Zurich Classic of New Orleans Preview

Inside Track: TPC Louisianna

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans has a history of delivering first time PGA Tour winners. In 2008 Andres Romero became the 17th player to claim his maiden PGA Tour victory in New Orleans. The winners list also looks like a United Nations of Golf with Fiji, Argentina, Spain, England, South Africa and Paraquay providing recent winners. The course set next to the Mississippi, isn't overly taxing and the tournament always attracts a decent field. Click here for the confirmed field.

TPC Louisiana hosts the Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Past Winners - 2008 Andreas Romero, 2007 Nick Watney, 2006 Chris Couch, 2005 Tim Petrovic, 2004 Vijay Singh, 2003 Steve Flesch, 2002 K.J.Choi, 2001 David Toms, 2000 Carlos Franco

Course Difficulty - Ranked 32 (out of 54) in difficulty on the PGA Tour in 2008. It's a scorers course, but the 18th closing hole, is a 589 yard beast of a Par 5, lined with water.

Course Essentials - Par 72 7,520 yards. Peter Dye design with Steve Elkington course consultant. Bermuda grass Fairways over seeded with rye and Bermuda Grass greens. Two of the four Par 5s are very much reachable. Par 3s of which there are 4 are tough.

Course Set Up - 7 holes feature water hazards including the closing 3 holes. As you would expect in the Mississippi delta, the course has no elevation changes but the Dye design makes up for that by offering a whole mix of hole lengths and directions. The course features a number of dog leg holes that balance themselves in terms of direction. The Par 3s here are extremely tough holes where par is a decent return.

Fairways are fairly wide and the rough is not penal. Cypress and Oak trees line most fairways and come into play with errant drives. Expect firm and fast greens that have alot of putting movement. The greens are contoured and have Augusta like collection areas if approach irons are mis-placed.

Course Stats - 2007 Avg Score - 71.99 Winner - 13 / 275 strokes Cut - Even / 144 Strokes

Top 3 by Hole Type 2007 - 2008 - Par 3s = -2 (To Par) Par 4s = -34 Par 5s = -36

Player Attributes - Long hitting is a real strength here. Take the past 3 winners and they all have length off the tee. Romero won last year with only 53% driving accuracy, which indicates how the rough doesn't punish at Louisiana. You can back that up with Romero's GIR% of 75% last year. Being able to shape the ball both ways is a definite advantage as well with the equal split of dog leg directions.

With firm and fast greens a great chipping and short game will be imperative, to minimise bogeys. Undulating putting surfaces will place the emphasis on players who can play excellent approach irons and who putt well. The winner will need to deliver a sub 28 putts per round performance.

Overall the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is very much a risk and reward 'circuit' and that is why the younger breed of PGA Tour players have thrived here over recent years. Making birdies on the Par 4s and 5s is imperative whilst being mature to 'defend' for pars on the tough Par 3s.