This week on the PGA Tour, we have what is arguably the most unique stop on the schedule in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This isn’t your typical PGA Tour stroke-play event, as the guys playing this week will be paired up with a partner of their choosing, and it is split up into a best-ball round and an alternate-shot round the first 2 days; then you repeat those same formats if you make the weekend.

There’s always a ton of excitement at this event over the weekend, and you get to see some really low scores, especially in the best-ball rounds. While not every player we will be going over is from the Carolinas this week, they are at least paired up with a guy from the Carolinas. So, let’s dive into each player competing from the Carolinas, and see what kind of odds they have going into this one-of-a-kind event.

Ben Martin & Trace Crowe

We’ve got two South Carolinians paired up in this group, as they look to compete in the Zurich Classic. Ben Martin has played most of the season on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he has played in 8 events, making 4 cuts, and 1 event on the PGA Tour where he missed the cut. Martin ranks 4th in driving accuracy on the Korn Ferry at 76.32% but has struggled on the greens with a 1.839 putting average, which is 137th on the Korn Ferry.

Martin has played in the Zurich Classic on 8 occasions, making the cut 3 times, with just 1 top 25. Trace Crowe has also been mostly playing on the Korn Ferry this season, as he has played in 2 events, making 2 cuts, and has 1 top 5 finish this year. Given the few events Crowe has played in, he doesn’t have any reliable stats heading into this tournament. Crowe has played the Zurich Classic twice, where he has made the cut once, and that resulted in a top 5 finish, which was last season.

These guys are currently listed at +200 for a top 20 (including ties), +550 for a top 10 (including ties), and +10000 to win. Given these guys’ lack of performances in a PGA Tour environment this year, it’s hard to really gauge where they will fall this week.

Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak

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This is the group every team will have their eyes on, as Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak are defending their title this week at the Zurich Classic. Both guys have been really impressive this year and are very close to breaking through in the win column, which is scary for the rest of the field.

Griffin has played in 11 events, making 8 cuts, with 2 top 25s. In all of his last 3 starts, he has finished inside the top 33. Statistically, Griffin has struggled off the tee and with his irons but has been impressive around the green and in the putting columns, which will be huge this week. In 3 outings in the Zurich Classic, Griffin has only made the cut once, which resulted in his win with Novak last year.

Novak has also played in 11 events this season, where he has made the cut in 7, along with 2 top 25s, and 1 top 10. He has been just around average in every strokes gained category outside of strokes gained approach to the green, where he is 66th, gaining 0.130 strokes per round on the field. In the Zurich Classic, Novak has made the cut twice, where he has 1 top 25, and 1 win.

These guys are currently -140 for a top 20 finish (including ties), +135 for a top 10 (including ties), and +2000 to win. Though there will be a little bit more added pressure this year for this group, I expect a good outing from these guys, given how good they both are.

Billy Horschel & Tom Hoge

Tom Hoge has himself quite the partner this week in Billy Horschel, the veteran from Grant, Florida. Horschel has had a steady season, making 8 of 11 cuts, though he didn’t have his best stuff last week at the RBC Heritage, finishing solo 80th. He hasn’t been overly impressive in any strokes gained category, but his best has been with the irons and putting, where he’s around or just above tour average.

Horschel has played in the Zurich Classic 13 times, making the cut 9 times, with 2 wins, 2 top 5s, and 2 top 25s. Hoge hasn’t been great as of late either, or in 11 starts this season, he has made just 6 cuts. He has been a lot better with the irons as of late, which is what he’s known for, ranking 66th on tour in strokes gained approach to the green, gaining 0.130 strokes on the field.

He is still well below tour average in strokes gained total, so maybe having a partner this week will give him a much-needed confidence boost. Hoge has played the Zurich Classic 10 times, making the cut in half, where he has 1 top 10, and 2 top 25s.

This week, we find these two at +155 for a top 20 (including ties), +430 for a top 10 (including ties), and +6500 to win. Though these 2 haven’t played incredibly this year, there’s just something about this event that can get you on the right track. I wouldn’t go crazy wager-wise on this team, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they put together a good week, given how their games can complement one another.

Jonathan Byrd & Chez Reavie

Both Jonathan Byrd and Chez Reavie have been in the professional golf world for quite some time. Byrd, from Anderson, South Carolina, hasn’t played a ton this season, with 4 Korn Ferry Tour starts, and 1 PGA Tour start, only having made 1 cut. He hasn’t recorded a ton of stats this year, obviously, given the few starts, and doesn’t have enough data to match up with other Korn Ferry Tour players.

He has played the Zurich Classic 13 times, making the cut in 5, with 3 top 25s. Reavie is a PGA Tour veteran, but after a lackluster 2025 season, he has found himself grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour. He has played in 9 events on the Korn Ferry, making the cut in 4, with 2 top 25 finishes.

He is currently 13th on the Korn Ferry in driving accuracy with 74.14% but has struggled hitting greens in regulation at just a 70.11% clip (111th on Korn Ferry), and in the putting department, averaging 1.834 putts per hole (134th on Korn Ferry). In the Zurich Classic, he has made half of the cuts in 14 starts, and he has 2 top 25s.

This team is +500 for a top 20 finish (including ties), +3500 for a top 10 (including ties), and +10000 to win. This certainly isn’t a group I’d be tailing this week, as they haven’t proved much this season.

Will Gordon & Paul Peterson

This team with Will Gordon and Paul Peterson is a group with 2 guys that have seen most of their starts this season on the Korn Ferry Tour. Gordon has only played on the Korn Ferry this year, playing in 9 events, making 4 cuts, with 1 top 5. He is currently 34th on the Korn Ferry in driving distance with 308.1 yards per drive, but is just 71st in driving accuracy at 65.27%.

He has also struggled on the greens, ranking 45th in putting average, with 1.884 putts per hole. He has played in the Zurich Classic 3 times, and has yet to make a cut. Peterson has played in 2 PGA Tour events, making 1 cut, and has 1 top 5. He has played in 6 Korn Ferry Tour events, making the cut in 3, and has 2 top 25s.

Peterson is 7th in driving accuracy at 75%, and an impressive 26th in scrambling at 61.33%. He has been middle of the road in the putting department, averaging 1.793 putts per hole, which is 78th on the Korn Ferry Tour. Peterson has only had one Zurich Classic start, where he made the cut, but didn’t finish inside the top 25.

This team is +470 to finish top 20 (including ties), +1500 for a top 10 (including ties), and +15000 to win. Again, given this group’s lack of PGA Tour exposure this season, it’s hard to back them heading into this week.

Chandler Phillips & Carson Young

Carson Young, out of Anderson, South Carolina, who has bounced between PGA Tour starts and the Korn Ferry Tour this year, is paired up with Texan Chandler Phillips this week in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Phillips has full PGA Tour status, and has played in 9 events on tour, making 6 cuts, coming with a top 10, and 1 top 25.

Phillips’ biggest area of improvement needs to come in the irons, which seems to be holding him back, as he is 155th on tour in strokes gained approach to the green, losing almost an entire stroke per round to the tour average. He has been one of the best on tour putting, though, as he is 21st in that department, gaining 0.484 strokes per round on the tour average.

Phillips has played the Zurich Classic twice, making the cut in both, where he has 1 top 10, and another top 25. Young has played in 4 tournaments on the PGA Tour, making 3 of 4 cuts, and 6 Korn Ferry Tour events, making 4 of 6 cuts, with 1 3rd-place finish, and another top 5 finish.

On the Korn Ferry Tour, he is 5th in driving accuracy, hitting 75.82% of fairways, and is 21st in greens in regulation, hitting at a 75.64% clip. He has been really impressive with the putter, averaging 1.695 putts per hole, which is 3rd on the Korn Ferry, but has struggled in the scrambling department a little at 87th on tour, converting a par or better just 54.39% of the time.

This will be Young’s 4th Zurich Classic, and he has yet to make a cut. The Phillips and Young team are currently +175 for a top 20 finish (including ties), +470 for a top 10 finish (including ties), and +7000 to win this week. This certainly could be a sneaky group for a top 20, or potentially a top 10, given solid play out of both players, and they both complement each other quite well.

Ryan Gerard & Sudarshan Yellamaraju

Raleigh native Ryan Gerard had to scramble this week to find a partner for the Zurich Classic, as his original playing partner David Ford couldn’t play this week due to injury. In the grand scheme of things, he ended up with a really solid partner in Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

Like we say just about every week at this point, Gerard has been really impressive this season, making 9 of 11 cuts, with 2 second-place finishes, and 2 other top 25 finishes. The only thing really holding him back at this point is his strokes gained around the green, where he is 123rd, losing roughly 0.249 strokes per round to the tour average. Everywhere else, he’s gaining strokes on the tour average.

This will only be Gerard’s 3rd appearance in this tournament, where he has made the cut once, finishing in the top 25. Yellamaraju has quietly put together a really strong 2026 campaign, as he has made 9 of 10 cuts this year, where he has 1 top 5, another top 10, and 3 other top 25s.

Yellamaraju’s kryptonite has been the same as Gerard’s, being strokes gained around the green, though he’s losing slightly less per round at -0.175 to the tour average in that department. This is Yellamaraju’s first full season on the PGA Tour, so it will be his first Zurich Classic.

We see these guys at -145 for a top 20 finish (including ties), +165 for a top 10 (including ties), and +1600 to win this week. It will be interesting to see how these guys play together, but they are the 3rd shortest odds to win this thing, so this will certainly be a group to watch this week.