Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2026 Zurich Classic, which gets underway Thursday in New Orleans
It feels like the post-Masters cooldown continues this week on the PGA Tour, letting everyone completely exhale, before ramping right back up again for Aronimink and the PGA Championship in three weeks. From Augusta, we took a load off last week at the Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, S.C., and now we turn the volume down even further, removing the signature status label, and embark on a friendly, two-person, team competition down in the Big Easy for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
I enjoy the switch from the week-to-week individual stroke-play events. At the same time, the reward for winning the Zurich Classic stands up, awarding each member of the winning team with 400 FedExCup points, a two-year PGA Tour exemption, entry into the season’s remaining signature events, and a spot in the aforementioned PGA Championship.
On Thursday and Saturday, the teams will play best ball. Each player plays their own ball, and the lower score of the two becomes the one team score on each hole. On Friday and Sunday, it is the very challenging alternate shot format. Player A hits a tee ball, Player B then hits an approach shot, and the back-and-forth continues until the ball is holed — for what becomes the team’s score on each hole. This will be the ninth time that the Zurich Classic has been played as such. The winning score for the past eight champions has been just a shade under 26-under par on average. The winning score proposition bet at the Westgate SuperBook here in Las Vegas is under/over 260.5, meaning 27.5-under par.
For the second straight week, we land on a Pete Dye design dominated by Bermuda grass. TPC Louisiana is a relatively easy par 72, measuring roughly 7,400 yards with plenty of sand bunkers and water holes to make things interesting.
The handicap of any team event is always a twist. Normally we are trying to profile a type of individual player who would seem to be a timely and good fit for that particular test of golf that week. This week, you are dealing with an “individual” team — one unit made up of two players, and we’re trying to figure out how those two players will perform as one. Not easy and arguably more guesswork than in a typical week on Tour.
I have had some success here in the past with this challenge. Last season, we correctly landed on Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak. Of course, I look at the stats, mostly honing in on approach play, birdies-or-better rankings, scrambling, 450-500-yard par-4 scoring and strokes gained: tee to green. But I also really like to have complementary players — players whose skill sets are a good match or blend, and not necessarily two players who are identical. For example, having one bomber off the tee paired with a short-game wizard feels like a strong one-two punch.
It should also be noted that I prefer to proceed with caution this week on Tour, dumbing down one’s amount of risk, due to the unpredictability of a two-person dynamic.
Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala (20-1)
Here are two proven winners on Tour, a couple of the better players in this field, and I like the complementary strengths. Rai is the consummate ball striker and is very accurate off the tee. Theegala possesses an excellent short game. Over the past 24 rounds, Theegala ranks 11th in this field for scrambling and has finished top 10 in two of his past five starts.
Haotong Li and Jordan Smith (25-1)
A very interesting pairing between longtime DP World Tour mates and two players with loads of talent. Li has been struggling, missing the cut in five of his past seven starts. He was going along swimmingly at the Masters before unraveling on the 13th hole on Sunday and shooting an 80 to drop into 38th place. Smith finished third at the Valspar Championship a month ago and was 16th last week at Harbour Town. Putting is the question mark here as both of these players make their hay with ball striking and not necessarily on and around the greens. I do believe, however, there is a very high ceiling here on what these two can possibly put together as they may be the very strongest duo tee to green.
Keith Mitchell and Brandt Snedeker (35-1)
Mitchell has twice contended at this tournament, before finishing top 10. He is one of the best in the game off the tee, and Snedeker has always been one of the game’s best putters. Over the past 24 rounds, Mitchell is fifth in this field for birdies-or-better gained, 15th for SG: approach, and ninth for SG: tee to green. Snedeker ranks seventh in scrambling. The complementary pairing and veteran know-how could lead to success for these two this week.
MacKenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith (35-1)
The Canadians are friends on and off the golf course, and I do like the blending of skill sets. Pendrith is a banger off the tee, and Hughes is a short game specialist. They are also both winners on Tour despite not being in the best of form as of late. Hughes’ best finish here was 30th in 2019. In just two trips to New Orleans, Pendrith has finished top 15 both times.
Andrew Putnam and Austin Smotherman (50-1)
This appears to be a very strong pairing with two players who have each recorded a runner-up finish and have had good seasons so far. Putnam is the magician on and around the greens, ranking fourth on Tour in scrambling. Over the past 24 rounds, Smotherman ranks eighth in this field for SG: approach and is fourth on the 450-500-yard par-4s.
