5 teams to watch at the Zurich Classic

The PGA TOUR returns to TPC Louisiana this week, the home of the annual spring team event.

Featuring an alternating-round four-ball and foursomes format, the unique event on the schedule can produce some surprising outcomes and exciting pairings.

Here's a look at five interesting teams to keep an eye on at this year's installment.

Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa

The headliner of this year's Zurich Classic is no doubt the pairing of World No. 2 Collin Morikawa and No. 5 Viktor Hovland. Between the two, they already have a combined eight victories on the PGA TOUR and three on the DP World Tour at just 25 and 24 years old, respectively.

The pair is the highest-ranked duo since the team format was introduced in 2017 and both are entering the event off a string of solid performances. Morikawa has finished inside the top 10 six times this season and came fifth at the Masters a few weeks ago. Hovland already has a win this season at the World Wide Technology Championship alongside three additional top-10 finishes.

Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood

Will Sergio Garcia be able to assist Tommy Fleetwood in his first TOUR win? It's no secret the British golfer has struggled to close out a victory in the U.S. despite having great success in Europe, but a team format with two of Europe's most dominant Ryder Cup players might seal the deal for the 31-year-old.

No one can forget watching Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari cruise their way to a perfect 4-0 record in team matches at the 2018 Ryder Cup - the first in the history of Team Europe to do so. While Fleetwood's Cup performance will certainly be a highlight in his career, Garcia is quite literally the most dominant Ryder Cup player ever, holding the record for most match wins at the event.

Garcia has a 9-4-3 record in four-ball and an impressive 12-4-3 record in foursomes in 10 Ryder Cup appearances. In his two Ryder Cups, Fleetwood has gone 2-0-0 in foursomes and 2-1-1 in four-ball.

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay

Any other year, World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay and No. 12 Xander Schauffele might be the highest-ranked duo, but they're not the star pairing this week thanks to Hovland and Morikawa. However, what the California-born pairing does have going for them over the higher-ranked youngsters is their recent foursome and four-ball records.

At the 2020 Ryder Cup (held in 2021), Cantlay went 2-0-0 in foursomes and 0-0-1 in four-ball while Schauffele went 2-0-0 in foursomes and 1-0-0 in four-ball. Hovland struggled in his Cup debut with an 0-2-0 record in foursomes and 0-1-1 mark in four-ball in the historic loss.

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman

The Australian duo was dominant at last year's Zurich Classic, winning in a playoff over the South African pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. This is no doubt a promising look ahead at this year's potential International Team at the Presidents Cup.

It's hard to believe that Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman - who were already established on TOUR prior to the 2021 trip to TPC Louisiana - are playing better golf heading into this year's Zurich Classic. Smith is one of the best players in the world right now after winning the Players Championship in March and finishing in a tie for third at the Masters.

Smith, a two-time winner of the event, is currently ranked No. 6 compared to his No. 25 ranking entering the tournament last year. Though Leishman himself has not moved up in the rankings since their win last year, he does already have three top-10 finishes on TOUR so far this season.

Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer

While Scottie Scheffler doesn't have the most extensive history playing in the team format at the Zurich Classic compared to some other names in the field, the World No. 1 is unstoppable right now. With four wins in his past six starts, Scheffler is on a record-breaking run of dominance, and it seems as though he has a great chance of winning any tournament he enters.

Even though his partner Ryan Palmer is not ranked as high as the 25-year-old, he has what Scheffler is missing - a solid history at the tournament. Playing in the Zurich Classic every year since the team format was introduced, the 45-year-old has finished outside the top 10 just once. He won the event alongside Jon Rahm in 2019.

Palmer has only played the tournament with former World No. 1 players; Rahm and Jordan Spieth were his past two partners.