Steve Palmer's Zurich Classic of New Orleans predictions, best bets & golf tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana on the PGA Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf red button from 1.30pm

Best bets

Sam Burns & Billy Horschel
4pts each-way 12-1 Betfair, Hills, Paddy Power
Keegan Bradley & Brendan Steele
2pts each-way 33-1 bet365
Talor Gooch & Max Homa
2pts each-way 25-1 Hills

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Scottie Scheffler, who has won four of his last six tournaments and became Masters champion last time out, returns to action in this week's Zurich Classic. Scheffler partners Ryan Palmer in the pairs event, seeking to continue his remarkable streak of success. The latest member of the Green Jacket club may struggle for focus in this quirky, low-key shootout so soon after his Augusta heroics, and other partnerships are preferred.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Sam Burns & Billy Horschel 12-1

The most solid duo for a week when churning out pars on breezy foursomes days may be the key to success are arguably Sam Burns and Billy Horschel. The world number 11 and 14 have the form and confidence to take this assignment by the scruff of the neck.

Burns has won three PGA Tour titles in 11 months - the last of them coming in the Valspar Championship a month ago. His only outing since resulted in a missed cut by a shot on his Masters debut. First-timers often struggle at Augusta, so Burns could quickly shrug off the setback.

Burns is teeing up in his home state this week and alongside the partner he tied fourth with in last year's Zurich. The dream team ended up only two shots outside of the playoff. Burns was a PGA Tour maiden for that event but has returned with much more swagger.

Horschel loves TPC Louisiana - his PGA Tour breakthrough came there in 2013 and he won the 2018 Zurich alongside Scott Piercy. The Floridian has been consistently good for months and can complete a Zurich hat-trick on Sunday.

Next best bet

Keegan Bradley & Brendan Steele 33-1

Course management will count for plenty this week and two experienced campaigners can thrive in the conditions. Keegan Bradley is a Major champion who is typically solid from tee to green, while Brendan Steele is excellent in the wind. They are a well-established partnership, having won the 2011 Shark Shootout together, then finishing tied fourth in last year's Zurich.

Bradley was brilliant in the Players Championship a month ago, finishing fifth despite being on the wrong side of a significant draw bias and despite getting an extremely harsh two-shot penalty in round two after a marked ball was moved by wind on the 16th green.

That incredible effort was followed by eighth place in the Texas Open. Steele finished 13th at Sawgrass from the wrong side of the draw and the three-time Tour champ is finally getting going after a slow start to the year.

Other selection

Talor Gooch & Max Homa 25-1

Close friends Talor Gooch and Max Homa finished 17th together in last year's Zurich and are playing well enough to contend this time. Gooch became a PGA Tour champion in November and finished 14th on his Masters debut last time out, while three-time Tour champ Homa has been solid all year. They make a potent foursomes combination.

Others to note

Viktor Hovland & Collin Morikawa
The favourites both made their course debut last year - Hovland finished 25th with Kristoffer Ventura and Morikawa missed the cut by nine shots alongside Matt Wolff. Short-game concerns mean they can be left alone at the odds.

Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele
This is a successful pairing in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup action. They tied 11th in the Zurich last year. Cantlay has a Heritage playoff loss to deal with, while Schauffele is on a long PGA Tour victory drought.

Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith
The defending champions will like the weather forecast, as they are adept in the wind. Leishman has been off the boil lately, though, and the Aussies do not appear to be peaking for this.

TPC Louisiana course guide

Course TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana
Prize money $8.3m ($1,199,350 to each winning player)
Length 7,425 yards
Par 72 - four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Field 80 teams of two The cut Top 33 teams and ties will qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Scottie Scheffler (1), Collin Morikawa (2), Patrick Cantlay (4), Viktor Hovland (5), Cameron Smith (6)

Format This is a four-day team event, with no individual prize. The pairs play best-ball competition (both players play their own ball, with only the best score on each hole counting towards the 72-hole total) in rounds one and three, and alternate-shot competition (one player in the team hits a shot, then the other player, until the ball is holed) in rounds two and four

Course records (individual strokeplay) - 72 holes 266 Justin Rose (2015) 18 holes 62 Ben Martin (2014)

Course records (pairs play) - 72 holes 261 Jonas Blixt & Cameron Smith (2017) 18 holes best-ball 60 Retief Goosen & Tyrone van Aswegen (2017), Kevin Kisner & Scott Brown (2017), Chez Reavie & Lucas Glover (2018), Marty Dou & Xinjun Zhang (2018), Brian Gay & Rory Sabbatini (2019); 18 holes alternate-shot 65 Jon Rahm & Ryan Palmer (2019)

Course winners taking part (individual strokeplay) Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose, Brian Stuard

Course winners taking part (as a pairing) Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith

When to bet By 1pm Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf red button from 1.30pm

Time difference Louisiana is six hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week - RBC Heritage 1 J Spieth (40-1), 2 P Cantlay (20-1), T3 C Davis (200-1), JT Poston (250-1), C Young (110-1), S Straka (110-1), M Kuchar (66-1), H Varner (60-1), S Lowry (22-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview Designed by Pete Dye in 2003, TPC made its Tour debut in 2005. It staged its second Zurich Classic in 2007 and has been the tournament's venue ever since. It became a pairs event in 2017. Coronavirus meant there was not a 2020 edition. The rough is light, but there are five water hazards and more than 100 bunkers. The par-fives (the second, seventh, 11th and 18th) are all in range. The 482-yard par-four fourth and the 215-yard par-three 17th are the most difficult. The 16th is a risk-reward, driveable par-four of 348 yards, with water in front of the green

Story of last year Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel at the first extra hole of a playoff after Oosthuizen sliced his drive off the tee into water

Weather forecast Sunny, with temperatures reaching 31C, but breezy throughout, peaking with gusts of 28 mph on Friday

Type of player suited to the challenge Greens in regulation is the theme which runs through the victors, with finding the right sections of the heavily undulating dancefloors the key to going low

Key attribute Accuracy

Spotlight insight Cameron Smith has been on the winning team in two of four Zurich Classic pairs events

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