What is the Best Ball? 2025 Zurich Classic’s format explained

The 2025 Zurich Classic is scheduled to commence on April 24 in TPC Louisiana, New Orleans. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will be defending their title at this tournament.

This PGA Tour event comes with a unique team-based format that focuses on a mixed approach of different styles of play. It's what separates the 2025 Zurich Classic from all other events. The tournament features two different styles of play: Four Ball, which is commonly known as Best Ball, and alternately shot Foursomes.

In the Four Ball format, two players from a team play their own shots throughout the tee. The lowest becomes the team's score for that particular hole. It enables teammates to take bold shots, bringing up the risk vs reward shots. This is why this particular format in the 2025 Zurich Classic is known as Best Ball.

The First and Third Rounds of this tournament are in Best Ball, whereas the Second and Final Rounds are in Foursomes. In case of Foursomes, one of the golfers of a team starts at an odd-numbered hole, while the other starts at an even-numbered hole. They take turns to hit the same ball alternatively, until it is holed.

The 2025 Zurich Classic also features a cut after Round 2 to the top-ranking 33 teams. In case of a tie after 72 holes, a sudden-death playoff decides the winner. Teams play in Foursome and Best Ball formats alternatively on each extra hole till a team wins.

With a $9.2 million prize purse, each member of the 2025 Zurich Classic winning team will get a paycheck worth $1,329,400. Apart from that, winners get 400 FedEx Cup Ranking points and a two-year PGA Tour exemption.

While aiming to defend their title, McIlroy and Lowry will begin their Fourball play around 8.52 am EDT.

2025 Zurich Classic Round 1 Best Ball tee times and groupings

Here are the tee times of the Fourballs event in the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

(All timings in EST)

1st tee:

8:00 am: Jonathan Byrd and Chesson Hadley, Patrick Fishburn and Zac Blair
8:13 am: Robert Streb and Troy Merritt, Chad Ramey and Justin Lower
8:26 am: Mark Hubbard and Ryan Brehm, Ben Kohles and Patton Kizzire
8:39 am: Sepp Straka and Brice Garnett, Nick Hardy and Davis Riley
8:52 am: Cam Davis and Adam Svensson, Peter Malnati and Russell Knox
9:05 am: Lee Hodges and Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker and Chez Reavie
9:18 am: Robby Shelton and Trey Mullinax, John Pak and Taylor Montgomery
9:31 am: Ryo Hisatsune and Takumi Kanaya, Ben Taylor and David Skinns
9:44 am: Trace Crowe and Taylor Dickson, Kaito Onishi and Rikuya Hoshino
9:57 am: Kevin Velo and Isaiah Salinda, Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter
1:05 pm: Bud Cauley and Kevin Tway, Doug Ghim and Chan Kim
1:18 pm: Jacob Bridgeman and Chandler Phillips, Sami Valimaki and Ben Silverman
1:31 pm: Joel Dahmen and Harry Higgs, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak
1:44 pm: Wyndham Clark and Taylor Moore, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama
1:57 pm: Robert MacIntyre and Thomas Detry, Alex Fitzpatrick and Matt Fitzpatrick
2:10 pm: Garrick Higgo and Ryan Fox, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor
2:23 pm: Matt McCarty and Mason Andersen, Chris Gotterup and Quade Cummins
2:36 pm: Matthew Riedel and Will Gordon, Mac Meissner and Noah Goodwin
2:49 pm: Will Chandler and Matt NeSmith, Jeremy Paul and Yannick Paul
3:02 pm: Cristobal Del Solar and Matteo Manassero, Angel Ayora and Alejandro Del Ray

2025 Zurich Classic Round 1 tee times from 10th tee:

8:00 am: Rico Hoey and Sam Ryder, Alex Smalley and Joseph Bramlett
8:13 am: J.T. Poston and Keith Mitchell, Ryan Gerard, and Danny Walker
8:26 am: Matthieu Pavon and Victor Perez, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen
8:39 am: Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips, Rasmus Højgaard and Nicolai Højgaard
8:52 am: Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy, Tom Hoge and Billy Horschel
9:05 am: Sahith Theegala and Aaron Rai, Akshay Bhatia and Carson Young
9:18 am: Frankie Capan III and Jake Knapp, Eric Cole, and Sam Saunders
9:31 am: Greyson Sigg and Kevin Kisner, Sam Stevens and Max McGreevy
9:44 am: Trevor Cone and Kevin Roy, Thomas Rosenmueller, and Paul Peterson
9:57 am: Antoine Rozner and Kris Ventura, Steven Fisk and Tim Widing
1:05 pm: Cameron Champ and Lanto Griffin, Beau Hossler and Andrew Putnam
1:18 pm: Bill Haas and Martin Laird, Dylan Wu and David Lipsky
1:31 pm: Henrik Norlander and Luke List, Adam Schenk and Tyler Duncan
1:44 pm: Max Greyserman and Nico Echavarria, Kevin Yu and Jhonattan Vegas
1:57 pm: Si Woo Kim and Sangmoon Bae, Ryan Palmer and Zach Johnson
2:10 pm: Si Woo Kim and Sangmoon Bae, Ryan Palmer and Zach Johnson
2:23 pm: Joe Highsmith and Alejandro Tosti, Matt Wallace and Thorbjørn Olesen
2:36 pm: Hayden Springer and Nate Lashley, Vince Whaley and Anders Albertson
2:49 pm: Hayden Buckley and Braden Thornberry, Jesper Svennson and Niklas Norgaard
3:02 pm: Pierceson Coody and Jackson Suber, William Mouw and Ricky Castillo

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With prior experience as an entertainment content writer at Wincible and a sports content writer at Anfield Home, Pravashis brings a meticulous approach to his craft. His research skills and ability to present relevant information without losing creativity set him apart as a journalist. He strives to provide accurate and engaging content, leveraging tools like the GLF app, live sources, and leading platforms such as Golf.com and BBC.

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Edited by Rupesh