Keith Mitchell and J.T. Poston, You Have Our Attention at the Zurich Classic

There are a lot of fun teams down in the Bayou this week.

Rory McIlroy is making his first start since capturing the Career Grand Slam alongside Shane Lowry as the duo returns to defend their title at TPC Louisiana. The Hojgaards and Fitzpatricks are turning New Orleans into the City of Brotherly Love, and the team of Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge are primed to contend come Sunday afternoon.

But for some reason, one team stood out to me the moment the field was announced last Friday: Keith Mitchell and J.T. Poston.

I’m not sure if it’s their enviable nonchalance, effortless style, or ability to absolutely flush the golf ball, but this is a team I can get behind.

Also doesn’t hurt that both guys have played some serious capital G Golf over the first few months of the season.

Poston has made 12 starts to this point, making it to the weekend 11 times and grabbing three top-25 finishes, including a tie for 11th last week at the RBC Heritage. Mitchell, on the other hand, has become the “King of Thursday.”

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Over his last four starts, the Georgia product has shot rounds of 67 (Valspar Championship), 65 (Texas Children’s Houston Open), 64 (Valero Texas Open), and 64 (Corales Puntacana Championship) in opening rounds. Mitchell hasn’t gotten one over the finish line for a dub, but coming off of three straight top-20 finishes, including that silver medal at the Corales last week.

It feels inevitable that he gets one soon, and I think this is a great spot to do just that.

The winning team is gonna have to go deep around TPC Louisiana—Thursday and Saturday are best-ball days, so don’t be surprised to see a few sub-60 scores on the leaderboard. Last year, McIlory and Lowry won at 25 under. A year earlier, Davis Riley and Nick Hardy got to 30 deep.

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It’s all about making as many birdies as possible, and Poston and Mitchell can do that with the best of ‘em. Poston is sixth on TOUR in total birdies to this point of the season, while Mitchell is sixth in scoring average. Circles should come early and often from these two boys.

While Poston doesn’t have course history to write home about—no top-20 finishes in four starts—Mitchell has been in contention a few times. In 2021, he tied for fourth, and two years later, he finished sixth alongside Sungjae Im—to this day, it’s my all-time favorite Zurich pairing, serious bromance vibes from those two.

It’s just something about this Poston/Mitchell tandem this week. Of course, when I feel strongly about a player or team heading into an event, it rarely lives up to the hype, but I have hope.

Let’s see if the flushers can get it done.