BlogZurich Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

The season is halfway over and already folks feel comfortable that they don’t need to increase FedExCup points and are taking the week off.  This is probably the lowest ranked field on the PGA Tour since the fall events, guess the timing is good for many of the top names to take the week off.  Still there are a lot of loyal folks that like the course and are showing up.  But with the Wells Fargo next week and the Players the week after, you can’t blame folks for not showing up.

For those playing this week, it’s a love affair with the great city of New Orleans.  The Cajun food is still great and the folks that run this event take good care of the players with a fishing trip, plenty of good food and the New Orleans spirit that hasn’t gone away with all the hardship that has hit the region with Hurricane Katrina almost 7 and a half years ago.  For many of the players making the decision based on their stomach with such great places like Emeril’s and Brennan’s and you can’t beat breakfast at Cafe Beignet this is the best eating week on tour.  With the French Quarter back to normal after Katrina it’s a bit hard to see players taking this event off their schedule.

One thing that we have to mention, it’s looking more like Tiger Woods could return next week at the Wells Fargo, according to a Tim Rosaforte report.  For many this is an exciting time, Tiger hasn’t played since he finished T-10th at the Wyndham Championship last August.  For me personally I think Woods should of just taken the whole season off giving proper rest to the injury and really getting hungry to play golf again.  Tiger has been cut in his back three times and I don’t know if he could endure another one.  So why not make 100% sure that the injury is healed, plus why put pressure on himself to come back with half the season over.  Nothing is set in stone and it’s just one report, Tiger hasn’t indicated if the rumor is true or not.

Things you need to know about the Zurich Classic:

• This will be the 68th edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which was formerly called the New Orleans Open, then the USF&G Classic,then the Freeport McDermott Classic followed by the Compaq Classic before Zurich became the sponsor in 2005.  English Turn was the site of the tournament between 1989 and 2004.  It moved to TPC Louisiana in 2005 but because of Hurricane Katrina it went back to English Turn in 2006.  In 2007 it returned to TPC Louisiana and the course is back to normal again.
• The first New Orleans Open was played in 1938 and was won by Harry Cooper.  Between 1949 and 1957 no tournaments were played, with the tournament starting back up in 1958.

Course information:

TPC Louisiana

• Avondale, La.
• 7,425 yards     Par 36-36–72
• TPC Louisiana features a course rating of 76.6 and a slope rating from the back tees of 138. The tees, fairway, and rough are TifSport bermudaGrass as the greens are bermudagrass overseeded with Poa. The course is semi-private and can be played by the public.
• In 2015 TPC Louisiana was the 49th hardest course on the PGA Tour with a 69.951 scoring average, two shots under par.  In 2014 it was the 37th hardest course on the PGA Tour playing to a 71.211 average which is three quarters of a shot under par.  In 2013 TPC Louisiana was the 34th hardest course on the PGA Tour playing to a 70.75 average which is 1.25 strokes under par.
• The course was designed and built by Pete Dye with player consultants Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson.  The course opened in 2004 and held the Zurich Open the next year.  The course is on 250 acres of former swamp land that Dye transformed into a course that can stretch up to 7,600 yards. The average green size at TPC Louisiana is 5,700 square feet, which is pretty much the average on the PGA Tour.  It features 71 bunkers with 20 acres of area covered in sand. Water comes into play on eight of the 18 holes.

Let’s take a look at key stats that are important for those playing at the TPC Louisiana:

This is based on the most important stats for TPC Louisiana, based on data from last years Zurich Classic, and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2016. What we do is take their rank for each stat and then add up the four catagories.
The scoring average of the field at TPC Louisiana in 2015 was 69.95, so with par being 72 that means the average score was two shots under par, making TPC Louisiana the 49th hardest course to score on in 2015 (only three other courses were easier). It was the easiest the course ever played in the nine years that the Zurich Classic has been played there. Lot’s of reasons why but the main one the course was very soft with lot’s of rain during the week, soft conditions make any course easy. There was some wind but it wasn’t enough to effect play.
In our stat categories, the average drive was 283.1 yards as it was 11th shortest on tour. That is because of all the rain, so the course did play very long. In our next category greens in regulation 71.39% of the greens were hit, only eight other course had more greens hit. So players have to hit lot’s of greens at TPC Louisiana. For those that miss greens scrambling is very important and at TPC Louisiana 66.93% of the time players got it up and down, only one course had a better percentage. So if you are to play well this week you better know how to scramble. Lastly is birdie average the players average making 4.23 birdies per round, only five courses had more birdies last year.

As for champion Justin Rose last year he was 12th in driving distance and T-23rd in greens in regulation. As for scrambling he was 4th and he averaged 6.25 birdies per round which was T-4th.

*Driving Distance: Stat is good barometer on how far the players are hitting it.

*Greens in Regulation: Stat is great barometer on how good players manage their games around Augusta National. Every year the players that hit lot’s of greens do well.

*Scrambling: So which course is tough to get it up and down on holes players miss the greens. Since all of the area’s around the greens are mowed short and are left with really hard shots to get it close, scrambling is important. You are not going to be perfect so you have to make sure you can make pars from some tough places

*Birdie Average: Average number of birdies made over the course of a round

Players from this year’s field with stats from 2016:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

For the rest of the players, hit this link:

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Zurich Classic:

Key stat for the winner:

The TPC Louisiana has hosted eight Zurich Classics, 2005, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14 & ’15.  In looking at the 117 players that were in the top-ten in the ten years, one common trend shows.  Of the 117 only 24 were in the top-ten of driving accuracy (three in 2015) giving the tale that you don’t have to be a straight driver to do well at TPC Louisiana.  Here is how the ten champions did in that stat:

• 2015 – Justin Rose       46 of 54 hit – ranked T-3rd
• 2014 – Seung-Yul Noh     32 of 54 hit – ranked T59th
• 2013 – Billy Horschel    31 of 54 hit – ranked T63rd
• 2012 – Jason Dufner     36 of 54 hit – ranked T31st.
• 2011 – Bubba Watson     40 of the 54 hit – ranked T13th.
• 2010 – Jason Bohn     43 of 54 hit – ranked T2nd.
• 2009 – Jerry Kelly     35 of the 54 hit – ranked T30th.
• 2008 – Andres Romero   30 of 54 hit – ranked T73rd.
• 2007 – Nick Watney        37 of 54 hit – ranked T32nd.
• 2005 – Tim Petrovic         23 of 54 hit – ranked 81st.

One thing all ten of the TPC Louisiana champions had in common were putting well on greens hit.  Here are those averages:

• 2015 – Justin Rose hit 54 greens (T-53rd) and took 103 putts for a 1.537 average – 1st
• 2014 – Seung-Yul Noh hit 56 greens (T4th) and took 109 putts for a 1.625 average – 7th
• 2013 – Billy Horschel hit 59 greens (T2nd) and took 108 putts for a 1.559 avearge – 1st
• 2012 – Jason Dufner hit 52 greens (T25th) and took 105 putts for a 1.458 average – 3rd.
• 2011 – Bubba Watson hit 58 greens (rank T1st) and took 117 putts for a 1.625 average – T57th.
• 2010 – Jason Bohn hit 54 greens (rank T6th) and took 107 putts for a 1.486 average – 5th.
• 2009 – Jerry Kelly hit 57 greens (rank 1st) and took 114 putts for a 1.583 average – T36th.
• 2008 – Andres Romero hit 54 greens (rank T6th) and took 113 putts for a 1.569 average – ranked T35th.
• 2007 – Nick Watney hit 51 greens (rank T9th) and took 108 putts for a 1.500 avearge – ranked T14th.
• 2005 – Tim Petrovic  hit 50 greens (rank T20th) and took 109 putts for 1.514 average – ranked T7th.

One thing all ten of the TPC Louisiana champions had in common were putting well on greens hit.  Here are those averages:

• 2015 – Justin Rose got it up and down 16 of 18 times and his 88.89% ranked T-4th
• 2014 – Seung-Yul Noh got it up and down 14 of 16 times and his 87.50% ranked 3rd
• 2013 – Billy Horschel got it up and down 8 of 13 times and his 61.54% ranked 50th
• 2012 – Jason Dufner got it up and down 16 of 20 times and his 80.00% ranked 6th
• 2011 – Bubba Watson got it up and down 10 of 14 times and his 71.43% ranked T-18th
• 2010 – Jason Bohn got it up and down 15 of 18 times and his 83.33% ranked 2nd
• 2009 – Jerry Kelly got it up and down 12 of 15 times and his 80.00% ranked T-64th
• 2008 – Andres Romero got it up and down 10 of 18 times and his 55.56% ranked 3rd
• 2007 – Nick Watney got it up and down 16 of 21 times and his 876.19% ranked T-16th
• 2005 – Tim Petrovic got it up and down 17 of 22 times and his 77.27% ranked 7th

Silly fact: The course has been shortened, but length and accuracy doesn’t seem to be a key

• Fitness around the greens will be needed.  Miss a green and you will have to master the chip and roll. This venue will be a perfect preview for the greens of Oakmont, site of next month U.S. Open.
• The greens do not have as much undulation as the average TPC courses, so look for an average to below average putter to have a good week.
• Since this is the tenth year in a row for this course being used, anything can happen and anybody can win. Of the 10 champions at TPC Louisiana, five of them have been rookie winners and Bubba Watson was the most experience champion, when he won in 2011 he only had two PGA Tour wins.
• One major trait at this event is the fact that many of its champions don’t have a lot of experience playing in this event. 12 of the last 20 Zurich Classic winners and 19 overall have not won on the PGA Tour, including 9 of the last 14. Eleven of the last 23 winners, including 2014 Seung-Yul Noh, 2013 winner Billy Horschel, 2010 winner Jason Bohn, 2009 winner Jerry Kelly and 2008 champion Andres Romero, had either missed the cut the year prior or were making their tournament debut.
• Lastly there is no rhyme or reason for why a player wins here.  In the case of the last ten winners Justin Rose was the only true favorite to one.  But of the others, Tim Petrovic, Chris Couch, Nick Watney, Andres Romero, Jerry Kelly, Jason Bohn, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Billy Horschel and Seung-Yul Noh — they weren’t favorites to win coming in so the odds are pretty good that another long shot could rule this week.
• The weather forecast has some bad weather on Thursday and Sunday, with nice weather on Friday and Saturday.  It’s hard to really worry about something six days in advance, but Sunday could be very ugly.