Golfbet recap: Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry win in Cajun country

The second shortest priced team on the board pre-tournament, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (+750), birdied the final hole in regulation and then went on to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in a playoff over Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer on Sunday at TPC Louisiana.

Teeing off in the final round as the in-game favorite at +260 and two shots off the 54-hole lead, McIlroy/Lowry fired a 4-under 68 in Foursomes (alternate shot) to get to 25-under for the tournament. The duo of Ramey/Trainer teed off much earlier in the day and came storming out of the gates, tying the Foursomes tournament record of 63. They were in the clubhouse with the lead while the chasers still had the entire back nine to play – with the winds freshening into the neighborhood of 20-25 mph.

After being in the clubhouse, sitting on the lead and waiting for the tournament to unfold for over two hours, Ramey/Trainer bogeyed the first playoff hole to hand the Irish/Northern Irish duo the victory – in what was McIlroy's first-ever trip to the Zurich Classic.

It was a rocky start for the favorites, bogeying two of their first three holes of the day. But it was a stretch mid-round that did it for the perennial Ryder Cup teammates, making birdie on four of five holes between Nos. 7 and 11.

Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry odds to win the Zurich Classic (via BetMGM Sportsbook):

• Pre-tournament: +750
• Entering Round 2 (tied for lead): +225
• Entering Round 3 (tied for lead): +275
• Entering Round 4 (Trailed by 2): +260

As play wound down, I asked Senior Manager of Race and Sports at Mandalay Bay, Tristan Davis, if the book was rooting for anybody to win this thing – other than the marquee pairing of Lowry and McIlroy.

"We would love to see the early clubhouse leaders win it (Ramey/Trainer)," said Davis. "That would be great if they can hold on."

Las Vegas golf oddsmaker, Jeff Sherman responded: "The only liability for us is the (Nick) Taylor/(Adam) Hadwin group." The Canadian pairing, who finished runner-up last year here, began the final round three shots off the lead at +900 to win it this year. They put together a Foursomes round of 63 last year but could only muster a 1-under 71 in the 2024 edition and were never really a factor on Sunday.

McIlroy earned his 25th career PGA TOUR victory while Lowry notched his third. Both players collect 400 FedExCup points.

Pre-tournament outright picks from Golfbet Experts

• Ben Everill: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (+450) T23
• Will Gray: Nick Taylor/Adam Hadwin (+2800) 10th
• Chris Breece: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (+450) T2
• Matt DelVecchio: Davis Thompson/Andrew Novak (+4500) T23
• Rob Bolton: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (+450) T23
• Mike Glasscott: Sahith Theegala/Will Zalatoris (+1000) MC

The 54-hole leaders, Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn double-bogeyed the par-3 ninth hole when Blair's tee ball found the water hazard, dropping the pairing back into a tie for second place but after a fightback they also doubled the par-3 17th hole, dropping the duo back to 23-under and their hopes of winning were all but dashed.

It was earlier this week, plowing through the Prop Farm, that I spoke with Drew O'Dell about the betting patterns he was seeing for the Zurich Classic at BetMGM.

"Top three teams in highest ticket percentage at BetMGM are Theegala/Zalatoris (16.3%), Cantlay/Schauffele (15.1%), and McIlroy/Lowry (8.8%)," said O'Dell, who noted it is the same top three teams in highest handle percentage.

After Scottie Scheffler last week and McIlroy/Lowry this week, it sounds like BetMGM bettors have had a nice two-week run. Personally, I got pretty close with a triple-digit longshot. The team of Nico Echavarria and Max Greyserman went off pre-tournament at +10000. They got it to 24-under on Sunday, one off the lead but finished at 23-under in a tie for fourth place.

The Grateful Dead once famously sang, "Houston – too close to New Orleans," but not to worry as we are in McKinney, Texas, next week, just outside of Dallas ("got a soft machine") for THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. Jason Day is back to defend his title and Dallas residents Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris are also expected to tee it up at TPC Craig Ranch. I'm guessing BetMGM is not going to be rooting for one of these three favorites next week either.

Rob Bolton Golfbet Insider and Sleeper Picks results:

• Dylan Wu/Justin Lower to win (+6600) T28
• Nate Lashley/Rafael Campos Top 10 finish (+550) 38th
• Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney Top 20 finish (+550) T11
• Wire-to-wire winner (+800) No
• Nick Hardy/Davis Riley Top 20 finish (+180) T28
• Billy Horschel/Tyson Alexander Top 20 finish (+150) MC
• Andrew Putnam/Joe Highsmith Top 20 finish (+190) MC
• Carson Young/Ben Martin Top 20 finish (+275) MC
• Daniel Berger/Victor Perez Top 20 finish (+188) MC
• Ryan Brehm/Mark Hubbard Top 20 finish (+300) 3rd
• Parker Coody/Pierceson Coody Top 10 finish (+600) MC
• Luke List/Henrik Norlander Top 20 finish (+220) T19

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