ASCENDANT STARS THEEGALA AND ZALATORIS TEAM FOR 2024 ZURICH CLASSIC

Zalatoris returns from major back surgery while Theegala holds top five spot in FedExCup standings

NEW ORLEANS, LA (March 19, 2024)—Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris, two of the ascending young stars on the PGA Tour, have teamed to play the 2024 Zurich Classic, announced Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, producer of the tournament.

“Will has bounced back extremely well after missing nearly a full season from major back surgery,” said Worthy. “Meanwhile, Sahith is building off his first Tour victory last year with three top-10 finishes this season already, ” Worthy added.

Theegala broke through with his first title at the 2023 Fortinet Championship, then followed up  with a second at The Sentry in Hawaii to start the 2024 season. He took fifth in the WM Phoenix Open and tied for sixth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. This week he tied for ninth in The Players Championship.

He is currently ranked 14^th in the world and fifth in FedExCup standings.

In his first PGA Tour tournament in June 2020, he took 14^th in the Safeway Open and secured his card for the 2021-2022 season by finishing sixth in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Last year, he teamed with Justin Suh to tie for 23^rd in the Zurich Classic.

In the 2021-22 season, his first fulltime on the Tour, he finished 28^th in the Tour Championship after five top-10s and 11 top-25s  during the year.

Theegala was a three-time All-American at Pepperdine University. His collegiate career was cut short by the 2020 Covid-19 suspension of competition, when his team was ranked first in the U.S. In 2020 he was awarded the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award and the Jack Nicklaus Award, only the fifth college player to win all three in the same year.

Zalatoris burst on the PGA Tour to earn full-time membership for the 2020-21 season on the strength of three top 10 finishes in the majors–a second in his debut at the Masters, a tie for sixth in the U.S. Open and a tie for eighth in the PGA Championship. In 2022, he did even better in the majors with a tie for sixth in the Masters, a tie for second in the U.S. Open and a second in the PGA Championship when he lost a three-hole playoff.

He scored a total of eight top-10s and 14 top-25 finishes in only 25 events in his first season on Tour and ran away with the Arnold Palmer Award for Rookie of the Year honors before he even earned his full-time card.

He followed that brilliant rookie season up with his first victory in 2022 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but then was forced to withdraw from the following week’s BMW Championship when his back problem first appeared. Before that happened, however, he had posted three runner-up finishes and nine top-10s, including a tie for fourth in the 2022 Zurich Classic, when he teamed with Davis Riley.

He was forced to withdraw before the first round of  the 2023 Masters when he suffered a herniated disc in his back. He was ranked eighth in the world at the time. He lost the rest of the entire 2023 season and started this year ranked 43^rd.

Now back and healthy on Tour, he tied for second in The Genesis Invitational and tied for fourth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He has now climbed to 30^th in the world ranking and 13^th in  FedExCup points. He ranked as high as eighth in the world when he was forced to miss most of 2023 and fell to 54^th by the time he returned.

As an amateur, he won the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. In college, he played for Wake Forest on the Arnold Palmer scholarship and was named first-team All-American and ACC Player of the Year in 2017. He made the Walker Cup team that year and contributed to a 19-7 U.S. win over the Europeans by going 3-1 in his matches. That American team included Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ, Doug Ghim and Maverick McNealy, all of whom compete on the PGA Tour today.

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 and several charitable golf tournaments.

In 2023, the Fore!Kids Foundation generated a record $2.843 million in charitable giving for children’s charities in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas. Charitable contributions have been rising in recent years:

• Over $2.843 Million to charities in 2023
• Over $20 Million to charities in last 10 years
• Over $48 Million to charities since inception

More information at http://www.forekidsfoundation.com.

About the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

Zurich Insurance has sponsored the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for 20 years, one of the longest title sponsor relationships on the PGA Tour. 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 Zurich Classic has over a $40 million economic impact to the regional economy. With 42 hours of total television coverage on Golf Channel and CBS, a total of 13 million viewers tuned in to watch the tournament.

Internationally, PGA TOUR coverage of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is available across 148 countries and territories via local broadcast partners, and garners $33 million in positive national and international media exposure for both the city and state throughout the year beyond the days of professional competition.

The tournament will be played April 24-28, 2024, at TPC Louisiana in Avondale. Purse for 2024 totals a record $8.9 million, with each member of the winning team earning $1,286,050 and 400 FedExCup points.

All tickets to the 2024 Zurich Classic will be mobile entry only. 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, and the Walk-On’s Stadium Club will offer close-up viewing at the 17^th hole in the only two-story, air-conditioned tent on the course. Additional ticket options are available by calling the Tournament Office at 504-342-3000 or online at www.zurichgolfclassic.com