What a way to break up the monotony of the PGA Tour season.
Coming off a wild finish at the RBC Heritage, it's now on to TPC Louisiana for the annual playing of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, this year marking the eighth edition of the two-man team format in the event's storied history.
I have always been a fan of this event since it made the switch to the team format, and it really should lead the PGA Tour to doing more interesting things with tournament formats, instead of just the same 72-hole stroke play format over and over again.
This is always a tough field to predict, since the team format and "vibes" of it all are hard to quantify. The leaderboard always ends up with a lot of lesser-known names threatening to win, so this week's rankings are going to do their best to capture this element of randomness.
TPC Louisiana does play well for long drivers and solid approach players, so teams that play well with this balance should perform quite well.
We came so close to pulling off the double last week. While Justin Thomas ended his winless drought with a victory at Harbour Town, Joel Dahmen coughed up a late lead in Puntacana. Nevertheless, we still found our fifth winner of the season, so we're feeling good about where we are.
Let's now see if we can make it three in a row.
9. Karl Vilips/Michael Thorbjornsen
A debut duo this week, Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen are two long hitters who can take advantage of the course if they keep it in the fairway.
Vilips is a winner already this year in Puerto Rico, and Thorbjornsen is coming off a T2 finish in Puntacana, so both players are showing signs of being in form this year. Because of all the fun pairings this week, I'm looking forward to watching the two youngsters work together.
8. J.T. Poston/Keith Mitchell
Keith Mitchell has quietly been one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour for the last month with a run of three straight top-20 finishes, including a tie for second alongside Thorbjornsen at the Puntacana.
J.T. Poston showed signs of life last week with a T11 at Hilton Head, but it's this team's complementary skills that excite me the most.
Mitchell hits it far off the tee and has a good approach game, while Poston is accurate and very good around the greens. As long as their sequencing is correct, this team should make a push this weekend.
7. Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre
Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre teamed up last year at the Zurich Classic for a T8 finish and are looking to find more success this year.
The trendlines for both players aren't looking the best right now, but the floors for both players are high enough to warrant a spot on this list.
Detry enjoys this course, finishing T13 and T8 in his two starts here, so his distance and putting skills should set up his teammate for a lot of success this week. MacIntyre has been a bit more consistent this year, so I expect things to swing back in the right direction for him this week.
6. Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak
After playing 13 weeks in a row ahead of The Masters, Ben Griffin is rested and rejuvenated heading into New Orleans, and his teammate is coming in red-hot.
Andrew Novak has had back-to-back top-five finishes, including a gut-wrenching playoff loss to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage.
Novak feels primed to come up with a win somewhere this year, and this funky tournament could set up to be the perfect venue for both to break through. When these guys are on, they can run hot and rattle off plenty of birdies, which always helps in this event.
This team might be my favorite pick of the bunch.
5. Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox
The Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox duo found some success at the Zurich Classic last year, tying for fourth, even with both players going into the event not playing their best.
With Higgo coming out as the beneficiary of Joel Dahmen's meltdown in Puntacana, his form is as strong as possible. Ryan Fox hasn't found a ton of success this year, but getting back into a familiar pairing that has played well before at this course should trigger something in his mind to start playing well again.
4. Ryan Gerard/Danny Walker
Ryan Gerard has had a successful return to the PGA Tour this season, including a second-place finish at the Valero Texas Open a few weeks back.
Danny Walker hasn't quite been able to replicate his miracle T6 at The Players, but started to bounce back last week in Puntacana.
Walker's distance off the tee and Gerard's skill in approach and around the greens bring a nice balance to the team, so I think these two should be able to perform very well this week in New Orleans.
3. Wyndham Clark/Taylor Moore
Taylor Moore has cooled off a bit since a strong start to the season, and Wyndham Clark has started to turn around his poor form from the beginning of the year.
Both last played here in 2023 with different partners, but both found success.
Clark finished in third place with Beau Hossler, while Moore finished tied for fourth with Matt NeSmith. This team may be able to break through for the victory come Sunday, as long as Clark can find the fairway.
2. Billy Horschel/Tom Hoge
Billy Horschel is the only man to boast winning the Zurich Classic as both an individual and in the team format, and I'm willing to overlook his missed cut last year as an anomaly.
Tom Hoge is on a run of four straight top-20 finishes, and I think this is the best all-American duo in the field. Hoge has also had some success at TPC Louisiana, albeit not quite as much as Horschel through the years.
Horschel's track record and Hoge's current form should make them a formidable duo this weekend.
1. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry
As if there could be any other duo at No. 1 this week.
I don't know if you've heard, but Rory McIlroy just won The Masters. And after taking the RBC Heritage off, he's making his first start after completing the Grand Slam.
What better way to do so than with his best buddy Shane Lowry right there with him, knocking wedges close after Rory nukes drives all over TPC Louisiana?
These two won this event last year, and a successful title defense wouldn't surprise me one bit. And if that happens, we'd better get some more karaoke this year.