The Zurich Classic of New Orleans became the lone team event on the PGA Tour schedule in 2017, with 80 duos competing in a unique scoring format. Thursday and Saturday will feature best-ball scoring at the 2023 Zurich Classic, while Friday and Sunday will be alternate shot. Presidents Cup teammates and defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele headline the 2023 Zurich Classic field. They are 4-1 favorites in the latest 2023 Zurich Classic odds, followed by Collin Morikawa and Max Homa (17-2).
Watching golf inherently makes you want to play golf, which makes Masters week equal parts pleasure and pain.
From the sounds of birds chirping and Jim Nantz on the call to the breathtaking drone aerials of the undulating fairways, golf viewers spend all week drooling over the mere thought of driving down Magnolia Lane for a round at Augusta National Golf Club, ranked No. 3 among Golfweek’s Best classic courses.
So how does one go about scoring a round on one of golf’s most famous courses? Here are a few ways you can pull off the seemingly impossible (but it certainly won’t be easy).
Be invited by a member- Augusta National’s exclusivity is one of the many aspects that sets it apart from other clubs, so getting an invite from a member just might be the easiest way to get a round. You either need to meet some new friends in high places, or maybe try your hand at college golf? College teams are sometimes invited to play by members, like when Notre Dame played a handful bucket-list courses to prepare for the 2020 season.
Augusta National Women’s Amateur - The ANWA runs the week before the Masters and features a loaded field of the best women’s amateur players in the world. In the fourth edition this year, Rose Zhang beat Jenny Bae on the second playoff hole.
Qualify for the Masters -We’ll let our friends at Augusta.com field this one. (Tip: Seeing as you’re probably not a professional golfer if you’re reading this, you might want to focus on the amateur events.)
Report on the Masters-There’s an annual media lottery for a Monday round after the Masters, and a few Golfweek writers have won over the years. All media who travel to the course to cover the event can choose to enter the drawing. The lucky media winners are typically announced during the second round.
Work as a volunteer at the Masters or for Augusta National -Volunteers get to play a round, but vacancies rarely occur, and when they do, there’s a wait. You know you’re doing something right when there’s a line of people waiting to work for you for free (with a round of golf on the side). Augusta National staff also get to play a round.
Work as a caddie at Augusta National- If you work as a caddie for the golf club, you might gain access to play 18 holes, as one day is set aside for caddies to play.
2023 Masters: From Tiger to Phil to sleeper picks, here's everything you need to know
The first major of the year is here, and the anticipation for this year's Masters could not be higher.
Between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being back, the first meeting of LIV Golf and PGA Tour players at Augusta National Country Club, as well as Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy continuing to play hot potato with the No. 1 world ranking, there are plenty of compelling storylines as the golf world descends on the sport's most famous venue.
Here's what to watch for in Georgia this week:
What can we expect from Tiger this week?
Mark Schlabach: Last year, Tiger hadn't played competitively in 508 days and showed up at the Masters and made his 23rd consecutive cut. He played well over the first 36 holes, but the cold weather caught up with his surgically repaired right leg and back, making one of the most difficult walks in all of golf even tougher. He carded a 6-over 78 in each of the last two rounds, his worst score at the Masters. He looked better physically at the Genesis and said his right leg is stronger than it was a year ago, but he's still being bothered by his right ankle. I think he'll make the cut again because he knows the course better than anyone else in the field. I think a top-25 finish isn't completely out of the question for Tiger, but I'd find it difficult to believe he can do better than that.
Paolo Uggetti: Given what we saw at Riviera, where Tiger looked a bit more comfortable walking while his game showed plenty of promising flashes, I think making the cut will be the low bar that he should be able to clear. In an ideal world, the five-time champion would have had at least one more appearance before arriving at the Masters, but health is more paramount than ensuring his game is sharp. If Tiger can succeed at any place with just one competitive tournament under his belt, it's Augusta. Even if the walk is tougher than most courses, the warm weather should help him, and I'd venture to guess he is going to get an early start Thursday and a long break before his second round Friday. I won't go as far as to say he will contend, but it should be another promising step in this new stage of his career.
What can we expect from Phil this week?
Schlabach: Given the way Mickelson played in the majors last year and what he did in LIV Golf's first three tournaments this season, finishing 27th in Mexico, 32nd in Tucson, Arizona, and 41st in Orlando, Florida, I wouldn't expect much of anything. He isn't playing well and hasn't in a while, and it's going to be a circus around him in Augusta. Mickelson won't address the media in a formal news conference before the Masters starts Thursday, so there's going to be a microscope on him during practice and the early rounds, after he skipped this event, which he has won three times, in 2022. There will still be some patrons cheering for him.
Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.
Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?
Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.
Uggetti: I honestly have no idea. Mickelson has looked like a shell of himself -- figuratively and literally -- since bolting for LIV, and his performance at last year's U.S. Open (the last major he participated in) was particularly poor. Since thumbs-upping his way out of that tournament, Mickelson has shown absolutely no signs of life in any of LIV's events, consistently finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard. He has finished 27th or worse in eight of his 10 appearances. Then again, Mickelson is a past winner here, and it would be some kind of dark twist to the whole PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga if he somehow turned back the clock and competed this week.
Speaking of the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf, how much of the feud is going to be on display?
Schlabach: I don't think it's going to be as much of a storyline as expected because everyone is going to be on their best behavior at Augusta National. The LIV Golf players are probably going to be sporting their team logos on shirts and hats, so the elephant in the room isn't going to be completely invisible. I just don't know how many of LIV Golf's 18 participants are going to be real contenders. Australia's Cameron Smith, who tied for second in 2020 and tied for third last year, has played well here. He hasn't played much this season, though, and his form hasn't been great lately, finishing 26th in Tucson and 29th in Orlando. Past champions Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed haven't played much, either. Brooks Koepka won the Orlando event and is suddenly playing better. With the LIV Golf League placing such an emphasis on the team competition -- go RangeGoats! -- can they simply flip the switch and get back to playing as individuals? And finish 72 holes? Chances are one or two of them will be on the leaderboard Sunday, though.
Who's your dark horse pick for the week?
Schlabach: It's probably not too much of a stretch to say that a guy who finished runner-up in his first Masters appearance and tied for eighth in his third would be a dark horse, but I'm not sure there are too many people picking Sungjae Im to win a green jacket this week. In 2020, the South Korean became the first Asian player to finish runner-up, and he held the first-round lead two years later. Im has won two times on tour and loves playing at Augusta National. Im doesn't hit the ball especially far off the tee, but he keeps it in the fairway and has a solid all-around game.
Uggetti: It feels like every big tournament these days is going to be won by either Scheffler, McIlroy or Rahm, which makes it difficult to look beyond them to find an unexpected winner. I'll take Jason Day. He's obviously been trending in the right direction -- five top-10s in the past six tournaments and 11 top-20 finishes this season -- and it appears the swing changes he has made have paid dividends. Day has missed the cut in the past two Masters he has played in, but he finished top-5 in 2019. A win at Augusta would be a fitting, storybook-like way to cap what has been a long, up-and-down road back to the top of the game.
Who are you definitely not picking this week?
Schlabach: Patrick Cantlay is one of the best players in the world, especially with a driver in his hand. But his performance in major championships is perplexing, to say the least. He has only one top-5 finish in a major -- a tie for third at the 2019 PGA Championship -- and one top-10 at the Masters, a tie for ninth in 2019. The light switch is going to go off for Cantlay at some point and he's going to contend for a major championship. I just don't think it's going to be this week.
Uggetti: Will Zalatoris. This could look like a poor choice in retrospect, given that Zalatoris has proved to be a supremely better player when playing in majors, but be it injury or putting woes, Zalatoris has struggled this season. After finishing tied for 11th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Zalatoris finished tied for 36th and missed the cut before finishing fourth at Riviera. In the past three tournaments, however, Zalatoris has finished tied for 53rd, 73rd and tied for 59th. Even more damning, Zalatoris is ranked 137th in strokes gained putting one year after finishing 103rd in the same stat last season.
'What a week': Sam Burns storms through field, wins Match Play
AUSTIN, Texas -- The final hours of the last WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play turned into a dud for everyone but Sam Burns.
Burns went on a tear Sunday afternoon in the championship match with eight birdies on his final 10 holes and enough help from Cameron Young for a 6-and-5 victory. It was the second-largest margin in an 18-hole match in this tournament.
Burns won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour. Young, who had a late rally with clutch birdies to eliminate Rory McIlroy in the semifinals, had to settle for his sixth runner-up finish in the past 18 months.
"What a week," Burns said. "I'm so tired."
Burns made it to the championship match Sunday afternoon only when defending champion Scottie Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole of their semifinal match. Given new life, Burns made birdie from a fairway bunker with a 15-foot putt to advance.
Young had an early lead. Burns squared the match on the fifth hole and took the lead with a chip-and-putt birdie on the par-5 sixth. And then on the next hole, Young missed a 6-foot par putt to fall 2-down. It was his first bogey since the seventh hole Thursday.
All the momentum Young had built up over the week seemed to vanish. And the silky putting stroke of Burns was never better.
He holed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 8. He made a 12-footer on No. 10 to go 4-up. He birdied the 11th hole from 25 feet -- Young made his from 20 to halve the hole -- and then it ended so abruptly.
Young pulled his shot from rough into the water on the par-5 12th, and then he came up short of the green and into the water on the reachable par-4 13th.
Burns chipped to just inside 3 feet, and Young removed his cap without making him putt.
"It's easy to think you're so close," Young said. "There's one guy standing between you and winning the tournament. And that one guy is Sam Burns playing really well."
The highlight was his semifinal win over McIlroy, who was in full flight for so much of the week. McIlroy was 2-up with three holes to play when Young won the 16th with a birdie and then hit a nifty pitch-and-run up the slope and his purest putt of the week.
On the first extra hole at the par-5 12th, Young was in such a bad spot in the bunker next to the lip that he could blast out to only 169 yards, with McIlroy just over 200 yards for his second. Young hammered pitching wedge to 9 feet and made birdie. McIlroy played short and right of the green, chipped to just inside 9 feet and missed.
That was the kind of theater that graced Austin Country Club all week, particularly Sunday morning. Scheffler was trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners, and he had a 2-up lead over Burns through 10 holes.
Burns rallied back against his best friend on tour, and Scheffler had to get up-and-down from short of the 18th green for birdie to force overtime. He had it won on the second extra hole at No. 13 -- except he missed the putt -- and Burns escaped.
"That's the nature of this match play," Burns said. "It's one holed putt or missed putt away from winning or losing. He gave me a gift there on 13."
Burns in the championship match was close to unbeatable.
"There might not have been anybody beating him today the way he played," Young said.
McIlroy and Scheffler wound up in the consolation match, which McIlroy won 2 and 1. That gave the thin crowd something to watch when Burns ended the title match early. Scheffler played four years for the Longhorns. McIlroy is popular everywhere.
And while that was going on, the Longhorns were on TV trying to get to the Final Four in a game they ultimately lost to Miami.
It was a flat ending to what has been 23 dynamic events of Match Play since the World Golf Championships began in 1999. Match Play was the first one, a 38-hole final won by Jeff Maggert at La Costa. That was a nail-biter. This was a rout.
Match Play will not be on the schedule in 2024 as the PGA Tour moves toward elevated events for the top 70 or so players, a response to the threat from Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Burns, who made 40 birdies for the week, moved to No. 10 in the world and collected $3.5 million from the $20 million purse. Young got $2.2 million for finishing second, though a trophy after so many close calls would seem to be invaluable.
Taylor Moore outlasts Jordan Spieth, Adam Schenk at Valspar for first Tour win
PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Taylor Moore was never really the star attraction Sunday at the Valspar Championship until he had finished hitting all the right shots and posed with the trophy for his first PGA Tour title that sends him to the Masters.
Adam Schenk and Jordan Spieth provided enough compelling theater for so much of the day, locked in a battle on the back nine of the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
When it was over, all they shared was misfortune.
Moore surged into the mix with a 9-iron to 5 feet for birdie on the 15th hole and a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, followed by two tough pars for a 4-under 67.
That turned out to be a winner when Spieth hit his tee shot into the water on the 16th and Schenk, going for his first PGA Tour victory, hit a drive on the final hole that settled next to a large pine tree. He made bogey and finished one shot behind.
Moore, who grew up outside Oklahoma City, was on the practice range anticipating a playoff when he realized he had won at 10-under 274.
“I might have been under the radar to some people watching, but I felt like I was in the golf tournament from the time I teed off today and was just excited to control what I could control and get it done,” Moore said.
The victory sends him to the Masters in three weeks, a welcome addition to his schedule.
Spieth was tied for the lead when he sent his tee shot into the water on the 16th and managed to stay in the game by getting up-and-down from 163 yards to salvage bogey. On the par-3 17th, which yielded only two birdies all day, Spieth hit 4-iron to 6 feet — only to miss the birdie putt.
Tommy Fleetwood was part of a three-way tie early on the back nine until he took bogey on the par-5 14th. Spieth didn’t realize anyone else was in the mix.
“I thought it was me and Adam. I thought it was down to us two,” Spieth said. “I was thinking it was Tommy one back of us with a few holes to go and so I thought we could still kind of control it from the last group. Then I saw 10 (under) was posted walking off 16 green.”
The real heartbreak belonged to Schenk, whose wife flew down to Florida for the final round a month before she is due with their first child. Schenk holed a 70-foot birdie putt on the 12th hole. He made tough par saves on the 16th and 17th holes to stay tied.
On the 18th, however, he pulled his tee shot to the left. It was roughly the same line as Moore had hit his tee shot earlier, only Schenk’s ball rolled through the gallery and stopped next to a pine tree.
“Wish I could have lightly hit somebody and stayed where I had a chance to get to the green, but it did not, and I didn’t deserve it,” Schenk said.
His only shot was hitting an inverted gap wedge left-handed, and it was a dandy, shooting across the fairway into the rough. His third shot came up just short of a ridge and rolled onto the fringe 40 feet away. The par putt to force a playoff hit the hole, but had too much pace and hopped out.
Schenk, playing for the 10th consecutive week so he can take time off when his son is born, closed with a 70.
“It stinks to get so close,” he said.
Spieth missed a par putt on the 18th that was worth FedEx Cup points and money, signed for a 70 and tied for third with Fleetwood.
No one was paying all that much attention to Moore until the 29-year-old who played at Arkansas started hitting one quality shot after another. He stuffed his approach to 2 feet on No. 12 for a birdie. He effectively won the tournament with a great swing with a 9-iron on the 15th and his big putt on the next hole.
Moore got up-and-down for par with a long bunker shot on the 17th, and he two-putted from about 70 feet just off the green at the 18th.
The victory for Moore was worth $1,458,000 and moved him to No. 9 in the FedEx Cup standings. Along with the Masters, he gets in the PGA Championship. He moved from No. 103 to just inside the top 50 in the world.
