The teams having the most fun – and I don’t mean on Bourbon Street or in the Harrah’s Casino – are the ones to circle at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

The city might be known as “The Big Easy” but wagering on this event can be anything but simple. As the PGA TOUR’s only two-man team event this week’s contest at TPC Louisiana brings a unique set of factors one must keep in mind when considering all betting and fantasy plays.

As always, the data counts. How a player is hitting the ball, how their game suits the course, all the usual metrics come into play. But one must also take the combination of a pairing into consideration.

Two of the four rounds this week are in the Foursomes format, or alternate shot as it is sometimes known. This format puts the squeeze on golfers like none other.

These guys are used to only having themselves to blame (even though they’ll theatrically look to shift it elsewhere on occasion) and to answer to. Now their shots affect a teammate and it takes a strong relationship to let mistakes slide without negative residue.

Take the most recent winning team as an example. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are so friendly they vacation together. Being able to have fun and accept each other is a huge part of the picture. The better the chemistry, the better the chances.

The “easy” pick is of course Cantlay and Schauffele, the +300 favorites with BetMGM Sportsbook. But personally, the odds here don’t scream out ‘yes please’ in a four-round contest. If you are looking for a potentially more lucrative option on the champions, then look to the first-round leader +800 number and watch to see if they repeat their record-setting 59 from a year ago.

Otherwise, perhaps wait and see how the opening round, or opening two rounds shake out before investing on these two. If they find themselves a few shots off the pace you might get a better number to attack.

It’s my overarching advice for the event. Rather than only enter with a set-and-forget mentality, this is the time to enjoy the different formats and have some interest in the head-to-head markets. Pit some pairings against each other and watch it play out each round.

Our Reid Fowler will clue you into the best head-to-head options on Wednesday so keep an eye out for that one and we will have our usual Draws & Fades each evening to gear you up ahead of each round. But with all that said, for those of you looking to pick a pre-tournament winner, I have some thoughts for you to keep in mind.

OUTRIGHT WINNER

While the Cantlay / Schauffele pairing can’t be ignored, I’m an advocate for youth this week. I’ll be looking to the two youngest, and fifth youngest, squads to make some noise. My theory is they’ll shake off any issues that happen and will have a nice aggressive mindset needed to win here.

The exuberance of Tom Kim at the Presidents Cup was on show for us all and I see the young talent excelling in this format while playing with fellow International team member and good friend Si Woo Kim. At +1400 this duo is the only pair who have both tasted a win this season and is the second youngest on average at 24.35.

Tom Kim is coming off a missed cut at the RBC Heritage but I’m choosing to take this as a positive as he comes down off his first Masters start. This pair might have more fun than most out there.

The fifth-youngest team (25.69) of Sahith Theegala and Justin Suh is another to watch this week. At +2200 you get the in-form Theegala who was ninth at the Masters and T5 last week at Hilton Head while Suh is not far removed from top-six finishes at The Honda Classic and THE PLAYERS Championship.

Theegala is 13th on TOUR in birdie average and 28th in scoring average and when Suh’s striking is on, he’s one of the best new talents out there.

Finally, as a long shot play (+6600), look to the absolute youngest team in Akshay Bhatia and Harry Hall (23.52). Bhatia is starting to find his feet after his runner-up result at the Puerto Rico Open recently while Englishman Hall ranks fourth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting. If these guys can get hot early the confidence will ooze from their pores.

PLACE MARKETS

Top 5: Given they’ve been T2 and T4 as a team before and half of the squad has won twice at TPC Louisiana it’s hard to go past Sam Burns and Billy Horschel (+270) here. While Horschel has been a shell of his best self lately Burns has been good enough to carry Billy back to his happy place.

Top 10: At +265 the duo of Thomas Detry and Victor Perez pops out to me here. Frenchman Perez is third in the Race to Dubai standings on the DP World Tour while Detry has three top 10s on the PGA TOUR this year and is a former World Cup winner for Belgium in this format.

Top 20: With three top 25s in his last four TOUR starts I’m looking for Denny McCarthy’s form and putting prowess to get fun-loving Joel Dahmen back to his best. This pair is +135 at DraftKings to be inside the top quarter of 80 teams.

TREND WATCH

One trend to keep an eye on is the fact each year since the inception of this new format at least one team from another country has either won or contended heavily. The South Korean pair of Kim’s mentioned above is likely to continue the trend but there are other options to watch in this space.

Canadians Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin will fancy themselves as sleepers as will Koreans Byeong Hun An and S.H. Kim. South African duos have also pushed for the title meaning Erik Van Rooyen and MJ Daffue might surprise while a second all-Australian title could come from the Aaron Baddeley/Harrison Endycott pair. Jonas Blixt is a former champion who is this time joined by fellow Swede David Lingmerth.