Zurich Classic of New Orleans explained

Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Location:	Avondale, Louisiana
Establishment:	1938^[1]
Org:	Fore!Kids Foundation
Course:	TPC Louisiana
Par:	72
Tour:	PGA Tour
Format:	Team stroke play
Month Played:	April
Aggregate:	Individual: 262 Chip Beck (1988)
To-Par:	Individual: −26 as above Team: −30 as above
Current Champion:	Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy
Map:	USA#USA Louisiana
Map Label:	TPC Louisiana
Map Relief:	yes
Map Size:	230
Coordinates:	29.902°N -90.19°W

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly played in early to mid-spring. Zurich Insurance Group is the main sponsor, and it is organized by the Fore!Kids Foundation.^[2]

First prize reached five figures in 1965,^[3] six figures in and passed the million-dollar mark in 2006.^[4] The winning team in 2022 split over $2.39 million.

In 2017, the Zurich Classic became a team event, with eighty pairs. One member of each team is initially chosen via the Tour priority rankings, and his partner must either be a PGA Tour member or earn entry through a sponsor exemption. The stroke play format was alternate shot (foursome) in the first and third rounds and better ball (fourball) for the second and fourth rounds. The cut line is 33 teams, plus ties. The winners earn 400 FedEx Cup points and two-year exemptions, but will not receive Masters invitations and no world ranking points are awarded for the event.^[5]

In 2018, the format switched to fourball for the first and third rounds and alternate shot for the second and fourth rounds.^[6]

Tournament highlights

1966: Frank Beard wins his first New Orleans title by two shots over Gardner Dickinson. The win by Beard came two years after his being diagnosed with and almost dying of encephalitis shortly after playing in the 1964 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational.^[9]
1972: PGA Tour rookie Rogelio Gonzales was disqualified after it was learned he had changed his scorecard earlier in the tournament.^[10] In addition to his disqualification, the PGA Tour lifted Gonzales playing privileges.^[11]
1974: Lee Trevino wins with a bogey-free four rounds, a rare occurrence.^[12]
1975: Billy Casper wins for the 51st and ultimately last time on the PGA Tour. He beats Peter Oosterhuis by two shots.^[13]
1978: Lon Hinkle earns his first ever PGA Tour title by birdieing the 72nd hole to beat Fuzzy Zoeller and Gibby Gilbert by one shot. The win by Hinkle ends Gary Player's consecutive tournament winning streak at three.^[14]
1984: Mac O'Grady gets into an altercation with a female tournament volunteer. He is later fined and suspended by Tour Commissioner Deane Beman for conduct unbecoming a professional golfer.^[15]
1990: David Frost beats Greg Norman by one shot after holing out from a sand trap on the 72nd hole.^[16]
1995: In need of a win to qualify for The Masters, Davis Love III defeats Mike Heinen in a sudden death playoff.^[17]
1999: Carlos Franco becomes the first South American to win on the PGA Tour since Roberto De Vicenzo at the 1968 Houston Champions International. Franco wins by two shots over Steve Flesch and Harrison Frazar.^[18]
2002: K. J. Choi becomes the first Korean born golfer to win on the PGA Tour. He beats Dudley Hart and Geoff Ogilvy by four shots.^[19]
2004: Vijay Singh shoots a final round 63 to beat Phil Mickelson and Joe Ogilvie by one shot.^[20]
2017: The event switched to a team format.

Courses

From the event's inception through 2004, it was played at a series of courses in New Orleans, starting at the City Park Golf Courses, where it was played through 1962. From 1963 through 1988, the event had a lengthy relationship with Lakewood Country Club before shifting to English Turn Golf and Country Club in 1989 for sixteen editions through 2004.

TPC Louisiana in Avondale became the host in 2005, but damage to the course by Hurricane Katrina that August forced the event back to English Turn for a year in 2006. It returned to the TPC in 2007, its current home.

Course layout

TPC Louisiana in 2016

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	399	548	221	482	438	476	561	372	207	3,704	390	575	492	403	216	490	355	215	585	3,721	7,425
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	5	4	3	36	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	3	5	36	72

Source:^[21]

Winners

Year	Winner(s)	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Purse (US$)	Winner's share ($)	Ref.
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
		263	−25	Playoff	8,900,000
		258	−30	2 strokes	8,600,000
		259	−29	2 strokes	8,300,000
	Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith (2)	268	−20	Playoff	7,400,000
	Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	^[22]
		262	−26	3 strokes	7,300,000
		266	−22	1 stroke	7,200,000
		261	−27	Playoff	7,100,000
		201	−15	Playoff	7,000,000	1,260,000
		266	−22	1 stroke	6,900,000	1,242,000
		269	−19	2 strokes	6,800,000	1,224,000
		268	−20	1 stroke	6,600,000	1,188,000
		269	−19	Playoff	6,400,000	1,152,000
		273	−15	Playoff	6,400,000	1,152,000
		270	−18	2 strokes	6,400,000	1,152,000
		274	−14	1 stroke	6,300,000	1,134,000
		275	−13	1 stroke	6,200,000	1,116,000
		273	−15	3 strokes	6,100,000	1,098,000
		269	−19	1 stroke	6,000,000	1,080,000
		275	−13	Playoff	5,500,000	990,000	^[23]
HP Classic of New Orleans
		266	−22	1 stroke	5,100,000	918,000
		267	−21	Playoff	5,000,000	900,000
Compaq Classic of New Orleans
		271	−17	4 strokes	4,500,000	810,000
		266	−22	2 strokes	4,000,000	720,000
	Carlos Franco (2)	270	−18	Playoff	3,400,000	612,000
		269	−19	2 strokes	2,600,000	468,000
Freeport-McDermott Classic
		273	−15	3 strokes	1,700,000	306,000
		272	−16	3 strokes	1,500,000	270,000
		275	−13	5 strokes	1,200,000	216,000
Freeport-McMoRan Classic
		274	−14	Playoff	1,200,000	216,000
	Ben Crenshaw (2)	273	−15	3 strokes	1,200,000	216,000
Freeport-McMoRan Golf Classic
		281	−7	1 stroke	1,000,000	180,000
	Chip Beck (2)	276	−12	1 stroke	1,000,000	180,000
USF&G Classic
		275	−13	Playoff	1,000,000	180,000
		276	−12	1 stroke	1,000,000	180,000
		274	−14	2 strokes	750,000	135,000
		262	−26	7 strokes	750,000	135,000
		268	−20	3 strokes	500,000	90,000	^[24]
		269	−19	5 strokes	500,000	90,000
		205	−11	2 strokes	400,000	72,000
		272	−16	3 strokes	400,000	72,000
		274	−14	3 strokes	400,000	72,000
		206	−10	2 strokes	300,000	54,000
USF&G New Orleans Open
	Tom Watson (2)	270	−18	2 strokes	350,000	63,000
Greater New Orleans Open
		273	−15	2 strokes	250,000	45,000
First NBC New Orleans Open
		273	−15	1 stroke	250,000	45,000
		271	−17	1 stroke	200,000	40,000
		273	−15	3 strokes	175,000	35,000
		274	−14	1 stroke	175,000	35,000
	Billy Casper (2)	271	−17	2 strokes	150,000	30,000
Greater New Orleans Open
		267	−21	8 strokes	150,000	30,000
		280	−8	Playoff	125,000	25,000
		279	−9	1 stroke	125,000	25,000
Greater New Orleans Open Invitational
	Frank Beard (2)	276	−12	1 stroke	125,000	25,000
		278	−10	Playoff	125,000	25,000
		275	−13	Playoff	100,000	20,000	^[25]
		271	−17	2 strokes	100,000	20,000
		277	−11	1 stroke	100,000	20,000
		276	−12	2 strokes	100,000	20,000
		273	−15	1 stroke	100,000	20,000
		283	−5	1 stroke	50,000	7,500	^[26]
	Bo Wininger (2)	279	−9	3 strokes	40,000	6,400
		281	−7	2 strokes	30,000	4,300
		272	−16	5 strokes	30,000	4,300
		270	−18	6 strokes	25,000	3,500
		280	−8	3 strokes	20,000	2,800
		278	−10	Playoff	20,000	2,800
align=center colspan=10	1949–1957: No tournament
New Orleans Open
1948		280	−4	1 stroke	10,000	2,000	^[27]
align=center colspan=10	1947: No tournament
1946	Byron Nelson (2)	277	−11	5 strokes	7,500	1,500	^[28] ^[29]
1945		284	−4	Playoff	5,000	1,300	^[30] ^[31]
1944		285	−3	5 strokes	5,000	1,000	^[32]
align=center colspan=10	1943: No tournament
1942		281	−7	1 stroke	5,000	1,000	^[33]
1941	Henry Picard (2)	276	−12	2 strokes	5,000	1,200	^[34]
1940		286	−2	1 stroke	10,000	2,000	^[35]
1939		284	−4	5 strokes	10,000	2,000	^[36] ^[37]
Crescent City Open
1938		285	−3	4 strokes	5,000	1,200	^[38]

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records
Sources:^[39] ^[40]

Multiple winners

There is yet to be a three-time winner at New Orleans, but eleven have won twice. Four won in consecutive years: Byron Nelson, Bo Wininger, Tom Watson, and Franco.

2 wins