Can two heads really be better than one on the golf course? The PGA Tour’s only official team event is about to give us that answer once again. The 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans kicks off this Thursday at TPC Louisiana. Defending champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry return to the scene of their dramatic playoff victory from last year. The Irish duo will aim to recreate their magic in the unique format that tests both individual skill and team chemistry.
But who are they going up against? Let’s find out.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are aiming for back-to-back titles
McIlroy and Lowry will begin their title defense Thursday morning at 8:52 AM EDT from the 10th tee. They’ll be paired with Tom Hoge and Billy Horschel for the opening round’s four-ball format. The defending champions captured last year’s title in thrilling fashion with a playoff victory over Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer. McIlroy enters fresh off his historic Masters win that completed his career Grand Slam. Meanwhile, Lowry looks to continue his solid form as the pair attempts to become the first team to successfully defend their Zurich title.
Beyond the defending champions, several other formidable teams are set to challenge for the title. Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama form a formidable duo, with Morikawa’s precision iron play complementing Kitayama’s power game perfectly. Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre bring strong European credentials, having recently won on the PGA Tour and finished T8 as a team last year. J.T. Poston and Keith Mitchell add another layer of intrigue with their complementary skill sets and strong track records at the Zurich Classic in past years.
The full Round 1 tee times for Thursday’s four-ball session are listed below:
TIME (EDT)
TEE
TEAM 1
TEAM 2
8:00 AM
1
Jonathan Byrd/Chesson Hadley
Patrick Fishburn/Zac Blair
8:00 AM
10
Rico Hoey/Sam Ryder
Alex Smalley/Joseph Bramlett
8:13 AM
1
Robert Streb/Troy Merritt
Chad Ramey/Justin Lower
8:13 AM
10
J.T. Poston/Keith Mitchell
Ryan Gerard/Danny Walker
8:26 AM
1
Mark Hubbard/Ryan Brehm
Ben Kohles/Patton Kizzire
8:26 AM
10
Matthieu Pavon/Victor Perez
C. Bezuidenhout/Erik van Rooyen
8:39 AM
1
Sepp Straka/Brice Garnett
Nick Hardy/Davis Riley
8:39 AM
10
Michael Thorbjornsen/K. Vilips
Rasmus Højgaard/Nicolai Højgaard
8:52 AM
1
Cam Davis/Adam Svensson
Peter Malnati/Russell Knox
8:52 AM
10
Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy
Tom Hoge/Billy Horschel
9:05 AM
1
Lee Hodges/Jason Dufner
Brandt Snedeker/Chez Reavie
9:05 AM
10
Sahith Theegala/Aaron Rai
Akshay Bhatia/Carson Young
9:18 AM
1
Robby Shelton/Trey Mullinax
John Pak/Taylor Montgomery
9:18 AM
10
Frankie Capan III/Jake Knapp
Eric Cole/Sam Saunders
9:31 AM
1
Ryo Hisatsune/Takumi Kanaya
Ben Taylor/David Skinns
9:31 AM
10
Greyson Sigg/Kevin Kisner
Sam Stevens/Max McGreevy
9:44 AM
1
Trace Crowe/Taylor Dickson
Kaito Onishi/Rikuya Hoshino
9:44 AM
10
Trevor Cone/Kevin Roy
T. Rosenmueller/Paul Peterson
9:57 AM
1
Kevin Velo/Isaiah Salinda
Jordan Smith/Laurie Canter
9:57 AM
10
Antoine Rozner/Kris Ventura
Steven Fisk/Tim Widing
1:05 PM
1
Bud Cauley/Kevin Tway
Doug Ghim/Chan Kim
1:05 PM
10
Cameron Champ/Lanto Griffin
Beau Hossler/Andrew Putnam
1:18 PM
1
J. Bridgeman/Chandler Phillips
Sami Valimaki/Ben Silverman
1:18 PM
10
Bill Haas/Martin Laird
Dylan Wu/David Lipsky
1:31 PM
1
Joel Dahmen/Harry Higgs
Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak
1:31 PM
10
Henrik Norlander/Luke List
Adam Schenk/Tyler Duncan
1:44 PM
1
Wyndham Clark/Taylor Moore
Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama
1:44 PM
10
Max Greyserman/Kevin Yu
Nico Echavarria/Jhonattan Vegas
1:57 PM
1
R. MacIntyre/Thomas Detry
Alex Fitzpatrick/Matt Fitzpatrick
1:57 PM
10
Si Woo Kim/Sangmoon Bae
Ryan Palmer/Zach Johnson
2:10 PM
1
Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox
Adam Hadwin/Nick Taylor
2:10 PM
10
Luke Donald/Camilo Villegas
Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney
2:23 PM
1
Matt McCarty/Chris Gotterup
Mason Andersen/Quade Cummins
2:23 PM
10
Joe Highsmith/Alejandro Tosti
Matt Wallace/Thorbjørn Olesen
2:36 PM
1
Matthew Riedel/Mac Meissner
Will Gordon/Noah Goodwin
2:36 PM
10
Hayden Springer/Vince Whaley
Nate Lashley/Anders Albertson
2:49 PM
1
Will Chandler/Jeremy Paul
Matt NeSmith/Yannik Paul
2:49 PM
10
Hayden Buckley/J. Svensson
B. Thornberry/Niklas Norgaard
3:02 PM
1
C. Del Solar/Angel Ayora
M. Manassero/Alejandro Del Rey
3:02 PM
10
Pierceson Coody/William Mouw
Jackson Suber/Ricky Castillo
Friday’s Round 2 will shift to the foursomes format, with the following tee times:
TIME (EDT)
TEE
TEAM 1
TEAM 2
8:50 AM
10
Bud Cauley/Kevin Tway
Doug Ghim/Chan Kim
8:50 AM
1
Cameron Champ/Lanto Griffin
Beau Hossler/Andrew Putnam
9:01 AM
10
Jacob Bridgeman/Chandler Phillips
Sami Valimaki/Ben Silverman
9:01 AM
1
Bill Haas/Martin Laird
Dylan Wu/David Lipsky
9:12 AM
10
Joel Dahmen/Harry Higgs
Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak
9:12 AM
1
Henrik Norlander/Luke List
Adam Schenk/Tyler Duncan
9:23 AM
10
Wyndham Clark/Taylor Moore
Collin Morikawa/Kurt Kitayama
9:23 AM
1
Max Greyserman/Nico Echavarria
Kevin Yu/Jhonattan Vegas
9:34 AM
10
Robert MacIntyre/Thomas Detry
Alex Fitzpatrick/Matt Fitzpatrick
9:34 AM
1
Si Woo Kim/Sangmoon Bae
Ryan Palmer/Zach Johnson
9:45 AM
10
Garrick Higgo/Ryan Fox
Adam Hadwin/Nick Taylor
9:45 AM
1
Luke Donald/Camilo Villegas
Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney
9:56 AM
10
Matt McCarty/Mason Andersen
Chris Gotterup/Quade Cummins
9:56 AM
1
Joe Highsmith/Alejandro Tosti
Matt Wallace/Thorbjørn Olesen
10:07 AM
10
Matthew Riedel/Will Gordon
Mac Meissner/Noah Goodwin
10:07 AM
1
Hayden Springer/Nate Lashley
Vince Whaley/Anders Albertson
10:18 AM
10
Will Chandler/Matt NeSmith
Jeremy Paul/Yannik Paul
10:18 AM
1
Hayden Buckley/Braden Thornberry
Jesper Svensson/Niklas Norgaard
10:29 AM
10
Cristobal Del Solar/Matteo Manassero
Angel Ayora/Alejandro Del Rey
10:29 AM
1
Pierceson Coody/Jackson Suber
William Mouw/Ricky Castillo
1:05 PM
10
Jonathan Byrd/Chesson Hadley
Patrick Fishburn/Zac Blair
1:05 PM
1
Rico Hoey/Sam Ryder
Alex Smalley/Joseph Bramlett
1:16 PM
10
Robert Streb/Troy Merritt
Chad Ramey/Justin Lower
1:16 PM
1
J.T. Poston/Keith Mitchell
Ryan Gerard/Danny Walker
1:27 PM
10
Mark Hubbard/Ryan Brehm
Ben Kohles/Patton Kizzire
1:27 PM
1
Matthieu Pavon/Victor Perez
C. Bezuidenhout/Erik van Rooyen
1:38 PM
10
Sepp Straka/Brice Garnett
Nick Hardy/Davis Riley
1:38 PM
1
Michael Thorbjornsen/Karl Vilips
Rasmus Højgaard/Nicolai Højgaard
1:49 PM
10
Cam Davis/Adam Svensson
Peter Malnati/Russell Knox
1:49 PM
1
Shane Lowry/Rory McIlroy
Tom Hoge/Billy Horschel
2:00 PM
10
Lee Hodges/Jason Dufner
Brandt Snedeker/Chez Reavie
2:00 PM
1
Sahith Theegala/Aaron Rai
Akshay Bhatia/Carson Young
2:11 PM
10
Robby Shelton/Trey Mullinax
John Pak/Taylor Montgomery
2:11 PM
1
Frankie Capan III/Jake Knapp
Eric Cole/Sam Saunders
2:22 PM
10
Ryo Hisatsune/Takumi Kanaya
Ben Taylor/David Skinns
2:22 PM
1
Greyson Sigg/Kevin Kisner
Sam Stevens/Max McGreevy
2:33 PM
10
Trace Crowe/Taylor Dickson
Kaito Onishi/Rikuya Hoshino
2:33 PM
1
Trevor Cone/Kevin Roy
T. Rosenmueller/Paul Peterson
2:44 PM
10
Kevin Velo/Isaiah Salinda
Jordan Smith/Laurie Canter
2:44 PM
1
Antoine Rozner/Kris Ventura
Steven Fisk/Tim Widing
The team format creates unique strategic challenges
The Zurich Classic stands out with its alternating format, which tests different aspects of team golf. Rounds 1 and 3 feature Four-ball play, where each golfer plays their own ball. The better score counts as the team score on each hole. This format encourages aggressive play and low scoring. Rounds 2 and 4 switch to the challenging Foursomes format, where players alternate shots with the same ball, allowing for a unique playing experience. This test checks compatibility and places a premium on consistency.
The tournament offers a substantial prize pool of $9.2 million, with each winning team member receiving $1,329,400. Winners also earn valuable benefits like a two-year Tour exemption and spots in the PGA Championship. The format creates exciting strategic decisions that players don’t face in standard tournaments. Many teams choose partners based on complementary styles or personal connections.
Fans can catch all the action on Golf Channel from 3 to 6 PM EDT on Thursday and Friday. CBS takes over weekend coverage from 3:00 to 6:00 PM EDT on Saturday and Sunday. The unique team dynamic promises an entertaining week of golf unlike anything else on tour. Which pair will claim the trophy? The dynamic duo of McIlroy and Lowry certainly seems ready for round two.
The post Zurich Classic 2025: When Will Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry Play in the Unique Event? Round 1 & 2 Tee Times and Pairings Explored appeared first on EssentiallySports.