Zurich Classic of New Orleans DFS picks 2025: Why I’m fading McIlroy and Lowry

It never really felt like we had a post-Masters exhale with a thrilling playoff finish to a signature event at the RBC Heritage. The lone team event on the PGA Tour schedule, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, will serve as such with 80 tandems taking on the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana in New Orleans.

Each team will play two rounds of best ball on Thursday and Saturday and two rounds of alternate shot on Friday and Sunday, with only the low 33 teams advancing to the weekend.

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Fresh off completing the Career Grand Slam, Rory McIlroy returns to New Orleans to defend his Zurich Classic title with Shane Lowry, and they remain the team at the top of the DraftKings slate, with an overwhelming price tag of $12,400, and not a single other team priced in the $11,000 range. Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, JT Poston and Keith Mitchell, and Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre headline the group of challengers. Let’s dive into the DraftKings slate.

$10,000+ range

Play: Keith Mitchell/J.T. Poston, $10,000:

My numbers favor this team as the strongest overall pairing in this event, with both players individually ranking top 10 in my model. Both are playing some outstanding golf at the moment, with Poston coming off a top-12 finish at the Heritage, and Mitchell has three top 20s in a row, including a runner-up last week at Corales Punta Cana.

Fade: Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy, $12,400:

While Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy are the defending champions, defending feels a big ask in the wake of the latter’s emotional victory at the Masters. DraftKings has this duo priced in a completely different tier than any other team, and I would need to be devoid of concerns to invest at this price tag. Not only is McIlroy just returning from some time off in Europe, but Lowry has looked a few minor details off over his last couple of starts as well.

$9,000 range

Play: Wyndham Clark/Taylor Moore, $9,500:

Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore are a threatening duo given their power off the tee and putting upside. I personally prefer teams that share the same strengths and weaknesses, and while neither Clark and Moore are elite approach talents, both provide a tremendous amount of birdie-making ability that should shine on a driver-heavy golf course such as TPC Louisiana.

Fade: Max Greyserman/Nico Echavarria, $9,000:

While Nico Echavarria and Max Greyserman performed well at this event as a tandem last year, my numbers still view Echavarria as a liability at this price point, ranking outside of the top 100 of my individual model. The Colombian remains very shaky off the tee, both in distance and accuracy, and this duo will have to putt the lights out again to seriously threaten for the trophy.

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$8,000 range

Play: Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin, $8,600:

I was on this Canadian duo last year at this event, and while I was hoping for more than a 10th-place finish, I’ll go right back to the well with Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. This duo already has experience at this event with a runner-up in 2023, and while other tandems will be figuring out their partner and figuring out the golf course, Taylor/Hadwin have already shown they can thrive in this format.

Fade: Alex Fitzpatrick/Matt Fitzpatrick, $8,100:

Though Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick have performed well at this event in the past, they have still yet to finish in the top 10 in the past two years. I don’t trust Alex, who has only made the cut in two of six appearances on the DP World Tour this year, and I simply don’t think that Matt is in strong enough form to carry the load right now.

$7,000 range

Play: Chan Kim/Doug Ghim, $7,800:

Chan Kim and Doug Ghim are one of my favorite duos in this event, and both possess some exciting ball-striking upside. Kim is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Valero Texas Open and Corales Punta Cana, and all three of Ghim’s top-25 finishes this year have come on driver heavy, low missed fairway over-seeded golf courses such as PGA West, PGA National and TPC San Antonio.

Fade: Samuel Stevens/Max McGreevy, $7,800:

While both Sam Stevens and Max McGreevy have shown some flashes this year, I have major concerns about recent form. McGreevy has failed to finish in the top 40 in his past four starts, while Stevens finished toward the bottom of the field at the Heritage last week and missed the cut in his prior start at the Valero Texas Open.

$6,000 range

Play: Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney, $6,200:

In a $6,000 range barren of reliable partnerships, I am simply looking for two boxes to check: 1.) Prior experience at this event, and 2.) at least one of the two players to be in solid recent form. Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney are one of only four teams to have finished top 20 at this event in each of the past two years, and at least Hoffman has played some excellent golf this year. Hopefully he can get enough help from Watney to at least make noise at this price tag.

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Andy Lack is a PGA Tour writer and podcaster from New York City who now resides in Los Angeles. Andy is the founder and CEO of Inside Sports Network, a website devoted to the predictive quality of advanced analytics and golf course architecture. He came to Golf Digest’s betting panel after previously writing for Run Pure Sports, RickRunGood.com, the Score and GolfWRX. In his free time, Andy can likely be found on a golf course. Follow him on Twitter: @adplacksports