The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history, and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $400K Sand Trap [$100K to 1st]
The Field
One of the most unique events of the season returns this week with the Zurich Classic team event. After being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, this event returns for the sixth season in a row, with a late-April date. The field consists of 160 players (80 two-man teams), and this year will mark the eighth year the event has been contested in the team format. With 80 teams in the field, the cut will still take place after Friday — the top 33 teams (plus ties) make the weekend.
The format will lend itself to significant volatility, since Thursday and Saturday will feature teams competing in the best-ball (four-ball) format. In best ball, each player will play their own ball for the entire hole, and the best score will be taken on each hole.
Friday and Sunday will feature teams competing in an alternate-shot format, where teams play one ball per hole, alternating turns.
As you can guess, the scores in best ball tend to be quite a bit lower than in alternate shot. The defending champions of this event are Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak, who are in the field as a team again this season and the overwhelming favorites. While many top players have chosen to take the week off, we still have a few other elite teams in the field, like Brooks Koepka/Shane Lowry and Aaron Rai/Sahith Theegala.
The Course
TPC Louisiana — Avondale, Louisiana
Par 72 – 7,300-7400 yards (depending on the setup)
TPC Louisiana is a Pete Dye-designed course with a mixed bag of hole designs, but it can offer some really low scoring if the weather cooperates. In 2015, one of the final years, it was a regular stroke-play event — Justin Rose ended up winning with a final score of -22, and most winning scores were in the high teens or better during the stroke-play years.
One of the main reasons the scoring is so low is that the par 5s all rate as extremely great birdie opportunities. Only the par-5 18th hole comes in at over 570 yards in length. For most players, at least three of these longer holes are reachable in two shots. There are also some extremely short par 4s on TPC Louisiana, with four of the par 4s coming in at under 400 yards — including the driveable 16th, which is a key hole down the stretch.
The shorter holes this week will be absolute must-birdies for the players during best ball rounds, and you’ll see lots of eagles made as the extra ball in play during that format will encourage aggressive lines.
While the course does have some water and quite a few bunkers on it, accuracy isn’t a huge factor due to the lack of rough and larger fairways. Driving Accuracy stats here are generally higher than the PGA TOUR average, as are GIR percentages since the Bermuda greens are typically easier to hold and don’t play firm due to the higher humidity in Louisiana.
Softer greens also mean we see more long-range putts holed. On average, TPC Louisiana sees a larger-than-average number of birdie putts holed from 20 feet and in. Good putters — like Billy Horschel, Nick Taylor, Kevin Kisner, Cameron Smith, and Jonas Blixt — have dominated the leaderboard at this event since it became a team event.
2026 Weather Outlook: This event always carries thunderstorm warnings and has even been shortened in past seasons to 54 holes as a result. This year, the weather looks decent. Lower chances of precipitation throughout the week mean the course may play firmer than usual, and there are winds expected in the 8-10 mph range most days. Thursday afternoon may be the toughest wave at the moment, with winds expected to reach 15 mph. Some early-week rain on Tuesday and Wednesday may soften the course, but expect it to play tougher as the week rolls on.
Last Five Winners
2025—Andrew Novak/Ben Griffin -28 (over Hojgaard/Hojgaard -27)
2024—Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy -25 (over Martin Trainer/Chad Ramey playoff)
2023—Davis Riley/Nick Hardy -30 (over Hadwin / Taylor -28)
2022—Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele – 29 (over Sam Burns/Billy Horschel -27)
2021—Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman -20 (over Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel playoff)
Finding Values on DraftKings Sportsbook
Odds to win are one factor to consider when picking players (but not the only one, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Wyndham Clark/Taylor Moore ($8,900) and +2200
Comparables:
- Wallace/Penge ($9,100) and +2250
- Li/Smith ($9,000) and +2200
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook are subject to change.
Horses For Courses
1. Shane Lowry ($10,000): Lowry has played this event with Rory McIlroy the past couple of seasons and has had some great results, winning in a playoff back in 2024. This season, he’ll be paired with Brooks Koepka, another big hitter who will likely benefit from Lowry’s touch around the greens.
2. Davis Riley/Nick Hardy ($6,500): Hardy and Riley are playing together for the fourth year in a row. They won this event with a fantastic final-round 65 in the alternate-shot format back in 2023.
3. Alex Fitzpatrick/Matthew Fitzpatrick ($10,500): The Fitzpatrick brothers have been playing together for a while now at this event as older brother Matthew Fitzpatrick attempts to get his younger brother a PGA TOUR win. They finished T11 here in 2024 and T19 in 2023.
Recent Form
1. Matthew Fitzpatrick ($10,500): Fitzpatrick is on a huge ascension right now after taking 2nd at the PLAYERS and bagging wins at the RBC and Valspar. He’s the class of the field and will be with brother Alex Fitzpatrick this week, a talented player in his own right.
2. Jordan Smith ($9,000): Smith has had some strong results of late, posting a top-five at the Valspar and a T16 in the stronger field RBC last week. He’ll be off with fellow European Tour member Hao-Tong Li.
3. Alex Smalley ($8,500): We haven’t seen Smalley in action for a while, but he did finish T14 at the Valero and has made seven cuts in a row. He’ll be off with Hayden Springer this week.
MY PICK: Rai/Theegala ($9,200)
Both Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala have solid experience to lean on this week at this team event. Rai finished T18 last year with Theegala and T4 in 2022 with David Lipsky. Theegala has played this event multiple times in the past and also had a strong result with Justin Suh, finishing T23 in 2023. Overall, I love the blend of precision ball-striking from Rai and overall finesse from Theegala, who has one of the best short games on the PGA TOUR at this Dye design — a venue that should suit both of them long term.
Recent form-wise, Theegala started out the season strong, while Rai has been far more up-and-down. But the latter should feel more comfortable this week with Theegala taking some of the pressure off his short game and putter. I’d rate these two as a great match overall, and a team that fits the experience level and skills of past winners like Novak/Griffin and Smith/Leishman. For DFS, I like them as a core target. For betting, anything better than +2000 on the DraftKings Sportsbook for an outright bet looks like solid value.
MY SLEEPER: Smotherman/Putnam ($7,500)
Smotherman and Putnam feel like another solid team that could blend fast, creating some of the same sort of magic we’ve seen from upset winners in the past. Both men have come agonizingly close to winning on the PGA TOUR already this year, with Smotherman getting out fast at the Cognizant Classic before fading and Putnam having a share of the lead with four holes to go at the Valero just a few weeks ago.
While Smotherman is a more elite ball-striker, Putnam’s ability to carry this team with his putter and short-game could give it the sort of boost needed to seriously challenge at this year’s event. While neither man has a great record at the Zurich Classic overall, the more gettable setup does jive well with each man’s game. Smotherman particularly started fast here in 2024 before he and Mac Meissner faded with a poor final round.
For DFS, they set up as a high-upside value target. For betting, I love the idea of laddering them for placing bets, including +270 for Top 10 and ties.
