Sleeper Picks: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Cameron Tringale & Roberto Castro (+4000) … If I’m adhering to the loosest interpretation of the disclaimer at the bottom, I’d rule out a duo who finished T5 in the last edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. However, that was two years ago and a lot has changed for the former Georgia Tech teammates. Each was exempt as a Korn Ferry Tour Finals graduate in 2018-19, but only Tringale has retained fully exempt status. At this point in 2019, he was 562nd in the Official World Golf Ranking; today, he’s 85th on the strength of three top 10s and another four top 20s this season. Castro, who has slipped from 294th to 679th in the OWGR during the same time frame, has a pathway in 2020-21 only because eligibility was adjusted due to the pandemic. He’s made only four starts via conditional status but both of his cuts made occurred in his last two starts, the latter resulting in a T18 at Corales in late March.

Thomas Pieters & Tom Lewis (+4000) … Both members of this all-European team arrive with momentum. Pieters of Belgium has traveled around the world already a couple of times this year, but he hasn’t slowed. The 29-year-old is 6-for-6 with top 15s in each of his last four trips – from Saudi Arabia to Puerto Rico to Qatar to the Dominican Republic. Oddly, this week’s stop in NOLA marks his first appearance in a non-major on the U.S. mainland in 23 months (2019 AT&T Byron Nelson). Lewis is a year older and, unlike his partner, a PGA TOUR member. He’s been a two-time chip-and-a-chair success story. In what’s remained his only appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour, he prevailed at the KFT Championship in 2019 to secure his 2019-20 PGA TOUR card. In his first season with status, he was destined to miss the FedExCup Playoffs in 2020 until sharing runner-up honors at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with three weeks to go. The Brit has sputtered again this season, but he’s cashed in four straight starts with a T25 at Harbour Town on Sunday.

Roger Sloan & Aaron Baddeley (+8000) … You’re likely not going to see this pair competing at the Presidents Cup, but these two complement each other nicely for the objective at TPC Louisiana. Sloan of Canada is 36th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation. That frequency has helped guide him to five top 25s, including three in a row before the streak ended at TPC San Antonio (MC). He’s a first-timer in the team competition. Badds missed the cut in his only prior appearance (in 2018), but the Aussie struts in having cashed in four consecutive events across two tours. The most recent is a T5 on Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute. While he’s no longer among the elite putters, it’s still his strongest skill.

Odds were sourced on Tuesday, April 20 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm.

NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.