Zurich Classic Tips: Cauley/Thomas

It’s an old tournament but a new format this week as teams compete on the PGA Tour for the Zurich Classic. A 72-hole stroke play tournament it will feature Foursomes (alternate shot) on the first and third round with Four-Ball (better ball) during the second and fourth round. The field will consist of 80 teams with a halfway cut seeing the top-35 and ties progressing to the weekend.

In short this is the same format as the World Cup Of Golf but with more teams and mixed nationalities.

It’s hard to predict how this tournament will pan out but I think the cream will rise to the top. It’s hard enough for one outsider to win a golf tournament, let alone two paired together – I suspect the quality will have a multiplying effect.

To this end my only selection this week is the team of Bud Cauley and Justin Thomas. The pair are friends, both played for the University of Alabama and both use Titleist equipment and balls.
With kit and camaraderie sorted, we can look at their golf and this offers further encouragement.

Cauley arrives in Louisiana on the back of consecutive top-10 finishes and although Justin Thomas has cooled since the start of the year he finished T22 at the Masters and is one of the best in the field.

Both players have recent experience of TPC Louisiana, Cauley finished T11 in 2014 and Thomas T12 in 2015. The team format shouldn’t upset either player as both went unbeaten through their Walker Cup experiences, Cauley in 2009 and Thomas in 2013.

The pair tick plenty of boxes and although we are going slightly into the unknown, they hold obvious claims.