Sleeper Picks: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Robby Shelton & Lee Hodges (+333 = Top 10) … This collaboration has been years in the making, even if they never realized it. They just missed each other at the University of Alabama because Shelton turned professional after his junior year in 2016. Had he stuck around, he’d have been competing alongside Hodges, who had just transferred from UAB. Shelton then beat Hodges to the PGA TOUR, but he lost his card after the 2020-21 season. With Shelton back on the Korn Ferry Tour, Hodges made a nice splash as a rookie in 2021-22, and then Shelton regained his playing privileges this season, so here they are together … finally. None of the first five champions of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the team format hail from the same collegiate stomping grounds, so it’d be worth the wait times too because neither of these guys has won a PGA TOUR event, either. Both are in form upon arrival and they should complement each other nicely in terms of the strengths of their games. Each also is in his second appearance at TPC Louisiana.

Davis Riley & Nick Hardy (+275 = Top 10) … Ironically, Riley’s tenure at Alabama spanned the careers of Shelton and Hodges, so he was a teammate of both, but he’s connected with a former University of Illinois star this week. In his debut last year, Riley finished T4 with the now-sidelined Will Zalatoris. It was just a month after his close call at Copperhead where LSU’s Sam Burns had successfully defended his title in a playoff. At the time, Hardy was playing through a sore wrist and placed T21 in his first go at TPC Louisiana with another Tiger, Curtis Thompson. He’d shut it down for a month and hasn’t regressed, although Riley’s form has been stronger in 2023. Their games are freakishly similar, so they oughta slay better ball.

Nick Watney & Charley Hoffman (+1000 = Top 10) … The last time I went on the record for lowering my expectations on Hoffman was in the Power Rankings for the QBE Shootout. He and partner Ryan Palmer were slotted 12th of, uh, a dozen. After an impressive fight to the finish, they checked up in second place at the conclusion of the 54-hole competition. The duo was so amused about their spot in the Power Rankings that the topic opened their interview on Golf Channel after an opening 56. I paid my restitution to Palmer at the Farmers Insurance Open with an endorsement for a Top 40 at +300. He managed but a T62. It’s now Hoffman’s turn. He and Watney have been each other’s partners for every edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans since the format was introduced in 2017. They’ve recorded a pair of top 10s and a T11.

Odds were sourced on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

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