The Zurich field also has one of the biggest area contingents in the field this season. A dozen players from the First Coast and 10 from Georgia's Golden Isles are playing, with past champion Billy Horschel and 2025 PGA Tour winner Karl Vilips among those at TPC Louisiana.

Rory McIlroy — his voice raspy from a cold that made it tough for him to get out of bed a couple of days earlier — expressed relief that he'd have a teammate to lean on in his first PGA Tour event since his historic triumph at the Masters two weekends ago.