Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia set to play 2022 Zurich Classic

NEW ORLEANS (April 1, 2022) — Teammates on the last two European Ryder Cup squads, including the winning 2018 team, Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia will pair in the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, announced Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, producer of the tournament.

“These two European stars finished second as a team here in 2019, and Tommy Fleetwood took fourth in 2018 playing with fellow Englishman Chris Paisley,” said Worthy. “Both Tommy and Sergio have distinguished themselves in team play at the Ryder Cup, with Sergio scoring the most points in Ryder Cup history,” added Worthy.

Garcia has won 11 times on the PGA TOUR and 24 times internationally, including 14 European Tour titles.

He broke through with his first major title at the 2017 Masters when he birdied the first playoff hole to beat Justin Rose, the 2015 Zurich Classic winner, on what would have been the 60 th birthday of legendary Spanish player Seve Ballesteros. Garcia had amassed 22 top-10 finishes in 73 previous major championship starts, four of which were runner-up placements.

He has won more than $54 million on the PGA TOUR, placing him ninth all time.

He has played on ten Ryder Cup European teams and twice each on Seve Trophy and Dunhill Cup teams. He also represented Spain in the 2016 Olympics, when Rose won the gold medal.

His all-time Ryder Cup record is 25-13-7, the most wins of any player in history. He became the all-time leading scorer when he surpassed Nick Faldo’s record by half a point in 2018, and in 2021 became the player with more wins than any other in history.

He finished 3-1 for the victorious European team in 2018 and posted the same overall score in the European team’s losing effort in 2021. Garcia won the inaugural Nicklaus-Jacklin Award for the European team last year given to the player whose teamwork, sportsmanship, performance and decisions epitomized the spirit of the Ryder Cup.

Garcia set the European Tour record as the youngest player to make the cut at age 14, and he won his first professional tournament, the Catalonian Open, at 17. In 1999 at age 19, he was named the European Tour’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.

Fleetwood teamed with Garcia in the 2019 Zurich Classic, when they finished second.
In his first appearance in New Orleans, Fleetwood teamed with non-exempt European Tour player Chris Paisley to tie for fourth in the 2018 Zurich Classic.

Fleetwood has won six times internationally. Although he is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory, he has posted no fewer than 20 top-10 finishes since his debut on the Tour in 2013.

Since turning pro in 2010, Fleetwood has competed all over the world on the European Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Japan Golf Tour, the Southern Africa Tour and the Asian PGA.

As an amateur, he won the English Amateur title and played for the European team in the 2009 Walker Cup. Later as a professional he represented England in the 2013 Seve Trophy and in the 2020 Olympics.

In his inaugural Ryder Cup competition in 2018, he won all four of his team matches for the Europeans, paired with Francesco Molinari. The duo was dubbed “Moliwood” by the European golf media during their record-setting play in Paris that year.

The Zurich Classic is the only team tournament on the PGA TOUR season. Since launching the team format in 2017, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans has drawn some of the highest ranking fields for any regular-season tournament on the PGA TOUR.

The 2022 Zurich Classic field is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever. The field now includes seven of the top 11 players in the world:

· New world number-one ranked Scottie Scheffler will pair with fellow Texan and former Zurich Classic champion Ryan Palmer.

· Collin Morikawa, ranked third in the world, will team with Viktor Hovland, ranked fourth, to form the highest ranked pair in the history of the team format at the Zurich Classic.

· Patrick Cantlay, the 2021 FedExCup winner ranked fifth in the world, will pair with 2020 Olympic gold medal winner Xander Schauffele, ranked tenth.

· Cameron Smith, who won The Players Championship and vaulted to 6 th in the world, will team again with fellow Australian Marc Leishman to defend the title they won last year at the Zurich Classic. Smith is the only two-time team winner of the Zurich Classic.

· Sam Burns, whose repeat victory in the Valspar Classic moved him up to 10 th in the world rankings, slipped to 11 th this week after skipping the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He will team again in the Zurich Classic with Billy Horschel, who is vying to become the first three-time winner in the tournament’s history and himself is ranked 13 th in the world.

In 2021, after cancellation of the 2020 tournament, the Fore!Kids Foundation generated an all-time record $2.3 million in charitable giving for children’s charities in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas.

Because of its popularity, the Best of the Zurich Classic ticket will return in 2022, along with expanded suite options at the 17 th and 18 th holes. A new Walk-On’s Stadium Club venue will also be introduced.

About Fore!Kids Foundation:

Since 1958, the Fore!Kids Foundation has raised money to fund children’s service organizations through golf events like the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, The Holiday Auction Fore!Kids and several charitable golf tournaments. As a 501(c)(3) corporation, Fore!Kids has distributed more than $42 million since inception, providing healthcare, education and hope for over 200,000 children each year. More information at http://www.forekidsfoundation.com .

About the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

Televised in more than 224 countries and territories, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans generates a significant economic impact on the city of New Orleans and the entire state of Louisiana. Independent research has shown that the tournament generates spending of more than $40 million within the local economy and garners $33 million in positive national and international media exposure for both the city and state throughout the year beyond the four days of competition.

The tournament will be played April 18-24, 2022 at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. Purse for 2022 totals a record $8.3 million, with each member of the winning team earning $1,199,350.

Day-specific grounds tickets are only $40. In addition, the Best of the Zurich Class Pass offers a variety of dishes from some of New Orleans most famous restaurants at three locations across the TPC course starting at $175 per day. Additional ticket options are available by calling the Tournament Office at 504-342-3000 or online at www.zurichgolfclassic.com .