Weekly PGA Preview: RBC Canadian Open

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.

RBC Canadian Open

Hamilton Golf and Country Club
Hamilton, Ontario

The PGA Tour heads to Canada for, naturally, another edition of the RBC Canadian Open.

Before we get to that, even though this is a space for fantasy golf, it's impossible to ignore the news from this past weekend off the course and that of course was the passing of Grayson Murray. I'll start by giving all the credit in the world to his family, who did not run from what transpired on Friday, they knew that Grayson had taken his own life and they were not afraid to tell the truth. For too long there has been a stigma about suicide, as unjust as it is and was, but credit to Murray's parents for meeting that head on and essentially stating that they weren't ashamed of their son. Murray battled his demons for as long as he could and simply could not do it any longer. It's not anyone's place to judge someone who is battling depression because it's impossible to know exactly what that person is going through. Even those that have battled depression might understand somewhat of what Murray was going through, but you can't know exactly what was going on unless you were in his shoes or worse yet, his mind. The one word that comes to my mind when thinking about suicide is sadness. Murray undoubtedly spent many days and nights in sadness and the only way to end his sadness was to pass it along to others that he knew and loved. The thing about depression is, for those that don't deal with it, sadness is just another hurdle to overcome, for those that do deal with it, it's seems like a mountain that can't possibly be climbed. It's difficult to look at Murray's story and not feel sadness, for Murray and for his loved ones, but if there is anything good to come from this, it's that people are becoming more aware of how to help someone that may be battling the same demons as Murray. At least, that's the hope.                                                                   

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 7:00 PM ET Tuesday.                   

LAST TIME

Nick Taylor shot a final-round 66 on his way to a playoff victory over Tommy Fleetwood.

FAVORITES

Rory McIlroy (18-5) 

A couple of wins and suddenly McIlroy is back atop the odds chart. Okay, so his placement here has as much to do with those wins as it does the strength of the field, but either way, he's a heavy favorite this week for a reason. Unfortunately, we only have one year of results that are of use this week and that's 2019, when this event was last played in Hamilton. McIlroy won this event in 2019 so he really has everything working in this favor this week. 18-5 is a little light for me, but there's no doubt he should be the favorite this week.

Tommy Fleetwood (16-1)

As for who should be the second favorite this week, well that's debatable, but Fleetwood takes the honor based on his play in 2019 and this past year at the Canadian Open. Though we can't put too much stock into last year's performance, there is something to be said for playing well at this event, no matter the location. Much like the Opens in other countries, there is a generally a certain style that these courses represent and even though they are different courses, if a golfer gets a feel for the style, they're likely to have success no matter the course. With that said, Fleetwood also played well on this course in 2019.                                                                                                 

Sahith Theegala (18-1)

Theegala is not the third favorite this week because of his track record at this event, rather his performance over the past 24 months on the PGA Tour. Theegala is quickly moving up the ranks and this week provides a great opportunity to bolster his resume. Theegala did not play this event in 2019, but he has participated in the two most recent Canadian Opens, finishing T53 and T38 so it's not the track record this week, it's about how far he's come in the past couple years that makes him a favorite this week. 

THE NEXT TIER

Corey Conners (22-1)

The first pick outside the favorites and it's a Canadian, I couldn't even wait a few more picks before breaking out the Canadians. Until recently, Conners was a terrible play at this event because he's had no success at all. That changed in 2022 when he finished solo-6th and he backed that up with a T20 this past year at this event. He missed the cut in 2019, but again, he was still trying to figure out how to navigate this event in his home country at that time.                                           

Cameron Young (22-1)

It's time, right? It has to be his time soon, it just has to be. Young has too much talent to go winless for much longer and although the signs aren't necessarily pointing to a win this week, it's going to happen at some point, so why not this week? It's actually quite amazing that Young continues to get mid-tier odds to win after failing to do so over the past three seasons, but that just shows you how much potential he has. Can he live up to it this week? I think he can, it's a bit of a hunch play, but the dam is going to break soon.                                                    

Mackenzie Hughes (35-1)            

If you think this is the last of the Canadians on this list, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Hughes has a decent track record at this event over the years, but one of his best showings came on this course in 2019 when he finished T14. Okay, so that's not great, but it's good enough to make me think he'll have some positive vibes entering this week and Hughes knows how to win out here, so if he's in contention come Sunday, I wouldn't expect him to crumble under the pressure.

LONG SHOTS

Adam Hadwin (50-1)     

If you think this is the last of the Canadians on this list...trust me, we're not done yet. You see the trend here, but it's not just the fact that they are Canadians, it's that they've shown the ability to play well in their home country over the years and Hadwin is no exception. In fact, Hadwin's best showing at the Canadian Open came on this course in 2019 when he finished solo-6th. Like his fellow countrymen, there have been ups and downs over the years, but this particular Open looks to be setting up perfectly for Hadwin.                                     

Nick Taylor (65-1)           

This is obviously the last of the Canadians on the list. Taylor is the defending champ this week and perhaps that's baked into the odds, but 65-1 seems a bit extreme when you consider he won an event on the PGA Tour just a few months ago. Sure, his form isn't great entering this week, but it's his country's Open championship, you can't tell me he won't be focused on defending his title.   

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Tommy Fleetwood - Not everyone will be going in on the Canadian angle like me this week, so I have to assume that the second favorite this week will be a popular play. Fleetwood hasn't had a great season, but he's played better lately, and his track record here must be factored in as well. McIlroy is not likely in play this week because of a smaller purse size. 

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Corey Conners - I thought about putting, "pick your Canadian" here as the Canucks are going to be popular, but I think Conners will be the most popular one, so he gets the honor. Conners has yet to live up to his potential, but he hasn't fallen off the map either, that top-10 player is still inside of him somewhere and maybe he needs a win in his home country to bring him out.                                                                                                          

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Adam Hadwin - There was a time, not too long ago that there were only a couple viable Canadian options for this event, but that's obviously not the case any longer. As such, Hadwin's odds are bound to push him down the list of options for most OAD players, but that could be a mistake as he's shown the ability to get around this course already and most of the attention will be hurled upon Taylor and Conners this week.   

Buyer Beware: Adam Scott - Scott's effort to secure a spot in the U.S. Open and continue his majors streak has garnered some headlines recently and although he needs to play well enough this week to stay in the top-60 in the world, I wouldn't use him this week just because of that. Yes, he needs to play well this week, but he doesn't need to win or even finish in the top-5. If his focus is truly on the U.S.                              

This Week: Adam Hadwin - You could probably see me leaning this way early on, but there are a couple reasons why I like this pick. First, I've already used Conners, Taylor and Rory so my options were a bit limited. Second, Hadwin has had his troubles at this event over the years, but he seemed to have figured it out in 2019 as he's played well here ever since. The fact that he's back at the course that helped him turn it around is also a major factor in my eyes.

Previous Results

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range:  Sahith Theegala ($11,400) 
Middle Range: Mackenzie Hughes ($10,100) 
Lower Range: Gary Woodland ($8,300)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

This Week: Adam Hadwin - I feel like I'm pot committed in that I've talked up Hadwin so much that I'd be a fraud if I didn't use him in this spot as well. To be honest, I've used a lot of good options for this format already, including McIlroy and Conners, so I'm a bit limited, but that doesn't mean I'm skittish about Hadwin at all. I fully expect him to play well this week and make the cut comfortably. 

Previous Results