Zurich Classic: Updated team format proves roaring success

The Zurich Classic’s change to a team format provided a welcome change for fans and players alike.

The Zurich Classic raised plenty of questions last fall when the PGA TOUR announced the team format. There were surely skeptics. How would the modern golfer, as well as the modern golf fan, accept a team format that hadn’t been part of the Tour schedule in over 30 years?

As it turns out, it was so much fun, it couldn’t be kept to just four days. Sure, the weather over the weekend made life a little bit difficult, but in true New Orleans style, all it really did was extend the party.

Just ask Kevin Kisner. While darkness fell over TPC Louisiana on Sunday evening, he sank a miraculous eagle on the 18th hole. That shot gave him and his teammate Scott Brown a tournament-low round of 60, and put them in a playoff with Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith. A playoff on Monday morning? Most of us just call that “free golf”.

Although Kisner and Brown wound up falling to Blixt and Smith on the fourth playoff hole, the positive reception this tournament received was undeniable.

Players took to Twitter to voice their approval

While tournament organizers are looking for improved gates, and TV partners look for ratings, what matters before any of that is the players. These days, there’s no better place to get opinions straight from the horse’s mouth than Twitter, and plenty of players sent their message in 140 characters.

Keegan Bradley (Missed Cut, with Brendan Steele)

Graham DeLaet (T-22 finish, with David Hearn)

Ryan Palmer (Fourth, with Jordan Spieth)

Kisner

And that’s just to name a few. You’ll be hard pressed to find anybody who teed it up at the Zurich Classic who didn’t have a good time, regardless of their results. This event already had a strong field, but the format change will only help it improve in the future.

Fans made this Zurich Classic the “best ever”

This event is almost 80 years old. It’s been known by 14 different names and played at several different courses. But this year, writes Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, even the weekend downpours couldn’t dampen the atmosphere.

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Duncan called the tournament an “overwhelming success”, a description that almost feels like it comes up short. In speaking with tournament organizers, while official gate numbers weren’t yet available, it was clear that records were broken.

"“Our Thursday (crowd) was a typical Saturday, our Friday (crowd) was a typical Sunday, and our Saturday (crowd) was a record,” said [Steve] Worthy (CEO of Fore!Kids Foundation, the tournament organizer), who estimated the Saturday crowd at around 25,000.The tournament’s longtime PR man, Tom Long, said the Saturday crowd was the largest he’s seen at the tournament since it moved to the TPC of Louisiana in 2005."

Even Sunday’s six-plus hour rain delay couldn’t wash away the crowds. Duncan reports as many as 600 fans waited at the gate once play was set to resume.

Bigger, better things to come for Zurich

This week in New Orleans went off better than anybody could have expected. If there’s anybody still out there who thinks the PGA Tour wouldn’t benefit from more updates, they’re going to be tough to find.

Stars showed up, and more likely will in years to come. Fans are showing up in droves and turning on their TV to watch at home. It’s the perfect win-win-win scenario all around.

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Whether the Zurich’s success leads the Tour to update more events shouldn’t matter right away. What’s important is that they took the chance, and they passed this test with flying colors.