PGA DFS GPP Breakdown: RBC Canadian Open

Top-ranked grinder, STLCardinals84, will break down his top PGA DFS picks in various price ranges for this week’s tournament. Which golfers should you be targeting to try and take down the big DFS tournaments? Find out below.

Hello, Grinders! Welcome to another edition of GPP picks for the upcoming RBC Canadian Open! The event has only been contested once since 2019 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the tournament was canceled in both 2020 and 2021.

While the tournament was played in 2022 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, we have a new course for 2023 with Oakdale Golf and Country Club taking the keys this time. The tournament also might take a back seat to all the PGA Tour / LIV Tour merger drama that is now unfolding with seemingly zero advanced notice to anyone. Throw in the final U.S. Open qualifying from Monday, and it’s already been a crazy week for golf. We have seen quite a few field changes with some U.S. Open qualifiers withdrawing from this week’s event, so just make sure to monitor your lineups up until lock on Thursday morning.

We don’t have much data on Oakdale Golf and Country Club, but we can look at the scorecard. It is unique for a par 72 in that it has just three par fives and three par threes, meaning there are 12 par fours on the course. It’s also a relatively short course for a par 72, with the course not quite stretching to 7,300 yards. I will be prioritizing good tee to green players and par four scorers this week, with approach play being the primary factor.

With the general information out of the way, let’s take a look at some of my favorite GPP plays for the week!

PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel GPP Breakdown for the RBC Canadian Open

Tyrrell Hatton
DraftKings: $10,200
FanDuel: $11,800
Yahoo: $45

I worry about Rory McIlroy this week with his up and down form and the chaos of the news cycle this week, so I prefer to start lineups with Hatton or Conners. I struggled with which of the latter two to put here, but settled on Hatton, as he strides in with a very strong run of form with finishes of 19th or better in four straight starts. That includes a T3 at the Wells Fargo and a T5 at the Byron Nelson. He’s a fine fit for Oakdale and brings a nice blend of safety and upside to the table. Over the last 36 rounds, he leads this field in total strokes gained and ranks second in ball striking. That kind of game will play anywhere.

Corey Conners
DraftKings: $9,800
FanDuel: $10,800
Yahoo: $43

On any course that prioritizes ball striking, you’re always going to see Conners pop with a top projection. That will not change this week, especially since he rolls in here with finishes of T8 and T12 (at a major) in his last two starts. He will also be motivated to play well for his home country in order to represent Canada well in this tournament. He ranks 7th in this field off the tee and 8th on approach over the last 36 rounds, so the ball striking is rolling along as usual. I give him a bump on the new course, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him in the mix to win come Sunday.

Matt Kuchar
DraftKings: $9,100
FanDuel: $9,900
Yahoo: $42

I am generally not a fan of targeting Kuchar in GPP formats because his game has always been one of “safety” as opposed to “upside.” However, these shorter courses suit his playing style very well, and he has been dialed in with his irons for much of 2023. I’m not going to let one poor start be of major concern, and that might even benefit by serving to lower ownership. He should be a strong course fit at Oakdale, at least much moreso than the last couple of venues where he has teed it up. In addition, he ranks in the top five of this field in both around the greens and putting over the last 36 rounds, which should help him clean up any errant approach shots.

Michael Kim
DraftKings: $8,000
FanDuel: $9,300
Yahoo: $34

I originally had Joseph Bramlett tagged in this spot, but Bramlett was a late withdraw from the tournament — so check your lineups accordingly. Kim is a fine pivot in the same price range, as he is having a career resurgence in 2023. He has just two missed cuts in his last ten starts, and he has also been showing more upside with two top eight finishes in May at the Wells Fargo and the Charles Schwab Challenge. Given the weak field for this event, he could very well find himself as a sneaky top ten contender.

David Lipsky
DraftKings: $7,400
FanDuel: $9,000
Yahoo: $28

This one is all about perspective. Lipsky had a chance to win last week’s tournament before shooting a 77 on Sunday. It’s hard to contend for a victory and not let the nerves get the best of you, especially in a strong field. If he would have finished inside the top five, ownership would be a lot higher this week than it is going to be. He still finished with a T12 and now has top 20 finishes in each of his last two starts. He started to gain buzz as a value play last year around this time, and perhaps we are finally seeing the upside that many expected a year ago. I’ll ride the trend of his hot golf heading into a weaker field event. He makes for a strong risk/reward GPP option.

Carson Young
DraftKings: $7,100
FanDuel: $8,500
Yahoo: $24

I continue to be surprised at how cheap Young sits on every site. The ownership isn’t skyrocketing through the roof, either, so I’ll continue to gladly take the discount. Over his five individual stroke play events, he has four made cuts. All of them have resulted in top 25 finishes. In those rounds, he ranks 11th in this field in total strokes gained and 27th in ball striking — and that doesn’t even include some hot rounds in the U.S. Open qualifiers. I’ll gladly continue to ride the wave as long as we get a discount here.

Other Risk/Reward GPP Options – Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala, Adrian Meronk, Eric Cole

Good luck this week!

Image Credit: Getty Images