Jordan Spieth, Ryan Palmer and their caddies, Michael Greller and James Edmondson, were on the driving range at Trinity Forest in Dallas before a friendly match last November when Edmondson cracked to Spieth, “If I beat you today, you have to be Ryan’s partner in New Orleans next year.”
Edmondson, a former college golfer and four-time club champion at Colonial C.C. in nearby Fort Worth, shot 71, and Spieth lost, straight up. At least that’s how Palmer tells the second half of the story.
“We’ll go with that,” Palmer says.
And so that’s how it came to be that fellow Texans and friends Spieth and Palmer ended up teaming up for next week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which for the first time will feature two-man teams playing two rounds of foursomes and two rounds of four-ball.
The format change for the event at TPC Louisiana is an appealing one. The golf calendar is so stuffed with tournaments that anything to differentiate one event from another helps attract players, with this year’s field being Exhibit A.
In addition to Spieth, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas are playing. That’s seven of the top 10 ranked players in the world. “It’s awesome,” Palmer said of the format. “I think players will be relaxed, and they’ll enjoy the different format. I know we’re excited about it.”
Given a change from the mundane stroke-play events and with a playing partner who has been a Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup stud, can you blame Palmer?