World’s second and third ranked players will team for 2022 Zurich Classic

NEW ORLEANS, LA (March 23, 2022)—Collin Morikawa, ranked second in the world, will team with Viktor Hovland, ranked third, in the 2022 Zurich Classic, announced Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, producer of the tournament.

“These two form the highest ranked partnership to compete since we adopted the team format five years ago,” said Worthy. “They are both incredibly accomplished at a very young age, and both have international team competition experience.  We are thrilled to have them back to New Orleans, now as a team,” Worthy added.

“With defending champion Cameron Smith ranked sixth and now Sam Burns moving to tenth, we already have four of the top 10 players in the world in our field,” said Worthy. “And we have more to come,” he predicted.

Morikawa burst on the PGA Tour by earning his temporary card in only his fourth start as a professional in 2019 when he tied for second at the 3M Open after leading at 54 holes. He went on to finish tied for fourth in his next tournament and won the Barracuda Championship two weeks later in his eighth career and sixth professional start at age 22 years, 5 months, 22 days.

He became only the second player to win a major and a WGC title before the age of 25. The other player to accomplish that feat was Tiger Woods.

He won the 2020 PGA Championship in August after the PGA Tour resumed play that year. He then went on to win the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship in February 2021.

Later that season, he won The Open Championship for his second major title in two years. In the 2020-21 season he posted two wins, a second, fourth in the U.S. Open, three ties for seventh, eighth in the PGA Championship and took fourth in the Olympics. He also won the DP World Tour Championship.

So far this season, he has two seconds, two fifths and a seventh place in seven tournaments.

In 61 career PGA Tour starts, he has posted 22 top-ten finishes and 32 top-25s.

In his first Ryder Cup competition last year, he went undefeated, with three wins in team play and a half in singles. He and Patrick Cantlay posted the second highest score totals for the American team at 3.5 points each.

Morikawa was a three-time first team All-American at University of California where he was named 2018 Golfweek Men’s National Player of the Year and earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors in 2019. He also reached the number one position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

He was named to the 2017 Walker Cup team, the 2017 and 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup squads and won the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy.

Hovland, born and raised in Oslo, Norway, was the first Norwegian golfer to win the
U.S. Amateur in 2018 and the first Norwegian to compete in the Masters the following year. He earned low amateur honors at both the Masters with a tie for 32^nd and the U.S. Open, where he finished tied for 12^th.

He scored his first PGA Tour victory in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open at 22 years old. He also finished third in the Workday Charity Open and was one of only two rookies that season to make the Tour Championship, where he finished 20^th.

He went on to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December, then fired up a hot streak early in 2021. In three consecutive tournaments, he tied for second in the Farmers Insurance Open, tied for fifth in the Genesis Invitational and tied for second in the WGC-Workday Championship. He teamed with fellow Norwegian Kris Ventura in the 2021 Zurich Classic and finished 25^th.

This season he has won twice: the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba where he defended his title from the year before; and the Hero World Challenge, when he came back from a six-shot deficit to win and deny Morikawa the world’s number one ranking.

In addition to his three PGA Tour titles, he has also won twice internationally at the 2021 BMW International Open and the 2022 Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic. He played on the 2021 European Ryder Cup team that fell to the Americans at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

He has made the cut in all four majors he has played, with a tie for 12^th and a tie for 13^th in the U.S. Open. In 63 starts on the PGA Tour, he has totaled 33 top-25 and 15 top-10 finishes.

Hovland played on the Arnold Palmer Cup team in 2017 and 2018 and won the Eisenhower Trophy for amateurs in 2016 and 2018. He represented Norway in the 2020 Olympics, finishing 14^th.

In his three seasons at Oklahoma State, he was a two-time first-team All-American and three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection. After his junior year, he was named Big 12 Player of the Year, won the Ben Hogan Award and reached the number one spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The 2022 Zurich Classic field is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever.

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.

In addition, the 2022 field includes the team of Billy Horschel, who is vying to become the first three-time winner in the tournament’s history, and Sam Burns, whose repeat victory in the Valspar Classic moved him up to 10^th in the world rankings.

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 pass 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.