The headline act heading into the 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans is undoubtedly the brand-new partnership of Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry, as the PGA Tour’s only official team event returns to TPC Louisiana from 23–26 April.

In a field packed with established duos, emerging talents and some intriguing one-off collaborations, the Koepka–Lowry pairing immediately stands out as one of the most compelling storylines of the week.

Lowry, who has enjoyed significant success in this event in recent seasons, had formed a highly effective partnership with Rory McIlroy over the past two years. The all-Irish duo captured the Zurich Classic title in 2024 before finishing tied 12th in their title defence in 2025.

However, with McIlroy trimming his schedule this season following a demanding run of commitments – and fresh off successfully defending his Masters title at Augusta National – the six-time major champion has opted to spend more time away from the weekly grind.

That decision has opened the door for Lowry to pursue a new partnership, and he has wasted no time in teaming up with close friend and five-time major champion Koepka, who returned to full PGA Tour competition earlier this season after four years competing on LIV Golf.

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On paper, it is a partnership that makes considerable sense. 

Beyond their long-standing friendship, both players are Srixon staffers and use closely aligned Z-STAR golf ball models, a factor that becomes particularly important in the alternating-shot foursomes format.

The Zurich Classic alternates between fourballs and foursomes: Thursday and Saturday are played in fourball (best ball), while Friday and Sunday feature foursomes (alternate shot), placing a premium on compatibility, strategy and shared equipment understanding.

Koepka’s elite major pedigree combined with Lowry’s consistency and touch around TPC Louisiana creates a pairing that will instantly attract attention across all four rounds.

Format, field and prize fund

The 2026 Zurich Classic once again features a field of 80 teams (160 players), making it one of the most distinctive events on the PGA Tour schedule.

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Round 1 & 3: Fourball (best ball)Round 2 & 4: Foursomes (alternate shot)Course: TPC LouisianaDates: 23–26 April 2026Prize fund: $9.5 millionWinners’ share (per player): $1,372,750

The format places a unique emphasis on chemistry. While fourball allows for aggressive scoring and individual brilliance, foursomes often exposes any mismatch in rhythm, strategy or equipment preference.

Teams are formed via a simple but strategic structure: PGA Tour players from the Priority Ranking select their partners, provided those players hold PGA Tour status or receive sponsor exemptions.

While Koepka and Lowry lead the pre-tournament narrative, several other partnerships stand out:

Matt Fitzpatrick & Alex Fitzpatrick: The English brothers reunite, with Alex arriving off a maiden DP World Tour victory.Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak: The American duo will look to become the first ever team to successfully defend the title.Matt Wallace & Marco Penge: Brand new English pairing who both like to play aggressive, attacking golf. 

Check out all of the teams below…

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry

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2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans: The Teams

Below is the complete list of confirmed pairings for the 2026 Zurich Classic:

Player 1

Player 2

Wyndham Clark

Taylor Moore

Matt Fitzpatrick

Alex Fitzpatrick

Brooks Koepka

Shane Lowry

Michael Brennan

Johnny Keefer

Rafael Campos

Alejandro Tosti

Cam Davis

Geoff Ogilvy

Nick Dunlap

Gordon Sargent

Austin Eckroat

Davis Thompson

Tony Finau

Max Greyserman

Brice Garnett

Lee Hodges

Ryan Gerard

David Ford

Ben Griffin

Andrew Novak

Garrick Higgo

Matt Kuchar

Billy Horschel

Tom Hoge

Stephan Jaeger

Jackson Suber

Tom Kim

Kevin Yu

Chris Kirk

Patton Kizzire

Peter Malnati

Russell Knox

Matt McCarty

Mac Meissner

William Mouw

Takumi Kanaya

Matthieu Pavon

Martin Couvra

Taylor Pendrith

Mackenzie Hughes

Aaron Rai

Sahith Theegala

Davis Riley

Nick Hardy

Adam Schenk

Tyler Duncan

Karl Vilips

Michael Thorbjornsen

Sam Stevens

Zach Bauchou

Matti Schmid

Seamus Power

Erik van Rooyen

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Rico Hoey

David Lipsky

Max McGreevy

Kevin Roy

Alex Smalley

Hayden Springer

Vince Whaley

Greyson Sigg

Eric Cole

Hank Lebioda

Keith Mitchell

Brandt Snedeker

Mark Hubbard

Ryan Brehm

Chad Ramey

Justin Lower

Chandler Phillips

Carson Young

Danny Walker

Jimmy Stanger

Blades Brown*

Luke Clanton

Jacob Skov Olesen*

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

Casey Jarvis*

A.J. Ewart

Marco Penge

Matt Wallace

Kristoffer Reitan

Kris Ventura

John Parry

Dan Brown

Haotong Li

Jordan Smith

Keita Nakajima

Kensei Hirata

Chandler Blanchet

John VanDerLaan

Austin Smotherman

Andrew Putnam

Neal Shipley

Christo Lamprecht

Adrien Dumont de Chassart

Davis Chatfield

Jeffrey Kang

Doug Ghim

Trace Crowe

Ben Martin

Zecheng Dou

Dylan Wu

Pontus Nyholm

Jesper Svensson

Adam Svensson

Adam Hadwin

Marcelo Rozo

Camilo Villegas

Beau Hossler

Sam Ryder

Patrick Fishburn

Zac Blair

Charley Hoffman

Nick Watney

Kevin Streelman

Joel Dahmen

Lanto Griffin

Ben Kohles

Frankie Capan III

Noah Goodwin

Chan Kim

Ryan Palmer

Harry Higgs

Jeremy Paul

Henrik Norlander

Luke List

Taylor Montgomery

Scott Piercy

Ben Silverman

Cameron Champ

Paul Peterson

Will Gordon

David Skinns

Trey Mullinax

Jonathan Byrd

Chez Reavie

Austin Cook

Jason Dufner

James Hahn

Kyle Stanley

Troy Merritt

Robert Streb

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