2021 Zurich Classic Final Round Best Bets: Double Down on the Australian Pair of Leishman & Smith

2021 Zurich Classic Final Round Best Bets: Double Down on the Australian Pair of Leishman & Smith article feature image
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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images. Pictured: Marc Leishman (left) and Cameron Smith.

Saturday at the Zurich Classic brought the scoring back that we saw in Round 1, as the return to Four Ball was a welcome sight for the teams. None of the 33 duos that made the cut scored worse than 2-under on the day, and there were five rounds of 9-under 63.

One of those rounds was by the new leaders from South Africa, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. They came in with six birdies in the final eight holes to snag a one-shot lead over the matching 63 from the Australian group of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith. Leishman and Smith will start the final round from the final pairing alongside Oosthuizen and Schwartzel.

Third round co-leaders Tony Finau and Cameron Champ are also just one shot back after they "only" shot 5-under 67 to lose their lead. Kris Ventura and Viktor Hovland also struggled to score a bit more than most and will go into the final round two shots back in a tie with Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler.

The final round will revert back to alternate shot, which will make it anyone's tournament at TPC Louisiana. There should be plenty of value available as this format can make for big numbers especially as the pressure begins to mount.

Let's see who stands out with value into Round 4.

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Best Bets

Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith +340 (FanDuel)

Hopefully you were following along yesterday and already have them on the books at +1400. My buy on Leishman and Smith going into Round 3 was as much about their ability to go low in Four Ball as it was about their fit to play well again on Sunday in alternate shot.

They are my pick to win and I'm not backing off now. I see their partnership as one of the best for the format, and pressure in the final round.

[Bet Leishman & Smith at FanDuel and get a $1,000 risk-free bet.]

Keegan Bradley & Brendan Steele +3300 (PointsBet)

If I am looking for a team that can come from behind for the win, I would drop down to Bradley and Steele. They are currently 16-under, three shots back of the lead, but they have a fairly hefty number hung on them at PointsBet.

They come into Sunday coming off a 8-under round in Round 3 and off a bit of a struggle in their first go at alternate shot. That round was hurt mostly by a bad double bogey on the final hole, which dropped them down the board. I am going to look past that and see this team as two ball strikers who should be able to put each other in a consistent position to score in the final round. If they can make a few putts, I could see them making a run at the win.

[Bet Bradley & Steele at PointsBet.]

Tyrrell Hatton & Danny Willett +350 Top 10 (DraftKings)

I had nearly written this team off after they struggled to get anything going in the first half of their Saturday round. Then, Willett seemed to find something and posted three birdies in a five-hole stretch as they made the turn. They stumbled a bit on the par-3 14th to post an ugly bogey for this format, but they otherwise seemed to have things going.

I liked them following the first round for the alternate-shot format, and I still like their potential to make some things happen on Sunday. They'll start the round just two shots outside of the top 10, and I like their partnership better than a few others ahead of them as they work to move up the leaderboard.

[Bet Hatton & Willett at DraftKings and get a $1,000 sign-up bonus.]

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