The first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans will be held this Thursday, a very unique PGA Tour event. It’s a two-man team format, which does not factor in to the world rankings, but which will grant 400 FedEx Cup points to each of the winners.
Jon Rahm will play with Ryan Palmer, an unlikely pair, but one which will assure a ton of birdies. And we say unlikely because they’re not the closest of friends in the tour, they’re not from the same generation and they haven’t spent a whole of time together either, but nonetheless, there’s always been great vibes between the two.
“It was easy for me to send Jon a text. I threw him the bait…and he took it. Although I wasn’t entirely sure he would say yes”, Palmer revealed. Jon, eleventh in the world rankings with six wins under his belt from all around the world since 2017, on top of his victory against Tiger in the individuals of the Ryder Cup last year, and the Hero World Challenge put on by Woods, is a more than welcome partner for any contender.
Rahm did not take long to confirm. “It was something I wanted to do. We have similar styles of play, so I had a feeling it would be a good partnership”, he said. But there have been several other encounters between Jon and Ryan throughout the Spanish golfer’s run in the tour.
The first time they coincided was in the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2015, which Rahm played as an amateur. That weekend, since the Super Bowl was being held in Phoenix, the tee times were bumped up, pooling the players together in groups of three, and two opening tee-offs. Rahm played with Palmer and Zach Johnson, the first time the Spanish golfer played on a Sunday in the PGA Tour.