The PGA Tour have been at pains to promote this week's Zurich Golf team classic with the event going head to head with the latest LIV tournament.
Indeed, the prize money available to players is also enticing, with the format inevitably going to draw comparisons with the team competition element of the Saudi backed tour. The competition initially switched to a team event in 2017, but never before has such emphasis been placed on it by PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan and co as the threat of LIV continues to hover over the status quo.
The 160-man field has been split into 80 two-man teams for the tournament, which got under way on Thursday. The top 80 ranked players available on the PGA Tour, of which Rory McIlroy was not one of them, getting the luxury of picking their playing partner.
The 80 two-man teams feature in fourballs during the opening round, a format Ryder Cup fans will recognise all too well. Players each play their own ball with the best score on each hole from the pair going towards the team total, before the foursomes format is utilised for the second round on Friday.
In the foursomes sees each team use just one ball, with pairs alternating in hitting tee shots. The players then hit alternate shots thereafter, leaving little margin for error.
The top 33 teams will make it to the weekend, with fourballs for the third round and foursomes for Sunday's finale. And it's an enticing reward for the winners, with both players receiving a two-year winner's exemption on the PGA Tour, automatic qualification for a number of elevated events, 400 FedEXCup points and £1,200 each in prize money.
Defending champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay teed off as favourites to defend their title, having triumphed in 2022 a year after Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman prevailed. The irony being both the Aussie stars have since defected to LIV, and huge crowds have greeted them down under at this week's rebel event in Adelaide.
Of course, team golf has been integrated from the start in Greg Norman's venture, with 48 players divided into 12 teams. Multiple scores count toward each franchises' total each round, with the group with the cumulative low score taking the team event win.
Viewing figures both in America and Adelaide will no doubt be scrutinised intensely afterwards. American pairing Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler set the early pace in New Orleans, shooting a first round 61.
