Who’s playing together at Zurich Classic of New Orleans

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans will feature, at minimum, six of the world’s top 16 players.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were announced April 4 as a committed team at the Zurich Classic, the TOUR’s team event set for later this month at TPC Louisiana. The acclaimed Cantlay/Schauffele duo will run it back after finishing runner-up in 2023 – on the heels of winning the 2022 Zurich Classic by two strokes over Sam Burns and Billy Horschel. The Southern California duo, both ranked inside the world’s top 10, are also frequent U.S. Team partners at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, compiling a 6-5 record overall.

Two Canadian duos were announced Tuesday, with western Canada's Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin and Ontario's Taylor Pendrith/Corey Conners set to pair in Louisiana.

The final field for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, April 25-28, will feature 80 teams at TPC Louisiana. The event utilizes an alternating-round Four-ball and Foursomes format. The first and third rounds will be Four-ball (best ball), and the second and final rounds will be Foursomes (alternate shot).

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans field is built as follows: Each of the top available players from the PGA TOUR Priority Ranking who commits to the tournament chooses his partner, who in turn must have PGA TOUR status unless he is chosen as a tournament sponsor exemption.

Here’s a look at the Zurich Classic teams announced so far:

• Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele: Two world top-10 players and frequent Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup partners will run it back at the Zurich, where they won in 2022 and finished fourth a year ago.
• Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry: The Irishmen will play together at the Zurich for the first time. Lowry has played three team iterations of the Zurich, most recently in 2022, while McIlroy will make his tournament debut.
• Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala: The ball-striking maestro Zalatoris will pair with short-game artist Theegala, in what could be a complementary match made in golf heaven. Zalatoris finished fourth in 2022 alongside Davis Riley, while Theegala played with Beau Hossler and Justin Suh in the last two years respectively.
• Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama: Two-time major winner Morikawa will team with Kitayama, who earned his first TOUR title at last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. The two often play “Call of Duty” together as well.
• Pierceson Coody and Parker Coody: The twins, both 2022 University of Texas graduates, earned their TOUR cards together via the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour. They were paired together for the first time on TOUR at last month’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, becoming the first twin pros on record to be grouped together on TOUR.
• Rasmus Højgaard and Nicolai Højgaard: The twins will pair together for the first time at the Zurich; Nicolai competed in 2023 alongside Thorbjørn Olesen. Nicolai earned his TOUR card last fall via top-125 non-member FedExCup points; Rasmus competes on the DP World Tour full-time.
• Davis Riley and Nick Hardy: The duo shared their first TOUR title together at last year’s Zurich Classic, and they’ll look to successfully defend that title. Riley and Hardy are longtime friends dating back to junior golf days.
• Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick: They’re the third set of brothers to commit so far – but the only pair that aren’t twins, as Matt is older by four years. The Fitzpatricks made their Zurich debut a year ago, finishing T19. Alex plays full-time on the DP World Tour and has moved inside the top 150 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
• Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners: An all-Canadian duo, both grew up in the province of Ontario and both have represented the International Team at the Presidents Cup. Conners is a two-time winner of the Valero Texas Open; Pendrith still seeks his first TOUR title.
• Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin: An all-Canadian duo, both hail from the province of British Columbia in western Canada. Taylor memorably won last year's RBC Canadian Open with a lengthy eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole against Tommy Fleetwood, after which Hadwin was tackled while running onto the green to spray Taylor with champagne.
• Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler: This duo partnered together in 2023 and held at least a share of the lead in the first three rounds before finishing solo third, three shots back of winners Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.
• Billy Horschel and Tyson Alexander: The only player to claim both individual and team titles at the Zurich Classic, Horschel will seek an unprecedented third title, this time partnering with Tyson Alexander, the son of his college coach.
• Luke Donald and Francesco Molinari: Donald's best finishes at the Zurich Classic were a third in 2012 and a tie for eighth in 2011. The 2023 European Ryder Cup captain tied for 23rd in last year’s Zurich Classic while teamed with Edoardo Molinari, Francesco’s older brother. Francesco will be making his Zurich Classic debut this year.
• Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar: Stricker has won 12 times on the PGA TOUR, appeared on five Presidents Cup teams and played on three Ryder Cup teams in addition to captaining two winning American teams in international competition. Kuchar has nine PGA TOUR wins and two international victories in his career.
• Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney: The two have partnered every year since the tournament adopted its team format in 2017. That year they finished tied for fifth, which tied for Hoffman’s best at the Zurich Classic.
• Gary Woodland and Lee Hodges: Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, returns to New Orleans for the sixth time and his first appearance since 2018. His best finish is a T20 in 2016. Hodges, winner of the 2023 3M Open, will be making his third straight start (MC in 2022 and 2023) in the Zurich Classic.
• Thorbjorn Olesen and Matt Wallace
• Justin Suh and Rico Hoey
• Eric Cole and Russ Cochran
• Taylor Moore and Matt Nesmith
• Sepp Straka and Brice Garnett
• Peter Malnati and Russell Knox
• Ryan Fox and Garrick Higgo
• Tom Hoge and Maverick McNealy
• Austin Eckroat and Chris Gotterup
• Daniel Berger and Victor Perez
• Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard
• Cameron Champ and MJ Daffue
• Nico Echavarria and Max Greyserman
• Brice Garnett and Sepp Straka
• Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown
• K.H. Lee and Michael Kim
• Luke List and Henrik Norlander
• Peter Malnati and Russell Knox
• Taylor Moore and Matt NeSmith
• Vincent Norrman and Jorge Campillo
• Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer
• Chez Reavie and Brandt Snedeker
• J.J. Spaun and Hayden Buckley
• Zach Johnson and Ryan Palmer
• Kelly Kraft and Kevin Tway
• Kevin Chappell and Jason Dufner
• Brandon Wu and James Nicholas
• Thriston Lawrence and Aldrich Potgieter
• Andrew Putnam and Joe Highsmith
• Taylor Montgomery and Ben Griffin
• Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid
• Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre
• Beau Hossler and Sam Ryder
• Keith Mitchell and Joel Dahmen
• Sam Stevens and Paul Barjon
• Aaron Rai and David Lipsky
• S.H. Kim and Sangmoon Bae
• Davis Thompson and Andrew Novak
• Ben Taylor and Sean O'Hair
• Garrick Higgo and Ryan Fox
• Robby Shelton and Wilson Furr
• Callum Tarren and David Skinns
• Dylan Wu and Justin Lower
• Harry Hall and Justin Lower
• Nate Lashley and Rafael Campos
• Greyson Sigg and Chesson Hadley
• Carson Young and Ben Martin
• Kevin Streelman and Martin Laird
• Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn
• Kevin Yu and C.T. Pan
• Doug Ghim and Chan Kim
• Troy Merritt and Robert Streb
• Carl Yuan and Zecheng Dou
• Jhonattan Vegas and Bronson Burgoon
• Vince Whaley and Adam Long
• Ben Kohles and Patton Kizzire
• Chandler Phillips and Jacob Bridgeman
• Erik Barnes and Harrison Endycott
• Jimmy Stanger and Adrien Dumont de Chassart
• Alejandro Tosti and Ted Potter, Jr.
• Ben Silverman and Kevin Dougherty
• Hayden Springer and Tom Whitney
• Mac Meissner and Austin Smotherman
• Norman Xiong and Ryan McCormick
• Trace Crowe and Harry Higgs
• Roger Sloan and Josh Teater
• Raul Pereda and Austin Cook
• Scott Gutschewski and Jonathan Byrd
• Blaine Hale, Jr. and Paul Haley II