PGA DFS GPP Breakdown: Zurich Classic
Long-time grinder, stlcardinals84, breaks down his top PGA DFS picks in various price ranges for this week’s tournament. Which golfers should you be targeting to try and take down the big DFS tournaments? Find out below!
Welcome to another PGA DFS GPP Breakdown! Justin Thomas picked up a thrilling victory at the RBC Heritage last week, and it has been quite the month of April in the golf world. This week offers a bit of a twist and a break from the hectic nature of the last few weeks.
We have an unusual partner-based team event this week with the Zurich Classic, and DraftKings is offering contests for the fourth consecutive year. As of the time I am writing this, FanDuel is not offering contests. Be somewhat careful with your bankroll usage for this tournament though, as it is often unpredictable in nature. Nonetheless, it’s still an interesting one to discuss and break down!
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For the eighth consecutive year, this will be played as a pairs event, and 80 pairs of golfers will partake in the event, with the top 33 and ties making the cut after Friday’s second round. The first and third rounds will be played in four-ball (best ball) format, which is where each player plays their own ball and the best score of the pair is taken for that hole. Scores will be very good in those rounds. The second and fourth rounds will be played in foursomes (alternate shot) format, which is where alternate shots are taken by each player on just one ball. Scores won’t be quite as good in those rounds, though this is generally an easier course.
TPC Louisiana has been the host of this event for every edition since 2007. From 2007 to 2016, this was a traditional PGA TOUR event, and the winning score was -13 or better every year. In the years where it has been played as a team competition with two four-ball days and two foursomes days, the winning scores have been -20 or better every time. The winning combo (Nick Hardy and Davis Riley) finished at -30 two years ago, and we have seen a few other years get deep into the -20s. You need to target birdie makers here, especially when you consider the four-ball format that will be used in two of the rounds.
We can also expect some unpredictability with this event. This is essentially an exhibition that is seen as ‘fun’ for a lot of the golfers, though you do see some who take it quite seriously depending on their status. It will be very interesting to see how things shake out in terms of ownership. I will give some weight to golfers or teams that have played well here in the past, though it’s not paramount.
DraftKings has priced individual golfers for this tournament, but each member of a team has the same salary, and you cannot roster both members of one team. For all intents and purposes, they are “together” despite being shown individually. This likely was easier from a coding perspective for DK to maneuver.
Let’s move along and get to some of my favorite GPP tandems for this week!
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PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings GPP Breakdown for the Zurich Classic
Robert MacIntyre & Thomas Detry
DraftKings: $10,300
Don’t get me wrong here – I like the defending champion pairing of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry as much as anyone, and this is perhaps the perfect event for the Masters champion to return to action. However, there is going to be a huge gap in ownership between the MacIntyre / Detry pair and the McIlroy / Lowry pair. While I agree that McIlroy and Lowry are difficult to ignore, DFS contests for this event are often won by those who embrace variance. MacIntyre and Detry complement each other well in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and they finished inside the top 10 in their debut as a team at this event in 2024. Both have won events since then, and both are capable of making birdies in bunches. I love using them as a GPP pivot away from the other chalky top options.
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