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Ireland s Rory McIlroy during the day 2 of the 2026 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, United States, on April 10, 2026. Noxthirdxpartyxsales PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxJPN aflo_326531319
Imago
Ireland s Rory McIlroy during the day 2 of the 2026 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, United States, on April 10, 2026. Noxthirdxpartyxsales PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxJPN aflo_326531319
The PGA Tour is heading to the South this week for a team competition event. As the defending champions, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak are returning to the TPC Louisiana to defend the Zurich Classic title. And they are bringing along a number of big names to the field.
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But there are still some huge names missing from the event this year. Interestingly, all of them were on the field in the last edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Let’s take a look at the five biggest names missing from the tournament this week.
Rory McIlroy
A couple of years ago, Rory McIlroy teamed up with Shane Lowry to win the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the playoffs. Last year, the European duo returned to try to defend their title. However, that didn’t go well as they finished T12.
This year, the Northern Irishman has decided to skip the tournament altogether. With Lowry partnering with Brooks Koepka, Rors will not be at TPC Louisiana this year to play the event.
The Zurich Classic of New Orleans has featured a two-man team format since 2017 and is the only official FedExCup event on the PGA TOUR schedule that uses a team format.
The field consists of 74 teams (148 players), with each team comprised of two professionals.
Zurich Classic… pic.twitter.com/5gXIVF2FWj
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) April 17, 2026
Interestingly, McIlroy has no appearances scheduled for the upcoming weeks. As per his official website, his next tournament is supposed to be the 2026 PGA Championship at the Aronimink Golf Club. Whether he makes any other appearances before that is uncertain. But what is confirmed is that he will not be playing the $9.5 million team event this week.
Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa joined forces with Kurt Kitayama to try to win the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. However, the duo crashed and burned in the event after missing the cut with an 8-under par on the leaderboard.
After the poor show last year, both of them have decided to skip the event. After making five consecutive appearances in the tournament, Morikawa will break the streak and not join the field in 2026.
Interestingly, the 29-year-old has played in every edition of the tournament ever since it turned into a team competition. He also came off a T4 finish in the RBC Heritage. But he did hint at a back injury during the tournament. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Morikawa has chosen to opt out of the TPC Louisiana event this year.
Chris Gotterup
Chris Gotterup kicked off the 2026 PGA Tour season on a high note. He first won the Sony Open in Hawaii. Then, a few weeks later, he beat the field to capture the WM Phoenix Open title. It’s safe to say that he has been quite busy this year.
However, that might have also led to him slowing down. Gotterup has already made ten appearances in 2026. Beyond the two wins, he also had another top-10 finish in the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He also played for two consecutive weeks in the Masters Tournament and the RBC Heritage. So for him to seek a break from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is understandable. Even if it’s the first time in three years that he is missing it.
Robert MacIntyre
In 2024, when McIlroy and Lowry were winning the Zurich Classic, Robert MacIntyre and LIV Golf pro Thomas Detry finished three strokes off them at T8. The Scottish pro was also on the field for the 2025 edition of the event. But he has decided to finally take a break from it.
It’s worth noting that MacIntyre has been troubled with injuries recently. Sources confirmed that he was suffering from a neck injury during the 2026 Masters Tournament. That affected his performance and made him miss the cut. He did return to the RBC Heritage, but it must have gotten too hectic for him.
With a runner-up finish in the Valero Texas Open, three continuous weeks of action must have been too much for him. Especially when he was recovering from an injury. So it’s understandable why he skipped the $9.5 million team event.
Sepp Straka
The reason behind Sepp Straka skipping the 2026 Zurich Classic is not too complex. He had played the tournament five times in the last seven years. However, things got a bit too hectic for him this time around, it seems.
The Austrian has been on the road for three straight weeks. While neither of them has had a successful outing, he will need to catch a break to have a breather. So that explains his absence from the tournament. However, it will be interesting to see when he does return to action again.
