Zurich Classic announces first two super teams committed to 2018 event

Defending Masters champion Sergio Garcia, ranked 11th in the world, has committed to team with Rafael Cabrera Bello, ranked 21st in the world.

Cabrera Bello has never played the Zurich Classic, and Garcia last played here in 2010.

Bubba Watson, who won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2011, then went on to win two Masters titles, will team with Matt Kuchar.

Garcia has won 10 times on the PGA TOUR and 21 times internationally, including 12 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.

He has won more than $47 million on the PGA TOUR, ranking seventh all time.

He set a record as the youngest player to make the cut on the European Tour at age 14, and won his first 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.

Cabrera Bello has won three times on the European Tour. He was also a prodigy, as he began playing golf at 6 years old and won the Spanish National Championship every year from age 7 to age 18. Ironically, he made his European Tour debut in 2002 at Open de Espana and was within striking distance of Sergio Garcia before finishing tied for fourth, six strokes behind Garcia.

This season, his best finishes have been a tie for third in the WGC-Mexico Championship, fifth in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and a tie for 10th in the CIMB Classic.

Bubba Watson has won ten times on the PGA TOUR, most recently at the Genesis Open this season. His win there vaulted him into the top 40 players in the world, and he currently ranks 38th.

He ranks 16th in all-time TOUR winnings with $38 million in prize money. In addition to his win at the Zurich Classic in 2011, he also finished fifth in the 2007 tournament and tied for fifth with J. B. Holmes in last year’s event, his best finish in the 2016-17 season.

He won the Masters in 2012 and 2014, tied for fifth in the 2007 U.S. Open, and took a sole second in the 2010 PGA Championship.

In 2015, he donated $100,000 to assist with recovery efforts after the devastating floods in Louisiana. His longtime caddy, Ted Scott, is from the Lafayette area. Watson is part owner of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and opened a candy store in Pensacola where his mom Molly sometimes works.

Kuchar ranks 13th all-time in money winnings on the PGA TOUR, with a total of more than $42 million. He has won seven times on the TOUR and twice internationally. His best finish in the current season is a tie for fifth in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Kuchar excelled at the majors last year, with a tie for fourth in the Masters, a sole second in The Open Championship in a memorable duel with Jordan Spieth and a tie for ninth in the PGA Championship.

The Zurich Classic is the only team tournament on the PGA TOUR season. This year’s 72-hole stroke team play format will feature Four-Ball (best ball) during the first and third rounds and Foursomes (alternate shot) during the second and fourth rounds. The starting field will consist of 80 teams. Following the conclusion of the second round, the field will be cut to the low 35 teams and ties. In case of a tie after 72 holes, there will be a sudden-death playoff using the Four-Ball format.