Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry combine for Zurich Classic: Field, format and prize money for PGA Tour team event

Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka will combine for this week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event, at TPC Louisiana.

They will form part of a field of 80 teams vying for the title, with defending champions Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak returning after beating Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard by one shot to win in 2025.

Rory McIlroy and Lowry have partnered in the competition over the past two years, with the European Ryder Cup duo being crowned champions in 2024, defeating Martin Trainer and Chad Ramey in a play-off.

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The pair sent fans into hysterics as they celebrated their victory performing a rendition of Don't Stop Believin' by Journey on stage in front of a crowd of fans.

The Ryder Cup team-mates initially decided to team up following a "drunken lunch," while celebrating Team Europe's victory in Rome in 2023.

"I asked him [to play]," McIlroy told GOLF.com. "We had this really drunken lunch after the Ryder Cup last year. I said after, 'You wanna play the Zurich together?' And we were like, 'yeah, let's do it.'"

While the Northern Irishman is enjoying some time away from the golf course as he celebrates winning back-to-back Green Jackets at The Masters, Lowry has partnered with five-time major winner Koepka, who returned to the PGA Tour in January, after spending the last four years playing on LIV Golf.

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It is a unique partnership, with Lowry and Koepka having gone head-to-head on opposing Ryder Cup teams in the past, but are close friends and live near to each other in Florida.

Between them, they boast six major titles and a breadth of experience on the big stage. Lowry won The Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush and has featured in two Ryder Cup-winning teams. Koepka's trophy cabinet is also overflowing, with the American having won five majors, including two US Opens and three PGA Championships.

Koepka and Lowry are among the favourites to win this week, but they are up against a very tough field.

Who else is playing at The Zurich Classic?

Fresh off his second PGA Tour victory of the season, Matt Fitzpatrick will get straight back on the horse as he unites with his younger brother Alex Fitzpatrick.

It's been a memorable few months for the Fitzpatrick family, with Matt having climbed to No 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) following his victories at the Valspar Championship and last week's RBC Heritage, where he outlasted world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in a play-off.

Alex has also been in excellent form, winning his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. The Sheffield-born brothers entered the event last year, but missed the cut by two strokes.

PGA Tour rookie Marco Penge will make his debut at the tournament this week alongside fellow Englishman Matt Wallace. While long-driver Penge is still finding his feet on the American circuit, he has impressed this year, with his best result, a T4 finish, coming at The Valspar Championship in March.

Aaron Rai also returns to action this week alongside Sahith Theegala, who has four top-10 finishes so far this year on the PGA Tour.

How does the event work and what is the format?

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The Zurich Classic is the lone team event on the PGA Tour calendar, with teams competing in a four-ball format during the first and third rounds. Each golfer will play their own ball, with the lowest score on each hole counting.

The second and final rounds move to a foursomes format, which will see players alternate shots using only one ball. The total strokes taken will result in the team's score for each hole, and players will alternate tee shots throughout the round.

After the first two rounds, the top 33 teams and ties will progress to the weekend. Last year's cut line was set at -10 with some big names, including Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, missing out on a spot at the weekend.

Should there be a draw after 72 holes, a sudden-death play-off will take place to establish the winning team.

What is the prize?

There is a lot at stake this week, with PGA Tour chiefs having raised the prize purse for The Zurich Classic from $9.2m (£6.83m) to $9.5m (£7.05m).

The winners will share a 14.45 per cent slice of that prize, which is expected to be around $1.372m (£1.02m).

Players from the winning team will also each receive 400 FedExCup points, but no OWGR points are available.

The champions will also gain entry to some of the biggest tournaments for the 2027 season, including The Players Championship and The PGA Championship. They will also receive an exemption to play at The Zurich Classic for the next two years.

How can I watch on Sky Sports?

Sky Sports will show live action of all four tournament days, commencing with early round coverage at 1pm on Sky Sports Golf ahead of full coverage from 8pm on Thursday.

Action from the second round will begin at 1.45pm on Friday, with full coverage starting at 8pm on Sky Sports Golf.

Weekend coverage will start on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm on Sky Sports Golf, while full coverage will commence at 6pm on both days.

Alongside The Zurich Classic, the first women's major of the year, The Chevron Classic, also gets under way on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Main Event.

Who will win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 1pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 8pm.