Who won the Zurich Classic last year? Exploring 2022 champions

The 2022 Zurich Classic´s winner team, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, will defend their title starting next Thursday. It is the third time they arrive in Avondale as a team. They do so while carrying, in addition to the weight of their crown, several historic marks they left on the green of TPC Louisiana.

The Schauffele-Cantlay team won a year ago with a 29-under 259, a record for the event, beating the pair of Sam Burns and Billy Horschel by two strokes.

However, the team of Burns and Horschel also recorded a prominent performance, finishing 27-under 261, matching the previous record.

Historic performance at the 2022 Zurich Classic

Zurich Classic of New Orleans last year

Schauffele and Cantlay opened with a 59 best-ball in the first round, also a record for the Zurich Classic tournament. In the process, they became the first team to lead from start to finish in this event since it adopted the current two-man team format in 2017.

For the second round, the eventual Zurich Classic 2022´s winner team scored 68 strokes, and they consolidated their lead with 60 on the third day of action. On this day, they finished five strokes ahead, another record for the event.

The closing day did not go so well for the eventual Zurich Classic 2022´s winner team. Hole eight, nine, and 10 saw Schauffele miss a three-foot putt and miss the green twice. With two straight bogeys, the five-stroke lead they brought from the third round was reduced to just one.

''I feel like those bogeys were pretty much my fault, put (Cantlay) in bad spots with an 8-iron and wedge in hand,'' Schauffele said at the time, after the competition.

However, they were able to bounce back and card six consecutive birdies after the 11th hole to stay within striking distance of Burns and Horschel. With 72 strokes in that final round, the eventual Zurich Classic 2022´s winner team stayed on top with just enough to win the coveted trophy.

The victory, in addition to $1.9 million each, earned them 500 points for the FedExCup, a tournament in which Schaufelle would finish fourth and Cantlay seventh (tied with Sepp Straka).

Strong field for 2023 edition of Zurich Classic

Xander Schaufelle

It was Xander Schaufelle's fifth PGA Tour victory and Patrick Cantlay's seventh. They now have seven and eight wins, respectively.

Schaufelle has been runner-up 10 times, second runner-up eight times, and has been in the top-10s 45 times. Cantlay, on the other hand, has been runner-up nine times, second runner-up seven times, and has reached the top-10 on 49 occasions. He also won the FedExCup in 2021.

So far on the 2022-23 PGA Tour, Patrick Cantlay has not won any tournaments, but has five top-10s, is eighth in the FedExCup and is fourth in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

Xander Schauffele has not won either, has six top-10s, is 31st in the FedExCup and fifth in the OWGR.

Along with the pairs of Burns and Horschel; and Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, they form the trio of teams with the best odds in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans 2023. This is according to the tournament's official website.