Who is playing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans? 2-man teams and top players

Two weeks after the first major of the year, the Masters at Augusta National, comes perhaps the most unique tournament on the PGA Tour, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

80 two-man teams will take part in the only event of its kind of the 2024 schedule and, incredibly, someone other than Scottie Scheffler will be picking up first prize.

After winning the Masters and the RBC Heritage back-to-back, as well as The Players Championship at Sawgrass in March, world number one Scheffler has opted out of playing at TPC Louisiana, although there will be some other big names vying for first prize.

McIlroy agrees to play with Lowry during “drunken lunch”

World number two Rory McIlory is the biggest draw, teaming up with fellow Irishman and close friend Shane Lowry. The four-time major champion is making his Zurich Classic of New Orleans debut having revealed he agreed to play during a drunken post-Ryder Cup lunch with his teammate. We’ll soon find out if the best (or worst) decisions are made after a few jars.

2022 winners Xander Schauffle (world number five) and Patrick Cantlay (world number eight) are back for another go, as are defending champions Nick Hardy and Davis Riley, who became the first duo to reach the 30-under par mark. They won by two shots from Canadian pair Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, who also return.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa teams with Kurt Kitayama, while last year’s Ryder Cup captains, Luke Donald and Zach Johnson, are playing with Francesco Molinari and Ryan Palmer respectively.

There are three pairs of brothers in the field. 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick teams with younger sibling Alex, while Danes Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard and fellow twins Parker and Pierceson Coody are also in action.

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans: full field

Format and prize purse at TPC Louisiana

Rounds 1 (Thursday) and 3 (Saturday) will be played in a fourball (better ball) format.

Greensomes (alternate shot) are the name of the Game in rounds 2 (Friday) and 4 (Sunday).

As is usually the case on the PGA Tour, there will be a cut at the end of the second round, with the top 33 teams and ties qualifying for the weekend. There is a total prize purse of $8.9 million, with each player on the winning team picking up $1,286,050.