It is no easy task to defend a title on the PGA Tour. The competition is severe, and it becomes even tougher when it’s a team event. 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer would agree with the statement as the duo is currently facing a mammoth task of defending their title at TPC Louisiana. 

Rahm and Palmer recorded an aggregate score of 262 and ran away with the Zurich Classic title in 2019. The team could not put their title on the line in 2020, but they are obliged to do it this year. After 36-holes, it looks like the defending champs have a lot of work to do to contend for the title. 

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans poses a massive challenge to the players owing to its format. Even players who’re accustomed to playing with a teammate struggled to display consistency at TPC Louisiana. 

Rahm and Palmer are no different as the experienced pair somehow managed to make a par score on Friday. Their combined score of 8-under par through two rounds has them tied for the ninth spot along with six other teams. 

Jon Rahm is not a huge fan of the alternate shot format

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans switches between two different formats in four rounds. The first and third round is playing in a four-ball format (each player in a team plays the hole individually) and the second and final round is played in a foursome format (players take alternate shots in playing holes). 

The latter is quite challenging. For instance, if Jon Rahm hits a bad tee shot, then it is the responsibility of Ryan Palmer to fix up the mess. Over the course of 18 holes, the task can get quite tiring and Rahm is not a big fan of this format. 

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“I think it’s difficult for anybody, right. You know, it’s tough to get into a rhythm sometimes because you hit a shot every so often and sometimes the way things work out, one player ends up putting more than the other,” Rahm mentioned.

“You’ve just got to have a lot of trust in each other, which we do. We didn’t play our best golf by any means and still shot under par, which it’s a good score. We’re only three back against the two guys that we played against, and they played really, really, really solid golf,” he added. 

Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer have a lot of work to do on the weekend. The 36-hole leaders are currently five strokes ahead of the defending champs. Rahm and Palmer need to be at their absolute best to make a serious contention for the title! 

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