Pre-Tournament Information – 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

 

 

Player Interviews (all times local)
*All press conferences will take place inside the Pete Dye Room in the TPC Louisiana Clubhouse unless otherwise noted

Wednesday, April 23

Before 12:26 p.m. 18-hole pro-am – Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry

1 p.m. – Zurich Classic of New Orleans Announcement

After 7:51 a.m. 18-hole pro-am – Luke Donald and Camilo Villegas

After 8:57 a.m. 18-hole pro-am – Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore

After 9:08 a.m. 18-hole pro-am – Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama

*Visit pgatourmedia.com for the latest interview schedule 

 

                                                                                    

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry

• Defending Zurich Classic of New Orleans champions defeated Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer with a par-5 on the first playoff hole to win in their tournament debut; held a share of the 18- and 36-hole lead before going on to win
• No team has successfully defended their title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans since the team format was introduced in 2017
• McIlroy is making his first start on TOUR since winning the Masters Tournament and becoming the sixth player to complete the Career Grand Slam; FedExCup leader is the only player with multiple victories this season (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, THE PLAYERS Championship, Masters Tournament)
• McIlroy is making his seventh start of the season; has not finished lower than T17 (The Genesis Invitational)
• McIlroy has three or more victories in one season for the fifth time in his career (4/2012, 3/2014, 3/2019, 3/2022)
• World No. 2 McIlroy is one of two players in the field ranked inside the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking (Collin Morikawa/No. 4).
• 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans marked Lowry’s third career PGA TOUR title and first since the 2019 Open Championship
• The victory propelled Lowry to his first appearance in the TOUR Championship and a career-high T9 finish in the FedExCup
• Lowry has three top-10s in nine starts this season, including his fourth career runner-up finish on TOUR at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (won by McIlroy); others: 7^th/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, T8/Valspar Championship

Luke Donald and Camilo Villegas

• Donald is serving as the 2025 European Ryder Cup Captain while Villegas is two-time Presidents Cup captain’s assistant for the International Team (2022, 2024)
• Donald and Villegas each own five PGA TOUR titles
• Donald’s best finish in the four previous starts in the team format: T23/2023 (with Edoardo Molinari)
• Donald is making his third start of the season (MC/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, MC/Valspar Championship)
• Villegas’ best finish in two previous starts in the team format: T14/2017 (with Morgan Hoffmann)
• Villegas has one top-10 in 10 starts on TOUR this season (T7/The American Express)

Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore

• First-time pairing for Clark and Moore, with both players combining for eight previous appearances in the team format.
• Clark is making his fifth tournament appearance and has two top-10 finishes: 3^rd/2023/Beau Hossler, T10/2022/Cameron Tringale; held the 36-hole lead with Hossler in 2023.
• Clark has one top-10 finish in 10 starts this season (T5/Texas Children’s Houston Open).
• Moore is making his fourth consecutive tournament appearance; posted back-to-back T4 finishes in 2022 and 2023 (with Matt NeSmith).
• Moore has two top-10 finishes in nine starts this season: T7/The American Express, T9/WM Phoenix Open

Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama

• Las Vegas residents paired together at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the second time (T23/2024)
• World No. 4 and Zurich ambassador Morikawa is making his fifth consecutive tournament appearance
• In seven starts this season, Morikawa has finished no lower than T17 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational); posted runner-up finishes at The Sentry and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
• Kitayama is making his fourth tournament appearance (best: T19/2023 with Taylor Montgomery)
• Kitayama is seeking his first top-10 finish in his 11^th start this season (best: T33/THE PLAYERS Championship)

Zurich Classic of New Orleans notes:

• This is the eighth year the Zurich Classic of New Orleans will be played in a two-man team format, which was introduced in 2017 (canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19). Teams will play Four-ball in the first and third rounds, and Foursomes (alternate shot) in the second and final rounds.
• Each player on the winning team will receive 400 FedExCup points, $1,329,400, a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR (through 2027) and entry into the three remaining Signature Events.
• The field is highlighted by six players inside the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including two of the top five (No. 2/Rory McIlroy, No. 4/Collin Morikawa).
• Other field notes:

• • Teams in the field that have won: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (2024), Nick Hardy and Davis Riley (2023 Players who won with different partners: Billy Horschel (2018 with Scott Piercy) and Ryan Palmer (2019 with Jon Rahm).
  • Players who won in the individual format: Nick Watney (2007), Jason Dufner (2012), Billy Horschel (2013); Horschel is the only player who has won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans both in the individual and team format (2013, 2018)
  • Seven teams that finished inside the top 10 in 2024 are paired together in 2025: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (Won), Ryan Brehm and Mark Hubbard (3^rd), Garrick Higgo and Ryan Fox (T4), Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn (T4), Max Greyserman and Nico Echavarria (T4), Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre (T8), Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin (10^th)

• Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney are the only pair to compete together in all seven previous editions of the team format. The duo has two top-10s together, including a T5 in 2017.
• After retiring from the professional game last August, Sam Saunders will compete as a sponsor exemption alongside good friend and 2023 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Eric Cole. The grandson of Arnold Palmer, Saunders competed in 320 PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournaments from 2010-2024 and earned four runner-up finishes. Saunders and Cole became friends while playing together at Bay Hill in high school and were later roommates as they chased their professional aspirations.

• There are three sets of brothers – including two sets of twins – competing in the 2025 event, including Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick, who have finished T19 and T11 in their previous two starts together in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Denmark’s twins Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard are partnering for the second time but first with both as PGA TOUR members. Rasmus finished No. 1 in the DP World Tour Top 10 to earn his PGA TOUR card for 2025, while Nicolai finished No. 108 in the 2024 FedExCup Fall standings to retain his card for 2025. PGA TOUR rookie and Germany native Jeremy Paul will partner with twin brother Yannik Paul, who plays on the DP World Tour and finished third at last week’s Volvo China Open to sit No. 69 in the Race to Dubai Rankings. Jeremy is coming off a T2 finish at the Corales Puntacana Championship.
• 30 players in the field competed at last week’s RBC Heritage, including two who finished inside the top 10: Andrew Novak (P2) and Si Woo Kim (T8)

PGA TOUR season notes

• The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is the second of three tournaments that count toward the Aon Swing 5 for the Truist Championship (Corales Puntacana Championship, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson), with the five players not otherwise exempt who earn the most FedExCup points in those three events qualifying for the Truist Championship. The top 10 players in the FedExCup standings through THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson who are otherwise not exempt will also qualify for the Truist Championship via the Aon Next 10.

• South Africa’s Garrick Higgo won the Corales Puntacana Championship for his second career TOUR title (2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree) and moved to No. 1 in the Aon Swing 5 standings. Higgo began the season with Conditional status and finished T3 two weeks ago at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club
• Five first-time winners in 2025: Thomas Detry (WM Phoenix Open), Brian Campbell (Mexico Open at VidantaWorld), Joe Highsmith (Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches), Karl Vilips (Puerto Rico Open), Min Woo Lee (Texas Children’s Houston Open); last first-time winners at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Nick Hardy and Davis Riley (2023)

• International players have won 12 of the first 18 events on TOUR this season: Hideki Matsuyama/Japan, Nick Taylor/Canada, Sepp Straka/Austria, Rory McIlroy/Northern Ireland/3, Thomas Detry/Belgium, Ludvig Åberg/Sweden, Karl Vilips/Australia, Viktor Hovland/Norway, Min Woo Lee/Australia, Garrick Higgo/South Africa