Featured Groups: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans presents a moment to take a breath in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. The game does not include the team event, so there is no action this week. Segment 3 will resume with the inaugural Mexico Open at Vidanta. So to will the traditional Draws and Fades that are omitted below. RELATED: How Team Format Works | Play Pick ‘Em Live | The First Look However, PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live will turn over on Wednesday for Zurich. Bets for outrights, Top 10s, Top 20s and R1 Leader will be among the options as usual. Regarding Pick ‘Em Live for a moment, remember that no matter how many entries are submitted for any tournament, prize money does not change. So, while the Masters always draws the most attention – it had more than 10,000 entries – you battled against more bodies for a payday than last week’s RBC Heritage that hosted 4,816 entries … for the same payday! Pick ‘Em Preview for Zurich will publish as usual on Wednesday. Mike Glasscott and I always include tips and tricks that will help you contend. I also practice what I preach. In the first eight tournaments, I’ve logged a third (Honda), 10th (PLAYERS) and a 19th (Heritage). If you’re an owner in a season-long format, your patience now is rewarded. After this week’s 160-man Zurich in which all golfers through conditional status have gained entry, and extending through the 156-man Wyndham Championship, 10 of the 11 opens will host the maximum. The Mexico Open has reserved tee times for 132, but the entire Korn Ferry Tour graduate reshuffle (at least) is expected to qualify on merit. (Bryson Nimmer, Jeffrey Kang, Patrick Flavin and Turk Pettit emerged from the open qualifier for the tournament on April 18.) So, while a few guys deep in the overall pecking order will moonlight on the KFT when the PGA TOUR is engaging in invitationals in the coming months, you can expect a regular schedule from your charges for whom playing time had been sporadic. It’s also the time to strike for free agents if you already haven’t. POWER RANKINGS WILD CARD Bubba Watson & Harold Varner III (-125 for a Top 20) … There are a few teams not included in my Power Rankings or Sleepers that present a compelling narrative, nonetheless. This is one of them. Of course, HV3 nipped Watson with a cross-court heave that found the hoop at the buzzer for victory at the Saudi Invitational in early February, and he’s kept the pedal down in recent weeks, connecting five cuts made from a T6 at THE PLAYERS to a T18 at the Match Play to a T3 at the RBC Heritage where he was the 54-hole leader. However, he’s 0-for-4 in the team format at TPC Louisiana. On the flipside, Watson hasn’t missed a cut in all four tries. He’s recorded a pair of top 10s (2017, 2021) and he prevailed as an individual in 2011. The lefty’s form upon arrival this week hasn’t been as impressive as his partner’s, but by no means is playing poorly enough not to deserve this value. RETURNING TO COMPETITION Brandon Hagy & Cameron Percy (+450 for a Top 20) … Both are coming off health-related issues, so it’s a coincidence that they’ve joined forces. Hagy called it quits during his second round of the RBC Heritage due to a sore back. He’s just 7-for-18 on the season and 200th in the FedExCup. Meanwhile, Percy has been sidelined since a T4 at Corales, his second top 10 in his last three starts. He forfeited the top-10 exemption into Valero to have lens-replacement surgery on both eyes (link: https://twitter.com/cameronpercy1/status/1514589194689122311). In the thread of that tweet, the Aussie quipped that he hopes to “see the hole from outside 15 feet now,” but the irony is that, if he’d qualify for official rankings, the 47-year-old would lead the PGA TOUR in conversion percentage outside 25 feet. He’s holed four of 32 attempts from that range. Both of these guys are familiar with TPC Louisiana, and they’re a combined 5-for-5 in the team format. Odds sourced on Tuesday, April 19 at 3 p.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTABLES WDs None. RECAP – RBC HERITAGE POWER RANKINGS Power Ranking Golfer Result 1 Shane Lowry T3 2 Justin Thomas T35 3 Cameron Smith MC 4 Collin Morikawa T26 5 Joaquin Niemann T12 6 Matt Fitzpatrick MC 7 Dustin Johnson MC 8 Daniel Berger T21 9 Corey Conners T12 10 Sungjae Im T21 11 Webb Simpson T59 12 Patrick Cantlay P2 13 Matt Kuchar T3 14 Tyrrell Hatton T26 15 Chris Kirk MC Wild Card Jordan Spieth Win SLEEPERS Golfer (Bet) Result Nate Lashley (+550 for a Top 20) MC Alex Noren (+175 for a Top 20) T42 Mito Pereira (+250 for a Top 20) T26 Scott Stallings (+450 for a Top 20) MC Brendon Todd (+400 for a Top 20) T26 GOLFBET Bet: Daniel Berger (Top 5), Sungjae Im (Top 10) and Tyrrell Hatton (Top 20) at +10000 Result: Berger (T21), Im (T21), Hatton (T26) BIRTHDAYS AMONG ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PGA TOUR April 19 … Matt Jones (42) April 20 … John Senden (51) April 21 … none April 22 … Eric Axley (48) April 23 … none April 24 … Jason Bohn (49); Lee Westwood (49); Jonas Blixt (38); Carlos Ortiz (31) April 25 … Nick Watney (41)

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Callaway announced the launch of a slew of new equipment on Tuesday, including Epic Forged irons and Epic Flash Hybrids that are made for a wide range of golfers, and a line of Epic Flash Star clubs that are designed for low speed players who want more distance, according to Callaway. Each of the new products will be available at retail on August 2. The new Epic Forged irons mark the first time that Callaway will offer tungsten weighting in a forged iron. Made from 1025 carbon steel, the new irons use a “Suspended Tungsten Coreâ€� that consists of a custom tungsten weight that is placed strategically in each iron to position the center of gravity (CG) for controlled launch. The weight is wrapped in a TPU (thermoplastic urethane) mold and then “suspendedâ€� within the club head in Callaway’s familiar urethane microspheres. The microspheres help to reduce vibration at impact. Also implemented in the iron heads are Callaway’s 360 Face Cup — designed for faster ball speeds across the face – and a new VFT (variable face thickness) design made to better control spin rates. The Epic Forged irons have a platinum chrome finish and come stock with Aerotech Steelfiber or Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver shafts, and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. They will sell for $300 per club, or $2400 for an 8-piece set. The long-awaited Epic Flash Hybrids are built for greater ball speed by using the company’s familiar Jailbreak Technology, which consists of two internal bars behind the face that run from the crown to the sole. The bars help to stabilize the face, thus providing more energy transfer, according to Callaway. The hybrids also have forged Carpenter 455 steel faces that also have Face Cup technology; these designs are used to create more ball speed and distance. Additionally, the club heads have MIM’ed (Metal Injection Molding) tungsten weights to enhance launch and forgiveness, and the crowns have Callaway’s T2C (triaxial carbon) technology that has a weaved design to reduce weight from the crown to be placed lower in the head. The hybrids have a new OptiFit 3 hosel that’s lighter than previous iterations to optimize launch and spin while reducing weight from unwanted areas in the head. The Epic Flash Hybrids come stock with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Silver shafts, and they will sell for $300 per club. Callaway’s new Epic Flash Star Family of clubs features a driver, fairway woods, hybrids and irons that are all built with lighter weights for golfers who need more speed and distance. While the metalwoods have all of the familiar technologies from Callaway’s Epic Flash line, and the irons are forged from 1025 carbon like the Epic Forged irons, the line of clubs comes with UST Mamiya’s ATTAS Speed graphite shafts that were previously only available in Japan. The lightweight shafts are designed for high launch and low spin, thus helping low swing speed golfers optimize distance. The clubs also come with either Golf Pride JL00 (30 grams) or J200 (43 grams) lightweight grips to save additional weight from the club overall. The Epic Flash Star driver, which has a Flash Face and Jailbreak like the company’s popular Epic Flash drivers, is 50 grams lighter in total than the Epic Flash. Callaway has also made a 13.5-degree option available, in addition to 10.5- and 12-degree options. The drivers will sell for $699.99 apiece. The fairway woods, which are available in 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 models, will sell for $399.99 each, while the hybrids, available in 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 will sell for $325 each. The Epic Flash Star forged irons (5-PW, AW, GW and SW) are made with “powerful lofts and optimized CG placement,â€� according to Callaway, that’s specific to each iron. The lofts range from 22 degrees in the 5-iron to 33 degrees in the 9-iron, and the wedges range from 38 degrees in the pitching wedge to 55 degrees in the sand wedge. While those lofts are stronger than market-standard, the Epic Flash Star irons are designed for higher launch. They will sell for $325 per club.

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Phil Mickelson voiced his displeasure about the course setup at the Ryder Cup, especially the rough, which he called “almost unplayable” and “a waste of my time.”

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