The Zurich Classic has gone from one of the sleepiest lower-tier events on the PGA Tour schedule to a must-watch in 2017. That’s because the PGA Tour made the radical, by their standards, decision to switch up the format at the Zurich and finally bring a two-man team contest to the PGA Tour. It’s the first such format since 1981 and a welcome deviation from the week-to-week monotony of 72-hole stroke play events.

The format change gave the Zurich an enormous and obvious boost. Regular PGA Tour watchers cannot wait to see how it works, the players are hyped to change things up, and the field is far deeper than its been in recent years. There were only three of the top 30 players in the world here last year. This year, 13 of the top 30 are here, including Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, and Justin Rose.

The move was a no-brainer and one that fans had been clamoring about for years. The partnerships range from the obvious and high-powered to the odd and potentially combustible. The players got to choose how they’d partner up, and that left some lesser-known guys scrambling to find a buddy. For the hardcore fans looking to get beyond just the Jason and Rickie high-five show, it will be delectable to watch some of those odd duos.

The two-man games will alternate between foursomes, otherwise known as alternate shot, and four-ball, also known as best ball. Those are the two formats we use for the team events, the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. But only 12 players make each of those teams and there are 160 in this field. That means this is the first time in years that so many of these players will be adjusting to this kind of game instead of their own usual stroke play ball.

Thursday’s first round will feature the alternate shot foursomes format. That could get wild as players try to adapt to their partners’ ball, which seems small, but is a major change at this highest level of the game. We hear about it at every Ryder Cup. Golf Channel will have their customary three-hour block of coverage for the opening round. But you can stream coverage throughout the morning before that. Here’s your full media schedule for the opening round, one of the most anticipated of the season on the PGA Tour:

Thursday’s first-round coverage

Television:

3:30 to 6:30 p.m. ET — Golf Channel

7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. — Golf Channel replay

Online streams:

9 a.m. -- PGA Tour Live starts with coverage from range and opening holes

9 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET — Free PGA Tour live stream on Twitter

Featured Groups (PGA Tour Live subscription required)

9:32 a.m. — Jason Day & Rickie Fowler / Daniel Berger & Thomas Pieters

9:42 a.m. — Justin Rose & Henrik Stenson / Hideki Matsuyama & Hideto Tanihara

3:30 to 6:30 p.m. — PGA Tour Live featured holes coverage (No subscription required)

3:30 to 6:30 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Radio:

1 to 7 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)

Tee Times

And here’s the full tee sheet for the opening round on Thursday at TPC Louisiana (all times ET).

Off No. 1 tee:

9 a.m.: Spencer Levin/Rocco Mediate, Martin Flores/Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano

9:11 a.m.: Jamie Lovemark/Luke Donald, Brian Harman/Johnson Wagner

9:21 a.m.: Tyrone Van Aswegen/Retief Goosen, J.J. Henry/Tom Hoge

9:32 a.m.: Russell Henley/Blayne Barber, Branden Grace/Louis Oosthuizen

9:42 a.m.: Cody Gribble/Jim Herman, Troy Merritt/Robert Streb

9:53 a.m.: Jason Dufner/Patton Kizzire, Kevin Kisner/Scott Brown

10:03 a.m.: Russell Knox/Kevin Streelman, Steven Bowditch/Boo Weekley

10:14 a.m.: Dominic Bozzelli/J.T. Poston, Andrew Loupe/John Peterson

10:25 a.m.: Kelly Kraft/Kevin Tway, Kyle Reifers/Andrew Johnston

10:36 a.m.: Miguel Angel Carballo/Brian Campbell, Kyle Ramey/Phil Schmitt

1:20 p.m.: Seung-Yul Noh/Byeong Hun An, Ricky Barnes/Matt Jones

1:31 p.m.: David Hearn/Graham DeLaet, Jonas Blixt/Cameron Smith

1:41 p.m.: Will McGirt/Robert Garrigus, Vaughn Taylor/Andres Gonzales

1:52 p.m.: Keegan Bradley/Brendan Steele, Charley Hoffman/Nick Watney

2:02 p.m.: Bubba Watson/J.B. Holmes, Kevin Chappell/Gary Woodland

2:13 p.m.: Jordan Spieth/Ryan Palmer, Justin Thomas/Bud Cauley

2:23 p.m.: Steve Stricker/Jerry Kelly, Smylie Kaufman/Harold Varner III

2:34 p.m.: Roberto Castro/Scott Stallings, Ken Duke/Chad Collins

2:44 p.m.: Ollie Schniederjans/Richy Werenski, Angel Cabrera/Julian Etulain

2:54 p.m.: Mark Hubbard/Jonathan Randolph, J.J. Spaun/Ryan Brehm

Off No. 10 tee:

9 a.m.: Freddie Jacobson/Willy Wilcox, Steve Marino/Will MacKenzie

9:11 a.m.: Chris Kirk/Brendon Todd, K.J. Choi/Charlie Wi

9:21 a.m.: Brooks Koepka/Chase Koepka, Geoff Ogilvy/Ian Poulter

9:32 a.m.: Jason Day/Rickie Fowler, Daniel Berger/Thomas Pieters

9:42 a.m.: Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson, Hideki Matsuyama/Hideto Tanihara

9:53 a.m.: Tony Finau/Daniel Summerhays, Peter Malnati/Mark Wilson

10:03 p.m.: Ben Martin/Ben Crane, Wes Bryan, Ryan Blaum

10:14 a.m.: Whee Kim/Greg Owen, Zac Blair/C.T. Pan

10:25 a.m.: Grayson Murray/Cameron Percy, Kyle Stanley/Ryan Ruffels

10:36 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau/Rory Sabbatini, Seamus Power/Steven Alker

1:20 p.m.: Morgan Hoffmann/Camilo Villegas, Shawn Stefani/John Rollins

1:31 p.m.: Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover, Carl Pettersson/Jason Bohn

1:41 p.m.: Brian Stuard/Chris Stroud, Alex Cejka/Soren Kjeldsen

1:52 p.m.: Mackenzie Hughes/Nick Taylor, Fabian Gomez/Jhonattan Vegas

2:02 p.m.: Billy Horschel/Matt Every, David Lingmerth/Danny Lee

2:13 p.m.: Tyrrell Hatton/Jamie Donaldson, Si Woo Kim/Sung Kang

2:23 p.m.: Patrick Reed/Patrick Cantlay, Hudson Swafford/Harris English

2:34 p.m.: Patrick Rodgers/Cameron Tringale, Michael Thompson/Tim Wilkinson

2:45 p.m.: Michael Kim/Brandon Hagy, Derek Fathauer/Sam Saunders

2:56 p.m.: Trey Mullinax/Bobby Wyatt, Xander Schauffele/Tag Ridings