Golf fans were ready to tune into the final round on Sunday at the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The only team event on the PGA Tour doesn't draw the best overall field but, with alternate shot in the final round, it often provides a thrilling finish. Thus, fans were excited at 3 p.m. ET when the coverage was supposed to head from Golf Channel to CBS for the conclusion of the tournament at TPC Louisiana.
Instead, anyone tuning into CBS found a re-broadcast of last year's Zurich Classic when Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry charged into a playoff and ultimately took home the hardware with a win. Naturally, the inclination when you see something like that is that the event is in a weather delay with play suspended. But the PGA Tour app and social media showed no signs of that initially.
So what gives? Golf fans are probably going to be more frustrated by what's actually happening to cause the Zurich Classic delay than they would be if there was inclement weather in the New Orleans area.
Zurich Classic delay goes from technical difficulties to weather delay
While it was technical difficulties initially, the Zurich Classic then went into a weather delay at 3:42 p.m. ET with lightning in the area. It's been an absolute mess in the final round of the tournament because of everything going on. However, the inclement weather that ultimately led to a suspension in play may have actually led to the initial delay of the PGA Tour event's coverage.
Initially, there wasn't actually a Zurich Classic delay but, rather, an issue with the coverage from both Golf Channel and CBS. About a half-hour before the coverage on Golf Channel concluded, it switched the the Champions Tour event in Duluth, GA as there are technical difficulties causing issues for the PGA Tour broadcast in New Orleans. Meanwhile, CBS was showing the 2024 Zurich Classic.
According to reports, the technical difficulties are being caused by a "power issue" at the Zurich Classic. There aren't many details about what's happening or when the coverage will return, but given that the broadcast has been out of commission for about an hour now, the problem does seem quite serious. And the fact that there is now lightning in the area only adds further credence to that.
When will the Zurich Classic coverage restart?
Update: Play will resume at the Zurich Classic at 5:15 p.m. ET.
It's a tricky question about when the Zurich Classic will restart. There is lightning in the area that led to the stoppage in play but the forecast, per Accuweather, around Avondale, LA and TPC Louisiana says that the weather is actually supposed to be quite nice now and for the rest of the day. That should be good news for golf fans, though, as this might just be a standard pop-up storm in the area that should clear out quickly. We would project players being out on the course again before 5 p.m.
Having said that, we don't know if the aforementioned technical difficulties will have subsided by that time. So there is a chance that, even when play resumes, the CBS coverage will still not be available to watch if the previous issues haven't been fixed.
Is there another way to watch the Zurich Classic during the delay?
The most frustrating part of the Zurich Classic delay in the coverage is the fact that there is no way to watch. Because the technical difficulties are stemming from a power issue, Golf Channel, CBS and even the ESPN+ feeds for PGA Tour live are all unable to broadcast the event on Sunday. There is quite literally no way to watch the golf tournament for the final round, which is the last thing that golf fans want to hear.
If you really need to get your Sunday fix of PGA Tour action, the one option that is still broadcasting is PGA Tour Radio through SiriusXM. Good news, you also don't need a subscription to SiriusXM to listen as you can simply download the PGA Tour app and listen for free through the app.