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Golf is perhaps the ultimate individual sport, except for this week when 160 of the game's best players pair into 80 teams for the 2021 Zurich Classic. The 2021 Zurich Classic begins on Thursday at TPC Louisiana, a 7,425-yard, par-72 venue over 250 acres of wetlands that features more than 100 bunkers. The team of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer won this event in 2019, and because last year's tournament was one of several cancelled due to COVID-19, they remain the defending champions heading into this week.

At 15-2, Rahm and Palmer are the favorites in the latest 2021 Zurich Classic odds at William Hill Sportsbook. The team of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are right behind at 8-1, and the Cameron Smith-Marc Leishman team is at 12-1 on the PGA odds board. Before locking in any 2021 Zurich Classic picks or entering any PGA DFS tournaments on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed last June. In fact, it's up over $10,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.

Two weeks ago at the Masters, McClure nailed Jon Rahm's (+250) top-five finish, as well as Corey Conners' (+550) top-10 showing. McClure's best bets netted over $450 at Augusta.

In addition, McClure was all over Daniel Berger's win at +1400 in his best bets at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. McClure also nailed Viktor Hovland's (+2500) victory in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December. That was one of many huge calls he's made in the past few months.

This same model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now that the 2021 Zurich Classic field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.

The model's top 2021 Zurich Classic predictions 

One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2021 Zurich Classic: the team of Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer, who are the defending champions having won this event in 2019, stumble and don't repeat as winners. The Rahm/Palmer team was victorious by three strokes when this tournament was last held and it set an alternate shot course record with a 65 in the second round.

But that marks Palmer's only PGA Tour win since 2010 and his game doesn't necessarily complement Rahm's. Despite both being ranked in the top 30, neither player ranks in the top 50 on tour in strokes gained via putting nor strokes gained around-the-green. Also, both players missed the cut in the 2018 tournament when they were on different teams, so they don't have lengthy records of success at TPC Louisiana.

Another surprise: the team of Talor Gooch and Max Homa, 30-1 long shots, makes a strong run at the 2021 Zurich Classic title. Neither Gooch nor Homa have made the cut without each other at the Zurich Classic, so they are hoping combining their talents will have a better result.

Gooch teamed with Andrew Landry in 2008, missing the cut by one stroke. The 24-year-old Gooch has three top-10s this season, finishing fourth at the Houston Open and fifth at both the Players Championship and the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. 

Homa's only other Zurich Classic appearance was in 2019, when he and Andrew Putnam missed the cut by three shots. Unlike Gooch, the 30-year-old Homa has two PGA Tour wins, capturing the Wells Fargo Championship and the 2021 Genesis Invitational. Homa has also finished T-22 or better in five of his last seven starts on the PGA Tour, and he enters the 2021 Zurich Classic ranked inside the top-50 in driving distance (303.2), birdie average (4.22) and scoring average (70.475). 

How to make 2021 Zurich Classic picks

The model is targeting three other teams with odds of 20-1 or longer to make strong runs at the title. Anyone who backs these underdogs in their 2021 Zurich Classic bets could hit it big. You can only see them here.

So who will win the Zurich Classic 2021 And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2021 Zurich Classic leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed six golf majors and is up over $10,000 since the restart.

2021 Zurich Classic odds

J Rahm/R Palmer 15-2
X Schauffele/P Cantlay 8-1
C Smith/M Leishman 12-1
C Morikawa/M Wolff 14-1
B Watson/S Scheffler 14-1
T Finau/C Champ 16-1
C Kirk/B Todd 20-1
B Horschel/S Burns 25-1
D Willett/T Hatton 25-1
J Rose/H Stenson 30-1
M Homa/T Gooch 30-1
B Grace/H Varner 30-1
D Frittelli/K Streelman 33-1
K Bradley/B Steele 33-1
L Oosthuizen/C Schwartzel 33-1
V Hovland/K Ventura 35-1
S Im/B An 40-1
J Dahmen/L Griffin 45-1
L Glover/C Reavie 45-1
D Ghim/J Suh 50-1
S Brown/K Kisner 50-1
R Castro/C Tringale 50-1
T Pieters/T Lewis 50-1
C Hoffman/N Watney 50-1
W Clark/E Van Rooyen 55-1
G McDowell/M Wallace 55-1
A Noren/H Norlander 60-1
R Knox/B Stuard 66-1
M Thompson/W Gordon 66-1
J Kokrak/P Perez 66-1
J.J. Spaun/M Jones 70-1
M Laird/N Taylor 70-1
M McNealy/J Bramlett 80-1
R Werenski/P Uihlein 80-1
B Snedeker/K Mitchell 80-1
T Hoge/B Hossler 100-1
M NeSmith/C Seiffert 100-1
K-H Lee/K Stanley 100-1
D Hearn/S Power 100-1
D Redman/S Ryder 100-1
R Hojgaard/V Taylor 125-1
S Piercy/A Bhatia 125-1
T Duncan/A Schenk 125-1
C Hadley/B Martin 125-1
S Straka/J Teater 125-1
A Landry/A Cook 125-1
B Garnett/S Stallings 125-1
J.B. Holmes/R Garrigus 125-1
J Dufner/D Bozzelli 150-1
X Zhang/C.T. Pan 150-1
T Merritt/R Streb 150-1
R Sloan/A Baddeley 150-1
A Putnam/S Harrington 150-1
K Kraft/K Tway 150-1
J Vegas/A Romero 150-1
G Chalmers/C Percy 175-1
B Hagy/M Kim 175-1
C Beljan/M Every 175-1
R Blaum/J Byrd 200-1
B Hoag/W Roach 200-1
M Hubbard/S Cappelen 200-1
H Higgs/M Gellerman 200-1
P Malnati/C Baker 200-1
R Shelton/K Hickok 200-1
M Trainer/J Hahn 200-1
H Lebioda/B Burgoon 225-1
D Lee/S Bae 250-1
R Campos/M Anderson 250-1
K Stadler/J Wagner 250-1
R Oppenheim/G Murray 250-1
R Gibson/B Taylor 250-1
B Van Pelt/L List 250-1
M Gligic/V Whaley 250-1
K.J. Choi/S Kang 300-1
B Haas/H Mahan 300-1
K Aphibarnrat/A Atwal 300-1
N Ledesma/F Gomez 300-1
T Wilkinson/G McNeill 300-1
D.J. Trahan/R Barnes 300-1
W Austin/R Mediate 1000-1