The most prolific pairing in the two-man team format adopted by the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2017 will be back to take another run at the title next month.
For two-time Zurich Classic champion Billy Horschel and former LSU All-American Sam Burns, who have teamed up the past two years, it was a no-brainer.
They finished second behind champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele at the TPC Louisiana layout last April after tying for fourth in 2021.
Those strong finishes came after Horschel had success as an individual and in the only two-man team event on the PGA Tour. He claimed the Zurich Classic title in 2013 and partnered with Scott Piercy to win in 2018.
So, it was anything but a surprise when it was announced Wednesday morning by Fore!Kids Foundation CEO Steve Worthy that the Horschel-Burns pairing will be in the 80-team field in the $8.6 million event April 20-23.
Horschel, an All-American at the University of Florida, and Burns chased the Cantlay-Schauffele duo to the wire and finished the 2022 event with a 72-hole score of 27-under 261.
But Cantlay and Schauffele, who announced their return on Monday, went wire-to-wire for the win. They broke the old Zurich Classic record of 261 for the two-man event with a 29-under 259.
Horschel, who is currently ranked 24th in the world, has won seven times on the PGA Tour with the 2013 Zurich Classic being his first after he sank a dramatic 26-foot putt on the 72nd hole.
One year later, the Florida native claimed the overall FedEx Cup title with two victories and a second-place finish in the season-ending playoffs.
The 26-year-old Burns has won four times in 120 career PGA Tour starts with three of them coming in 2022.
With a victory in the Charles Schwab Challenge last May, he climbed to ninth in the world rankings and is currently ranked 15th.
The Shreveport native’s other 2022 wins were at the Valspar Championship, where he successfully defended the title he won a year earlier, and the Sanderson Farms Championship.
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