The Zurich Classic kicks off this week as the PGA members head to the Gulf Coast for a tourney which has been held since 1938. There is typically a lot of scoring at this event, with the victors carding at least a score of 15-under-par since 2010. They will be hitting this par-72, 7,425-yard course with just five of the top-25 players in the Official World Golf Rankings joining the field. One of them is Billy Horschel, who won here back in 2013 with a score of 20-under-par; marking his first career victory. Last year, it was Noh Seung-yul who also earned his first career win here when he shot two rounds of 65 and defeated his closest competitors, Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb, by two strokes. It is not uncommon for players to get their first win in Louisiana as seven of the last 10 victors at New Orleans were first-time winners and there has not been a multiple time winner here since Carlos Franco took home the trophy in both 1999 and 2000. With such a weak field, there will be plenty of chances for some new names to breakthrough while players in the top-20 could dominate, so let’s take a look at a few of these golfers who could perform well this week.
Justin Rose: Rose has been moving back up the ranks and really jumped back into the scene with his runner-up performance at the Masters. He did have a rough start to the year with three missed cuts in his first five events, but still has managed to rank in the top-50 in driving distance (296.1 yards per, 36th on tour), greens in regulation (68.9%, 38th on tour) and sand save percentage (63.6%, 13th on tour). He has also done a great job when teeing it up in New Orleans with a top-15 finish in each of the past three years; including his best showing last year when he hit 70.8% of GIR and finished in a tie for eighth. Look for Rose to be in the hunt for his seventh career PGA victory when all is said-and-done this week.
Rickie Fowler: Fowler has only one victory to his name, but he still ranks 13th in the OWGR due to his ability to stay near the top of the leaderboard each week. He has made each of his eight cuts so far on the year and has been turning it on lately with a 12th-place finish at both the WGC-Cadillac Championship and the Masters. He did miss the cut here last year, but has shown promise in the past with a 10th back in 2012 where he was able to have a Friday round of 65 and hit 76.4% of GIR with 67.9% of GIR nailed. Fowler is just itching to reach the next level of his game and it would be no surprise to see it happen at TPC Louisiana.
Morgan Hoffman: Hoffman is coming off his first career visit to Augusta where he put up a strong 28th-place performance and followed that up with a ninth at the RBC Heritage. That was his second top-10 of the season and fourth top-25 showing as he looks to become the eighth player in the past 11 installments of this event to earn his first career victory on these fairways. He’s been solid here in the past with a 34th last year and a 21st in 2013 as he comes into this week ranked 31st in driving distance (296.5 yards per) and 32nd in strokes gained putting (0.449). His all-around game should put him in line to win his first PGA event and start making more of a name for himself.
John Peterson: While Peterson’s best finish this year is 11th, he has been able to get consistent results with 13-of-14 cuts made and five top-25s. He has done so with an accurate drive (68.1%, 25th on tour) and great scrambling skills (63.8%, 28th on tour) and is on the cusp of a first PGA win. He has made the cut just once in the past three visits to New Orleans, but the one made cut was impressive as he shot 13-under-par with two 67s on the card in 2013 and finished eighth. Peterson has been playing some solid golf and that should start paying off more as he continues to make it to the weekend.
K.J. Choi: Choi is a former winner here when he shot 17-under in 2002 and defeated his closest competitor by four strokes. He is certainly not the player that he once was, but has shown flashes of his old self this year with two top-25s and 7-of-10 cuts made. He is one of the best golfers from 50-125 yards with an average distance of 15’7” (7th on tour) which should play very well on the rather short course this week. Choi may have a great chance to surprise this week as he hits a course where he has had some past success and is playing amongst plenty of less experienced golfers.
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