Why this week is two-player team golf event

• The Zurich Classic is the PGA Tour’s only regular-season team event, featuring 80 two-player teams competing in fourball and foursomes formats.
• The tournament purse is $9.2 million, with winning team members each receiving $1,329,400, 400 FedEx Cup points, and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
• Winners do not receive a Masters invitation or World Ranking points due to the team format.

The PGA Tour will hold its only regular-season team event this week, the Zurich Classic, at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., a suburb of New Orleans. 

The only other team event sanctioned by the Tour is the Presidents Cup, held every two years. Tour players also compete in the Ryder Cup, which is owned by the PGA of America. 

The major difference is that the Zurich Classic is a stroke-play team event. 

Here’s how it works:

Two-player teams compete 

The top available players from the PGA Tour Priority Rankings who commit to the tournament select their partners. Their priority status doesn’t matter but they do have to have some PGA Tour status, unless they are a sponsor exemption. 

There are 80 two-man teams in the field. After the first two rounds, the cut is made to the low 33 teams, plus ties 

What’s the Zurich Classic format? 

The teams play under the two basic formats for pairs: Fourball and foursomes (also called alternate shot). 

Under the Fourball format, each competitor plays the hole. The lowest score of the two is entered as the team score. If Player A makes a birdie and Player B makes a par, the birdie is counted. 

Under the foursomes format, one player tees off, his partner hits the next shot, and they rotate until the hole is complete to arrive at the team score. 

Fourballs will be played in the first and third rounds and alternate shot in the second and fourth rounds. 

Before the round begins, the teams must designate which player tees off on the even-numbered holes and which tees off on the odd-numbered holes. 

What if there’s a playoff? 

The first playoff hole will be conducted under the alternate shot format. If a second playoff hole is needed, it will be a fourball. The playoff holes will rotate between the two formats until a winner is decided in sudden death. 

What’s the purse? 

The purse is $9.2 million and the players on the winning team earn $1,329,400. That amount is arrived at by adding first- and second-place money based on a $9.2 million purse ($2,658,800) and dividing it by two. The second-place team will earn $542,800 each and third gets $355,360. 

How many FedEx Cup points are awarded? 

The players on the winning team will get 400 points each, arrived by adding the usual points for a Tour full-field event that is not a major, a Signature Event or The Players Championship (500 points for first, 300 for second), then dividing by two. The same formula holds true for the rest of the teams. 

How low do they go? 

Scores are obviously lower than an individual stroke-play events, since two of the days the score is the best result on each hole of two elite players.  

The tournament record for 72 holes is 30-under-par 258 by Nick Hardy and Davis Riley in 2023. The record for a fourball score is 59 in the first round in 2022 by Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The record for an alternate shot round is 63 by three teams: Cantlay and Schauffele in round two in 2023, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor in round four in 2023 and Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer in round four in 2024. 

What do the winners get besides money and points? 

The normal perks: a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and spots in the PGA Championship next month and the 2026 Players Championship. 

However, the Masters does not invite the winners of the Zurich Classic, nor do players get World Ranking points, because of the team format. 

Who are the team winners in the Zurich Classic? 

• 2024: Rory McIlroy-Shane Lowry, 25-under 263. 
• 2023: Nick Hardy-Davis Riley, 30-under 258. 
• 2022: Patrick Cantlay-Xander Schauffele, 29-under 259. 
• 2021: Marc Leishman-Cameron Smith, 20-under 268. 
• 2019: Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer, 26-under 262. 
• 2018: Billy Horschel-Scott Piercey, 22-under 266. 
• 2017: Jonas Blixt-Cameron Smith, 27-under 261.