Blake Davis
Nick Hardy and Davis Riley look to successfully defend their crown when they compete in the 2024 Zurich Classic, which begins Thursday at TPC Louisiana. After teaming up with different partners in 2022, Hardy and Riley reunited for the event last year and took home the title by setting a tournament record with a 30-under par performance to finish two strokes ahead of the Canadian pair. by Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. It was the second consecutive top-five finish in the event for Riley, who tied for fourth with Will Zalatoris as his teammate two years ago.
Hardy and Riley are 80-1 odds to repeat, while 2022 champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are 5-1 favorites in the latest 2024 Zurich Classic odds. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are listed at 8-1, Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala are 11-1 and Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama are 16-1. Tom Hoge and Maverick McNealy, along with brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick, round out the top picks at 25-1. Before securing any Zurich Classic 2024 picks, be sure to see PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf and fantasy betting expert Sia Nejad.
Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He has had incredible success in the outright leader and first round leader markets, as well as in head-to-head betting. He’s also been solid in his head-to-head matchups since last year’s Charles Schwab Challenge, going 40-27-3 and returning 9.14 units in that span. This represents a profit of $914 for $100 bettors since May 2023.
Nejad also shot Wyndham Clark 75-1 as the outright winner in the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine premiered The Early Wedge and, in the show’s first three months, achieved two first-round leaders and three outright winners.
Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2024 Zurich Classic field and made his best bets, the best sleepers and the favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.
2024 Zurich Classic Experts’ Top Picks
One surprise: Nejad is disappearing from the team of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, even though they are among the favorites at +800. After recording 13 top-10 finishes, which included two wins and a pair of runners-up finishes in 18 events last season, McIlroy has recorded just one in eight tournaments so far in 2024. That happened earlier this month when the player 34-year-old placed third at the Valero Texas Open. McIlroy has since returned to the dismal form he started the year in, tying for 22nd at the Masters and 33rd at the RBC Heritage last weekend. The world’s No. 2 player finished no higher than 21st in his first four events before finishing 19th at the Players Championship.
Considering his compatriot’s struggles, Lowry may feel more pressure will be placed on him than usual. However, the 37-year-old hasn’t had much more success this season either, with just two top-10 finishes in eight events. Lowry, who hasn’t had a PGA Tour victory since winning the Open Championship in 2019, tied for fourth at the Cognizant Classic in early March and followed that up with a third-place performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Since then, he has tied for 19th, 43rd and 64th in three starts.
However, Nejad has strong odds on Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala, who are listed at 11-1. Theegala set a career record last season with eight top-10 finishes, the latest being his first PGA Tour win at the Fortinet Championship. The 26-year-old has started this year in style, recording five top 10s in his first 11 events to equal Ludvig Aberg for third place in 2024. Theegala was runner-up at Sentry on his season debut and is coming off another strong performance of runner-up at the RBC Heritage last weekend.
Zalatoris didn’t fare as well at Hilton Head, tying for 44th, but he has finished in the top 10 in three of his nine starts this season. The 27-year-old’s best result of the year came at the Genesis Invitational in February, when he and Luke List were runners-up after finishing three strokes behind Hideki Matsuyama. Zalatoris is eager for a chance to finish in the top five at this tournament, having missed last year’s edition while recovering from back surgery. See which other teams to support on SportsLine.
How to make Zurich Classic 2024 picks
Nejad has made his best bets for the 2024 Zurich Classic and is backing several long-range teams, including one priced at over +3,000. This team has a member who “may be getting in shape” and it is a remote possibility that could surprise. You can see Nejad’s PGA Tour picks only on SportsLine.
So, which teams should you target or avoid for the 2024 Zurich Clásico, and which team from Zurich Could the 2024 Classic Field Bring a Big Payout of +3,000? Check out the odds below, then Visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad’s top picks for the 2024 Zurich Classicall from the specialist who is 39-27-2 in his last 68 head-to-head picks.
Zurich derby 2024 odds, pitch
See Nejad’s picks, best bets and predictions here.
Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele +500
Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry +800
Will Zalatoris/Sahith Theegala +1100
Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama +1600
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500
Matt Fitzpatrick/Alex Fitzpatrick +2500
Taylor Pendrith/Corey Conners +3500
Rasmus Hojgaard/Nicolai Hojgaard +3500
Taylor Montgomery/Ben Griffin +4000
Sepp Straka/Brice Garnett +4000
Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin +4000
Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000
Thomas Detry/Robert MacIntyre +4500
Doug Ghim/Chan Kim +4500
Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak +4500
Daniel Berger/Victor Perez +4500
Kevin Yu/CT Pan +5000
Billy Horschel/Tyson Alexander +5000
Beau Hossler/Sam Ryder +5000
Andrew Putnam/Joe Highsmith +5000
Aaron Rai/David Lipsky +5000
Thorbjorn Olesen/Matt Wallace +6500
Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500
KH Lee/Michael Kim +6500
Greyson Sigg/Chesson Hadley +6500
Gary Woodland/Lee Hodges +6500
Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox +6500
Austin Eckroat/Chris Gotterup +6500
Steve Stricker/Matt Kuchar +8000
Nate Lashley/Rafael Campos +8000
Lucas/Henrik Norlander List +8000
Kevin Streelman/Martin Laird +8000
Dylan Wu/Justin Lower +8000
Davis Riley/Nick Hardy +8000
Chandler Phillips/Jacob Bridgeman +8000
Carson Young/Ben Martin +8000
Ben Silverman/Kevin Dougherty +8000
Zach Johnson/Ryan Palmer +10000
Vincent Norrman/Jorge Campillo +10000
Nico Echavarria/Max Greyserman +10000
Alex Smalley/Matti Schmid +10000
Thriston Lawrence/Aldrich Potgieter +13000
Ryan Brehm/Mark Hubbard +13000
Justin Suh/Rico Hoey +13000
Jhonattan Vegas/Bronson Burgoon +13000
JJ Spaun/Hayden Buckley +13000
Erik Barnes/Harrison Endycott +13000
Chad Ramey/Martin Coach +13000
Carl Yuan/Zecheng Dou +13000
Sam Stevens/Paul Barjon +15000
Peter Malnati/Russell Knox +15000
