The Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the PGA Tour’s only two-man team event, is about to get a little leaner. A Tour-wide reshuffle of membership and field-size rules means a smaller lineup at TPC Louisiana starting in 2026, and that tweak could ripple through everything from how many teams make the cut to how Monday qualifiers and sponsor exemptions are handed out. With defending champions expected back and local fundraising still a major draw, the tournament remains a cornerstone of Avondale’s spring sports calendar, even as the field tightens.
The overhaul started with a memo from the Player Advisory Council and was signed off by the Tour’s policy board, which trimmed the number of fully exempt players and ordered broad field reductions beginning in 2026. As detailed by CBS Sports, the Zurich Classic is among the events getting pared back, with its field moving from 160 players to 144, and the policy board signed off on the changes ahead of the RSM Classic.
What the change looks like in Avondale
The Zurich Classic, played at TPC Louisiana, is set for April 23-26, 2026, and keeps its status as the Tour’s lone team stop featuring four-ball and alternate-shot rounds. The tournament website notes that the Fore!Kids Foundation has distributed more than $55 million to children’s causes through the event, a reminder that the week is as much about charity as it is about closing rounds. The PGA TOUR’s 2026 media guide lists the event, its format and purse details for the upcoming season. Zurich Classic and the PGA TOUR media guide lay out those specifics.
Local stakes: charity and returning champs
Local reporting shows the Fore!Kids Foundation generated a record $3.6 million in 2025, and Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, who took the 2025 title at 28 under, are expected to return to defend. Those numbers helped elevate the tournament’s profile nationally and underscore that shrinking the field can have downstream effects on pro-am slots, sponsor packages and fundraising capacity. WDSU reported on both the record fundraising and the champions’ planned return.
New competition, same city
New Orleans is also in line to host a LIV Golf stop in the summer of 2026, a separate event the league announced after state funding and course upgrades received the green light, adding another big-ticket golf weekend to the local calendar. Having two high-profile golf weeks in the same market raises questions about scheduling and fan demand, even as local officials argue that more events translate to more tourism dollars overall. ESPN coverage has outlined the LIV agreement with Louisiana leaders.
What to watch
For fans trying to keep score on the policy side, a few changes stand out: fewer fully exempt cards, with the cutoff moving to the top 100 instead of 125, tighter sponsor-exemption rules and reduced or removed Monday qualifying spots at many tournaments. The Tour says the shakeup is meant to speed up play and create more predictable weekend fields. On the ground in Avondale, organizers will be watching entry lists closely, since a smaller field could reshape team pairings and lead to a slightly smaller on-site gallery. For a detailed breakdown of the PAC memo and event-by-event field adjustments, see the reporting from Golf Channel.
