Zurich Classic 2014: Tee times, pairings for Thursday’s round

The much-too-long stretch between the season’s first two majors continues this week with the PGA Tour’s annual stop in New Orleans. The Zurich Classic tees off Thursday morning from TPC Louisiana, one of the longer but easier courses on Tour.

The Zurich Classic has produced some impressive champions in recent years. The last three winners are Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, and Billy Horschel, three guys who have either locked up or will be legitimate competitors for U.S. Ryder Cup spots this year. The winning score typically comes in around 20-under, so it’s a weekend loaded with red numbers and rounds in the mid 60s. Dufner and Watson are not in attendance, but Horschel is back to defend and is peaking into form. He’s one of the better young Americans on Tour, and following his win in NOLA last year, he continued to contend at the majors and game’s biggest events.

This year, Horschel is one of the main draws and he’ll be out in the marquee group at 1:30 p.m. ET, playing alongside Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed. That’s a pretty powerful group of young American players, and all three should make a push towards the top of the leaderboard by the weekend. In the first round, they’ll be the focus of the Golf Channel cameras during the afternoon coverage window from 3 to 6 p.m. ET.

In the morning, the marquee group is probably the trio of Keegan Bradley, Matt Every, and Charles Howell III. They’re set to go off No. 10 at 8:40 a.m. ET. Bradley, who went winless in 2013, is trying to get back onto the American Ryder Cup roster and looked good last month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But he flamed out in his last start at the Masters, missing the cut at Augusta. He’s one of the stars in the field this week, on a track where he can pile up birdies against a lesser field, so this should be a huge opportunity for Bradley to get back into the winner’s circle.

Here’s the full tee sheet for Thursday’s opening round: