-year exemption that other Tour winners get. In other words, this could be life altering for some. There are also Aon Swing 5 and Aon Next 10 points up for grabs, which means 15 guys not already qualified will get into next week's signature event, the new Cadillac Championship.

There are 74 two-man teams that have come together in vary ways -- by country, by family, by college or even by having nobody else. You know, like the last two kids without a date deciding to go to the prom together.

The headliners this week are the brotherly team of Matt Fitzpatrick-Alex Fitzpatrick and the Ryder Cup adversary team of Brooks Koepka-Shane Lowry. The Fitzpatricks have played together before and Matt is coming off a huge win last week at the RBC Heritage. Lowry played the past two years with Rory McIlroy, winning the title in 2024. Koepka, who has played this tournament before alongside younger brother Chase Koepka, continues his trek through the lesser events on the Tour, part of his penance for the LIV years.

It's hard to see the connection between Koepka and Lowry, not that they need one, but tournament organizers have to be thrilled.

So who else is paired?

Well, there are Aussies (Cam Davis and Geoff Ogilvy), Canadians (Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith), Englishmen (Dan Brown and John Parry), Frenchmen (Martin Couvra and Matthieu Pavon), Japanese (Kensei Hirata and Keita Nakajima), Norwegians (Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura) and South Africans (Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen).

There are also bombers (Michael Brennan and Johnny Keefer), whatever the opposite of bombers is (Russell Knox and Peter Malnati), 20-somethings (Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent) and 40-somethings (Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney, who are the only tandem to have played together in all eight prior team Zurichs).

There's even one team -- 18-year-old Blades Brown and 22-year-old Luke Clanton -- with a combined age of 40 that is still younger than at least 10 other golfers in the field, such as Ogilvy, Hoffman, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner.

This might be a good time to put a stop to any comparisons between this tournament and LIV events. There is only one title up for grabs in the Zurich, unlike LIV events that all have individual and team champions. And there is a cut, one that is very difficult to make. More on that in a minute.

The New Orleans stop is one of the oldest on Tour, having been around since 1938, when it was named the Crescent City Open, and it's been played continuously since 1958. Many of the biggest names in golf have won there. But in a bid to raise sagging interest, the team format was instituted in 2017.

TPC Louisiana is a 2004 Pete Dye design, and the tournament was first played there in 2005. It was a big-time birdie-fest even before they instituted the team format. Justin Rose set the "solo" tournament record at 22-under 266 in 2015. The stock par-72 is not especially long -- except with the par-3s, all of which are over 200 yards. There are four par-4s of 400ish or less. The par-5s tap out at the 585-yard 18th, and all are gettable in two by a long hitter.

The greens are poa overseed, average a medium-size 5,225 square feet and run 12 on the Stimpmeter. There's water on eight holes and 106 bunkers, second most on Tour behind Pebble Beach.

Okay, here's the golf format and the DFS format:

The teams will play best-ball (fourball) in the first and third rounds and alternate shot (foursomes) in the second and fourth rounds.

The 74 teams cut to a mere 33 and ties after 36 holes. Good luck getting all of your guys through to the weekend.

You still pick six players with a $50,000 salary cap. Each golfer on a two-man team will cost the same DraftKings price and get the same DK points. You may pick only one of the two -- and it makes absolutely no difference which one. Other than that, the scoring is pretty standard.

Getting six guys through to the weekend will be VERY hard. Normally you need six of 65 plus ties. This week it's six of 33 plus ties. Five of six making it through to the weekend can probably win you some cash in many games.

Needless to say, as is the case most of the time in team formats, you have to go super low to win. The winning score has been at least 25-under in six of the eight years the Zurich has been a team event. Nick Hardy and Davis Riley set the record of 30-under three years ago and are back again this year. Defending champions Griffin and Novak shot 28-under-par last year.

The best-ball record is 58, set by last year on Thursday by Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo. Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer set the alternate-shot record of 65 in 2019, and it's been matched by a few teams, including by Hardy-Riley. It's safe to say that strong iron play and quality putting will be imperative this week, so a good team should have at least one of each. Two of each, of course, is better.

As for the weather, highs will be around 80 all four days and it looks like there will an increasing likelihood of rain as the tournament progresses, especially on the weekend. Winds will be moderate.

FedExCup Factoid: If you're wondering why it says up top that the winners get 400 points apiece, that's because the winner of a regular tournament normally gets 500 and the runner-up gets 300. Also, there will be no Official World Golf Ranking points doled out this week.

Key Stats to Winning at TPC Louisiana

The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.

• Strokes Gained: Approach/Greens in Regulation
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Birdie or Better Percentage/Birdie Average
• Team Chemistry 

Past Champions

2025 - Ben Griffin - Andrew Novak
2024 - Shane Lowry - Rory McIlroy
2023 - Nick Hardy - Davis Riley
2022 - Patrick Cantlay - Xander Schauffele
2021 - Marc Leishman - Cameron Smith
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Ryan Palmer - Jon Rahm
2018 - Billy Horschel - Scott Piercy
2017 - Jonas Blixt - Cameron Smith
2016 - Brian Stuard

Champion's Profile

We mentioned above how low the scores go, so it's an absolute necessity to get on the green in regulation and make putts. But it's more than just the golf. As we see in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, team chemistry is also imperative. Many of the guys on Tour are friends off the course, so it's natural for them to connect this week. But there are some curious pairings of seemingly different guys.

Horschel has won this tournament as both a single (2013) and double (2018), so if there's a horse for this course, he would seem to be the guy. Besides, he's very genial and has had success here with multiple partners. He's playing this year with Tom Hoge, who he was set to pair with in 2025 before Horschel was forced to withdraw.

Golfodds.com puts the over/under on the winning score at 260.5 -- 27.5 under par.

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

$10,000 and up

Brooks Koepka - Shane Lowry - $10,000 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +1550)
Our model said Lowry is a blast to play with. Kidding, our model didn't say that, we did. But seriously, if you're having a good time out there, it has to help, right? Nobody looks like he's having more fun out there than Lowry. And it will be really interesting to see whether the normally stoic Koepka loosens up out there, too. The feeling is, he will. They are two of the best three players in the field. Lowry has won here before. Koepka is ranked top-25 in birdie average despite his putting challenges.

$9,000-$9,900

Ryan Gerard - Sudarshan Yellamaraju - $9,500 (+1750)
Gerard was supposed to play with fellow ex-North Carolina Tar Heel David Ford. Ford bowed out. Yellamaraju stepped in. He is an upgrade for the team. Gerard is a solid player, even though he has been struggling lately. He tied for 12th here last year with Danny Walker. Gerard is ranked top-20 on Tour in SG: Approach and 18th in birdie or better. Yellamaraju is top-20 on Tour in SG: Putting, ninth in birdie average and 10th in birdie or better.

Michael Thorbjornsen - Karl Vilips - $9,400 (+1950)
This team tied for fourth last year. It's easy to see why. Thorbjornsen is great tee-to-green, ranked 42nd on Tour. Vilips is a master putter, ranked 11th. They shot an 11-under 61 on Saturday last year in the fourball format.

$8,000-$8,900

Austin Eckroat - Davis Thompson - $8,800 (+2500)
Neither of these guys has had the best season. But both had solid outings last time out at the Valero, with Eckroat tying for 10th and Thompson for 14th. Both are really solid on approach, ranking in the top-35 on Tour. They have not been great putters this season, which is not what we recommended above, but Eckroat has improved of late and ranks 35th on Tour in birdie average.

Alex Smalley - Hayden Springer - $8,500 (+3000)
Smalley is really in a groove now after a slow start. He's finished top-25 in three of his past four starts, including THE PLAYERS and both Texas events. He's ranked top-70 on Tour in every strokes-gained metric, which is really quite good. Springer has been relegated to the Korn Ferry Tour this season. He tied for 18th here last year alongside Nate Lashley. They shot 62 in the Thursday fourball.

Keith Mitchell - Brandt Snedeker - $8,100 (+3500)
Fun fact: Both 2026 Presidents Cup captains, Snedeker and Australia's Ogilvy, are in this field. This pairing features the strong tee-to-green player in Mitchell and the strong putter -- even at age 45 -- in Snedeker. Mitchell has been great off the tee and from the fairway this season, ranking fifth on Tour in driving distance and 18th in SG: Tee-to-Green. Snedeker has made only two cuts in six starts, but he's in plus territory both on and around the greens.

$7,000-$7,900

Dan Brown - John Parry - $7,600 (+4300)
Brown is 31, Parry is 39 and the two Englishmen are both PGA Tour rookies, having come over from the DP World Tour this season. Parry has been having the better season, but both of these guys have good numbers on approach and putting. They're ranked in the top-65 on Tour in both key stats.

Beau Hossler - Sam Ryder - $7,300 (+5700)
Hossler is the better putter in this pairing and Ryder is the stronger iron player. But Ryder is also putting great this season, ranked 21st on Tour to go along with his ranking on 19th on approach. It's a bit curious why he hasn't had better results this season. Hossler is ranked ninth in SG: Putting. Both Hossler and Ryder missed the cut last year with different partners.

$6,000-$6,900

Zac Blair - Patrick Fishburn - $6,600 (+9800)
The connection here is Brigham Young University and, being two years apart with Fishburn 33 and Blair 35, former Cougars teammates. They also led this tournament after three rounds two years ago before tying for fourth. They shot a 60 in the Saturday fourball. Last year here, they missed the cut.

Nick Hardy - Davis Riley - $6,500 (+12500)
Just the fact that these two won the tournament three years ago makes this price a bit odd. No matter how anyone is playing right now, it's impossible to measure chemistry and familiarity. They made the cut the past two years, and we established earlier how hard that is to do. 

Zeroed in on your Zurich Classic lineups? See how they look in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.