As the top players on the PGA Tour compete this weekend in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, fans watching on national TV will be treated to an excitingly different for professional tournament golf. In what started at the 1981 Walt Disney World National Team Championship, two-person teams compete in New Orleans to become Zurich Classic champions.

Although this format is unique to most viewers, fans of The Invitational Shootout have enjoyed the non-stop excitement of two-person teams since the Tournament debuted in 1994. 29 times The Shootout has crowned the top two-person golf scramble in the Midwest. Now the PGA Tour uses the same recipe that Shootout fans have become accustomed to since Mike Roach and Walter Lis won the inaugural event at the Links at Carillon in 1994.

“I’ll be honest” said Shootout Competition Committee Chairman and 2004 Champion Joe Hill. “I’m not surprised the PGA Tour followed our lead and used the same rules, structure and format that we’ve perfected over the years. The Shootout pioneered this type of event and it’s actually quite flattering to see the PGA Tour is now using everything we created.”

“Make no mistake, the Zurich Classic has a long way to go before it can match The Invitational Shootout” said Lifetime Achievement Award winner Mick McDonnell. “It’s nice to see Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on the same team, but do you think they could compete with our champions? I seriously doubt it. A two-person scramble is an entirely different beast and typically takes years for golfers to learn how to excel in this type of format.”

In addition to defending champions McIlroy and Lowry, top teams this week in the Zurich Classic include Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala, Thomas Detry and Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Victor Perez and Matthieu Pavon, and Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor. How would some of these teams measure up to the best teams at The Invitational Shootout?

“Obviously we would be happy to host any of the teams from the Zurich Classic at the Invitational Shootout” said Joe Hill. “However, just because they’re PGA Tour players doesn’t mean they would automatically be wearing wool jackets in the Champions Ring of Honor. I’ll guarantee that a living legend like King George Les wouldn’t be even slightly intimidated by Rory or Collin Morikawa.”

Whether Zurich Classic teams would do well against the Shootout’s best is still unknown. What we do know is the Invitational Shootout will continue to break new ground as the premier two-person scramble golf tournament in the Midwest.