It wouldn’t be wise to think little of the unlikely partnership of Daniel Berger and Thomas Pieters.
Berger and Pieters have a sweet blend of experience on this week’s course and momentum heading into the tournament. Berger has two top-20 finishes at the Zurich Classic – T6 in 2015 – while Pieters is hot off a superb fourth-place showing at the Masters, giving him three top-fives in his last six starts.
It’s hard to find a pairing that’s got the best of both worlds at its disposal, so the 2015 Rookie of the Year Berger and Belgian sensation Pieters make for a tasty combination that could easily turn some heads in TPC Louisiana.
We’re about to witness the best that the East has to offer, as Hideki Matsuyama and Hideto Tanihara join forces as the top- and third-ranked Japanese players on the Tour. Neither of them have seen action at the Zurich Classic yet, but we still like their chances of winning this week’s event given how Matsuyama’s 2017 campaign is going.
For the season, Matsuyama has a two wins to go with another couple of runner-up finishes; all of which were attained between the start of the season last October up to February of this year. Although the 25-year-old has cooled off since that stretch, he did bounce back relatively well with a T11 at Augusta and is currently ranked seventh on the Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
If you’re a Crimson Tide fan, there’s no better pick this week than the team of Bud Cauley and Justin Thomas. Not only are they a couple of standout ‘Bama products, they’re also playing some of their best golf this season.
Cauley has three top-10 finishes this season, which already trumps his production from the past couple of years combined. Two of those top 10s, by the way, were from this month’s tournaments at the RBC heritage (T9) and the Valero Texas Open (T10). Meanwhile, Thomas will bring his two wins from January and his PGA Tour-best birdie average of 4.89 to the table to round out this stunning Heart of Dixie duo.
