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Tournament Stats:
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
April 19 - 22, 2007
TPC Louisiana
Avondale, Louisiana
Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,341
Purse: $6.1 million with $1,098,000 going to the winner
Defending Champion: Chris Couch
Results & Scores 2006 Zurich Classic
Box Score of 2006 Zurich Classic
Tournament facts:
Tournament Record:262 (Chip Beck in 1988)
Low score at TPC Louisiana (275 Tim Petrovic & James Driscoll)
54-Hole Record:
195 (Scott Verplank in 2003)
36-Hole Record:
128 (Scott Verplank in 2003)
Low round of tournament:
61 (Paul Stankowski in the 1st round in 2001)
Low round at the TPC Louisiana 65 (Chris DiMarco & Arjun Atwal both in 1st round in 2005)
Tournament information:
This will be the 58th edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans which was formerly called the New Orleans Open, then the USF&G Classic,then the Freeport McDermott Classic followed by the Compaq Classic before Zurich became the sponsor in 2005. English Turn was the site of the tournament between 1989 and 2004. It moved to TPC Louisiana in 2005 but because of Hurricane Katrina it went back to English Turn last year. It's now back at TPC Louisiana for this year.The first New Orleans Open was played in 1938 and was won by Harry Cooper. Between 1949 and 1957 no tournaments were played, with the tournament starting back up in 1958.
Course information:
Course was designed and built by Pete Dye with player consultants Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson. The course was opened in 2004 and held the Zurich Open the next year. The course is on 250 acres of former swamp land in which Dye transformed into a course that can stretch up to 7,600 yards. The average green size at TPC Louisiana is 5,700 square feet, which is pretty much the average on the PGA Tour. Course has 71 bunkers with 20 acres of area covered in sand, with water coming into play on eigth of the 18 holes
For a more comprehensive look at the course, look at this Course Overview done by PGA Tour.com
The Buzz:
So for the second year after Katrina decimated New Orleans, the Zurich Classic is going off with no problems, this year it returns to TPC Louisiana. This course was used in 2005 for the event and got some favorable press from the players that liked it better than English Turn, which in some players minds was too tough.Unfortunely when Katrina hit it almost took the course with it. In the months after a tough decision was made to rebuild the course which lost 2,000 trees and was being reclaimed as the swamp that it originally was. But it's owners invested $2 million dollars in bringing the course back to life, shortening it and planting 500 trees.
For many playing in this event is a love affair with the great city of New Orleans, which is still in a rebuilding mood. But the Cajun food is still great and the folks that run this event takes good care of the players with fishing trip, good food and the New Orleans spirit which hasn't gone away with all the hardship that has hit the region in the last 18 months.
Here are some things to look for this week:
Here are some of the secrets that it will take to play well this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:
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Course has been changed drastically since the pros were here two years ago. Not only has the yardage going down, but some of the greens have been flattened and some pot bunkers by the green have been removed. Changes have been made to the final three holes which could make them tougher.
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Key stat for the winner:
In looking at the 2005 event one thing that strikes you is the fact that only one player in the top-ten finished inside the top-15 in driving distance. So driving it long isn't a key in this event. - Fitness around the greens will be needed. Miss a green and you will have the master the chip and roll, this venue will be a perfect preview for the greens of Pinehurst.
- Greens do not have a much undulation as the average TPC courses do so look for an average to below average putter to have a good week.
- Since this is the 2nd year for this course anything can happen and anybody can win.
- One major trait at this event is the fact that many of it's champions don't have a lot of experience playing in this event. Seven of the last 11 Zurich Classic winners and 15 overall had not won on the PGA TOur, including four of the last five. Six of them, including last year's champion Chris Couch, had either missed the cut the year prior or were making their tournament debut.
- Lastly there is no rhyme or reason for why a player won. In the case of the last two winners, Tim Petrovic and Chris Couch they weren't very high on peoples picks so the odds are pretty good that another Boo Weekly could rule this week.
