Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2024 picks and best bets for PGA Tour golf this week

We're heading down to New Orleans, TPC Louisiana in Avondale to be more specific, this week for the only team event on the PGA Tour, the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. There are some big names in this field with the favorites, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele along with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, headlining this field.

This is one of the tougher golf tournaments to handicap as you not only have to look at the statistics for each individual player, but also considering how teammates mesh, how they've performed in previous team settings, and there's also just a bit of luck involved with this format, frankly. When you have two rounds of best ball and two rounds of alternate shot, things can get crazy.

It's been a rough couple of weeks as we were down 3.7 units at The Masters and then 0.5 units last week when we had to just go with our picks on X/Twitter. But we're back here and really trying to crack the formula to climb out of this brutal cold streak. Let's get into our Zurich Classic picks for the week and do just that.

Note: All odds are courtesy of BetMGM unless otherwise noted. Odds will be updated when made available. For more betting picks and advice, check out BetSided.

Golf betting record in 2024 through Texas: 13-84-0, -18.73 Units (1-34 on outrights and longshots | -0.5 units at RBC Heritage) | One and Done Total for 2024: $6,331,817 (Shane Lowry at RBC Heritage, $42,600)

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PGA Tour expert picks for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Winner, Top 10 and One and Done

Top 10 pick for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy (+210)

This is exactly what I'm looking for with a pairing that should have a lot of success. Over the last 20 rounds, Tom Hoge is the fourth-best player in this field on approach (1.033 strokes gained) and has been reeling off Top 20 finishes as a result of that and a solid putter. Meanwhile, Maverick McNealy's short game has been stellar all year, but he's gaining slightly on approach and is 15th in strokes gained tee-to-green (1.066) over the last 12 rounds. He's coming into form and this pairing should absolutely gel perfectly to compete, especially after seeing Hoge finished T13 here with Harris English last year.

Outright Winner pick for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (0.5 Units): Doug Ghim/Chan Kim (+5000)

One thing about the Zurich Classic is that we often see teams just get hot and pop. So I'm going with that strategy for my winner pick with the team of Doug Ghim and Chan Kim. This is team no-putt, to be quite sure, as they've combined to lose about 1.25 strokes on the greens over the last 12 rounds. But Kim actually leads this field in strokes gained tee-to-green over that span (1.437). Ghim, meanwhile, struggled at Valspar and Houston on approach, but got back to his DNA to gain over 2.0 strokes on approach at the Valero. I think he finds his ball striking and am just hoping this ball-striking tandem gets a hot putter collectively to contend.

One and Done Pick for Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy

We've already covered this one and I absolutely love the pairing. There is winning upside for this pairing but I think the way their form is right now combined with the match of their games has me believing that the floor is also extremely high, which is a great spot to be in for a regular-field One and Done pick.

Zurich Classic picks: More best bets for PGA Tour this week

Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak to finish Top 10 (+333)

This is another team that just seems to blend extremely well. Andrew Novak has been a stalwart on approach, ranking 11th in this field in strokes gained (0.745) over the last 12 rounds. His around-the-green play, however, has seen him losing significant strokes (0.288) over that span. Davis Thompson, on the other hand, has been a Top 30 driver in this field while Novak has been outside the Top 50 but has struggled on approach. Yet, he's gaining 0.769 strokes around the green and more than a half stroke putting over the last 12 rounds. A bit of a flier, but this blend of what these players are doing well provides great upside.

Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick to finish Top 5 (+450)

People, myself included, were a bit too intrigued about the Fitzpatrick Brothers pairing last year when Alex simply didn't have any status and wasn't all that fresh. But Matt has been coming into form since figuring out a weighted driver issue with three straight Top 30 finishes. Meanwhile, Alex has been playing a lot on the DP World Tour with four Top 20 finishes in his seven starts in 2024 while also finishing T23 at Corales this week. With a comfy family pairing and the steady form of both Fitzpatricks of late, I like the upside for this team to contend.

Dylan Wu/Justin Lower to finish Top 20 (+210)

We're taking a little bit of a flier here, but Dylan Wu and Justin Lower both come in on three straight made cuts. Meanwhile, Lower has three straight Top 28 finishes, including a T28 at Corales last week. Wu's finishes haven't been as strong, but his approach play is Top 20 in the field over the last 12 rounds (0.658 strokes gained). Lower has also gained more than a half stroke on approach over that span, but his short game has been dialed, something Wu has been basically dead even with. I'm always going to fall back on approach play which these guys are showing, though, and if Wu's short game can cooperate, they could indeed pop.

Longshot Pick to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (0.1 Units): Mac Meissner/Austin Smotherman (+10000)

Way down the board, we're taking a small swing with the Meissner/Smotherman team. Meissner has two missed cuts in his last four starts, but the other two are a T10 and T26 showing. He's also gaining strokes in every category over that span. Smotherman, meanwhile, finished T50 at Corales but finished T9 on the Korn Ferry Tour two weeks prior. The KFT requires elite scoring to compete, and Smotherman has been in that world. I think he can reel off birdies in best ball and this pairing should be solid based on skill sets. That's worth a sprinkle at 100/1.