PGA First Look: RBC Canadian Open

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2018-07-26 11:49:22

The PGA First Look is complete with a course preview, odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.

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Event Preview

What an Open Championship! I can’t remember a major where that many golfers were within two shots of the lead with nine holes to play. While Tiger Woods stumbled a bit on the back nine, it was great to see him in contention again. If you don’t think he moves the needle, you are clearly ignoring any data put out by the PGA Tour. It was the most-watched Thursday ever and it was the most-watched Sunday in 18 years (when Tiger completed his career grand slam in 2000). The week wasn’t all about Tiger though, as we saw impressive finishes from Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, who both finished two shots back in a tie for second. Francesco Molinari deserved the trophy, as he didn’t card a single bogey on Sunday. While others were faltering around him, he was steady throughout the entire round. The hottest golfer in the world took home the Claret Jug, which goes to show how important recent form is. While I am a little behind on sleep, I’m already looking forward to next year’s Open.

We now head back across the pond for Canada’s national championship, the RBC Canadian Open. The event has switched venues a number of times throughout the years, but will be held at Glen Abbey Golf Course for the fifth time in the last six years (exclude 2014 from course history). The course was Jack Nicklaus’ first solo design and is located in Ontario. It measures 7,253 yards and is a Par 72. It feels like we haven’t seen four par fives on a course in a long time. All four are reachable by the field with a good drive and interestingly enough, three of them are on the back nine. This is typically one of the easiest courses on tour and with thunderstorms expected throughout the week, conditions should be ripe for scoring. The winning score is typically in the high teens, but we could see another 20-under performance get the job done like last season (Jhonattan Vegas). With so many birdies and eagles out to be had, it will highlight the importance of getting all of your golfers through the cut.

This is definitely more of a bomber’s course than we’ve seen recently. These are some of the hardest fairways on tour to hit and the rough is playable, so golfers would rather be closer to the hole if they are going to be hitting their approach shots from off the fairway. If you pull up quotes from professional golfers about this course, they all talk about how many drivers you can hit here. The data backs this up, as the average driving distance here over the last few years is 296 yards, compared to the PGA Tour average of 282 yards. The greens are fairly small (5,600 square feet on average) and are now made of bentgrass. While there is some strategic bunkering around these greens, the course has played as the seventh easiest to scramble on, so I’m not looking to hard at around the green statistics. I’m taking a fairly simple approach this week, I’m targeting the bombers that can hit greens and make birdies. If your golfers can do those three things, they should have no problems with this course.

Cut Rule: Top 70 and ties move on after the first two rounds. The MDF rule is in effect if more than 78 golfers make the initial cut.

Recent Winners of this Event:Jhonattan Vegas (2017 & 2016), Jason Day (2015), Brandt Snedeker (2013)

Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Off the Tee (Edge to Distance over Accuracy)
2) Birdie or Better %
3) Strokes Gained Approach
4) Par 5 Scoring
5) Greens in Regulation

Hole by Hole Breakdown

Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2013-2017)

Golfer	DK Salary	FD Salary	OWGR	Odds	DK Odds	FD Odds	Cuts	2017	2016	2015	2013
Dustin Johnson	$11,700	$12,500	1	6	0%	0%	3/3	8	2	500	2
Brooks Koepka	$10,800	$12,300	4	11	0%	0%	1/1	500	500	18	500
Tommy Fleetwood	$10,500	$12,000	11	16	-33%	0%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Sergio Garcia	$9,900	$11,200	20	33	-125%	-13%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Tony Finau	$9,800	$12,100	28	15	40%	0%	3/3	5	70	22	500
Bubba Watson	$9,600	$11,600	14	22	17%	17%	3/3	42	500	2	21
Matt Kuchar	$9,500	$11,700	26	27	0%	-40%	4/4	32	9	7	2
Joaquin Niemann	$9,400	$11,000	167	27	0%	11%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Jimmy Walker	$9,300	$10,500	68	70	-156%	-92%	1/1	500	14	500	500
Gary Woodland	$9,200	$9,800	43	45	-40%	22%	2/2	4	500	500	61
Ian Poulter	$9,100	$10,400	32	40	-18%	7%	1/1	3	500	500	500
Kevin Kisner	$9,000	$9,700	25	37	17%	47%	1/1	500	26	500	500
J.B. Holmes	$8,900	$9,600	84	59	-46%	10%	2/2	14	500	79	500
Steve Stricker	$8,800	$10,500	143	64	-50%	-75%	1/1	500	500	63	500
Charley Hoffman	$8,700	$10,800	34	25	60%	40%	3/3	2	500	7	16
Brandt Snedeker	$8,500	$11,300	91	38	31%	-57%	2/2	500	5	500	1
Adam Hadwin	$8,400	$10,000	55	70	-41%	-50%	2/4	120	49	7	134
Wesley Bryan	$8,300	$8,300	138	111	-156%	13%	0/0	500	500	500	500
David Lingmerth	$8,200	$8,500	206	83	-53%	40%	2/2	27	500	500	12
Keegan Bradley	$8,100	$9,700	78	51	25%	21%	1/1	14	500	500	500
Billy Horschel	$8,000	$9,900	90	39	43%	29%	1/1	500	500	500	68
Ollie Schniederjans	$7,900	$9,200	111	84	-41%	-7%	2/2	54	500	22	500
Patrick Rodgers	$7,900	$9,000	135	95	-73%	-15%	1/3	131	32	131	500
Byeong-Hun An	$7,800	$10,600	61	54	29%	-55%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Jamie Lovemark	$7,800	$9,300	100	72	-4%	7%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Kevin Tway	$7,700	$9,100	147	102	-58%	-32%	1/1	48	500	500	500
Si Woo Kim	$7,700	$9,300	52	106	-69%	-63%	1/2	500	23	500	78
Chris Kirk	$7,600	$10,100	131	63	29%	-33%	3/3	70	14	500	21
Andrew Putnam	$7,600	$9,600	158	116	-79%	-138%	1/1	500	500	63	500
Ryan Blaum	$7,600	$8,100	249	131	-111%	3%	1/1	58	500	500	500
Danny Lee	$7,600	$7,900	145	114	-71%	30%	2/2	32	32	500	500
Shane Lowry	$7,500	$8,700	92	81	16%	31%	0/1	96	500	500	500
Jhonattan Vegas	$7,500	$8,700	85	57	44%	54%	3/3	1	1	48	500
Ryan Armour	$7,500	$8,700	105	104	-34%	-10%	1/2	58	500	119	500
Kelly Kraft	$7,500	$7,900	128	103	-31%	39%	1/2	153	26	500	500
Joel Dahmen	$7,400	$9,400	213	83	17%	-20%	0/1	144	500	500	500
Keith Mitchell	$7,400	$9,200	137	87	6%	-17%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Johnson Wagner	$7,400	$8,600	390	124	-47%	-18%	2/4	96	43	18	125
Abraham Ancer	$7,400	$8,700	182	139	-75%	-62%	0/1	500	142	500	500
Sung Kang	$7,400	$7,800	115	132	-67%	21%	0/2	109	92	500	500
Chez Reavie	$7,300	$8,900	63	80	37%	26%	4/4	23	14	41	31
Nick Watney	$7,300	$8,700	112	124	-34%	-41%	2/2	27	500	34	500
Ryan Palmer	$7,300	$9,400	136	122	-24%	-104%	3/4	136	43	41	31
Graeme McDowell	$7,300	$8,100	188	123	-27%	15%	1/4	136	124	127	74
Matt Jones	$7,300	$8,200	283	115	-20%	13%	0/2	96	500	108	500
Bill Haas	$7,300	$9,500	103	129	-37%	-143%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Troy Merritt	$7,200	$8,900	170	87	26%	0%	1/3	131	32	92	500
J.J. Spaun	$7,200	$8,200	154	95	17%	30%	1/2	96	500	41	500
JT Poston	$7,200	$9,100	265	113	0%	-52%	1/1	42	500	500	500
Martin Laird	$7,200	$8,800	134	85	32%	14%	1/2	500	2	141	500
Tyler Duncan	$7,200	$8,400	324	138	-32%	-24%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Scott Stallings	$7,200	$8,100	162	140	-38%	-7%	1/3	62	81	500	106
Alex Cejka	$7,200	$7,900	242	139	-34%	9%	2/3	109	5	41	500
Stewart Cink	$7,100	$9,500	97	67	59%	4%	2/3	62	81	5	500
Bronson Burgoon	$7,100	$8,500	208	86	39%	31%	0/1	500	131	500	500
Harold Varner	$7,100	$9,000	173	81	48%	15%	1/2	23	124	500	500
Sam Ryder	$7,100	$8,600	190	92	31%	18%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Corey Conners	$7,100	$8,800	346	130	-7%	-57%	1/3	500	80	141	95
Rory Sabbatini	$7,100	$8,300	173	129	-6%	-8%	3/4	23	142	11	12
Tom Hoge	$7,100	$7,600	200	174	-54%	1%	2/3	32	81	5	500
Jim Furyk	$7,100	$8,400	314	133	-13%	-22%	4/4	75	13	4	9
Ben Crane	$7,100	$8,300	303	178	-59%	-62%	3/3	54	9	48	500
Stephan Jaeger	$7,100	$7,800	230	221	-70%	-21%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Cameron Champ	$7,000	$7,400	235	52	75%	84%	0/0	500	500	500	500
James Hahn	$7,000	$8,000	94	100	38%	39%	3/3	10	500	11	40
Seamus Power	$7,000	$8,200	308	108	30%	20%	1/1	10	500	500	500
Brandon Harkins	$7,000	$8,100	234	167	-27%	-33%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Fabian Gomez	$7,000	$8,600	509	142	-5%	-49%	1/2	500	500	148	16
William McGirt	$7,000	$7,900	195	140	-2%	6%	3/3	500	59	34	2
Retief Goosen	$7,000	$7,300	317	204	-38%	14%	1/2	96	500	76	500
Whee Kim	$7,000	$7,300	155	148	-14%	28%	1/3	109	38	152	500
Chris Stroud	$7,000	$7,400	228	174	-30%	16%	1/4	136	38	92	95
Zac Blair	$7,000	$7,800	502	235	-52%	-28%	1/3	77	124	70	500
Michael Thompson	$7,000	$7,800	358	256	-55%	-30%	1/2	500	14	135	500
Vaughn Taylor	$6,900	$8,700	250	174	-13%	-118%	2/3	96	43	41	500
Cameron Percy	$6,900	$7,600	447	147	4%	14%	4/4	70	26	18	44
John Huh	$6,900	$8,400	220	151	0%	-50%	0/4	109	103	135	125
Robert Garrigus	$6,900	$7,600	272	153	-1%	10%	1/4	5	92	108	95
Sean O’Hair	$6,900	$7,500	120	226	-24%	1%	1/3	10	81	103	500
Peter Malnati	$6,900	$7,800	534	226	-24%	-22%	1/2	58	131	500	500
Robert Streb	$6,900	$8,000	244	169	-9%	-24%	1/2	500	32	500	106
Nick Taylor	$6,900	$7,600	271	235	-29%	-15%	1/3	77	103	56	500
Harris English	$6,900	$7,200	260	231	-28%	8%	0/1	77	500	500	500
Daniel Summerhays	$6,900	$7,000	466	378	-59%	4%	2/4	42	103	11	78
Tom Lovelady	$6,800	$8,200	262	90	58%	36%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Jason Kokrak	$6,800	$7,900	126	124	38%	23%	1/2	96	500	500	31
Sam Saunders	$6,800	$8,200	183	142	20%	-21%	3/3	19	75	22	500
Hunter Mahan	$6,800	$8,100	554	146	16%	-16%	1/3	77	103	63	500
David Hearn	$6,800	$7,900	443	144	18%	-1%	2/4	77	103	3	44
Mac Hughes	$6,800	$7,800	254	154	9%	-1%	1/2	32	500	500	134
Hudson Swafford	$6,800	$7,600	203	207	-6%	-7%	3/3	32	14	72	500
Aaron Baddeley	$6,800	$7,600	263	214	-7%	-8%	1/2	500	500	108	9
Dominic Bozzelli	$6,800	$7,700	323	318	-26%	-29%	0/1	131	500	500	500
Tyrone Van Aswegen	$6,800	$7,200	342	319	-27%	-4%	3/3	19	74	34	500
Blayne Barber	$6,700	$7,800	408	154	18%	-3%	3/3	30	63	91	500
Lanto Griffin	$6,700	$7,600	331	229	0%	-13%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Scott Brown	$6,700	$7,600	180	142	27%	18%	1/3	144	146	500	61
Dylan Meyer	$6,700			150	22%		0/0	500	500	500	500
Ricky Barnes	$6,700	$7,500	560	294	-9%	-11%	3/4	42	5	11	78
Benjamin Silverman	$6,700	$7,500	256	159	16%	15%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Chad Campbell	$6,700	$8,000	337	186	8%	-32%	4/4	32	26	11	16
Cameron Tringale	$6,700	$7,000	469	341	-19%	9%	2/3	77	14	500	44
Roger Sloan	$6,700	$7,100	549	409	-33%	-11%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Nicholas Lindheim	$6,700	$7,200	336	358	-22%	-12%	0/1	136	500	500	500
Sam Fidone	$6,700	$7,200	762	380	-27%	-16%	0/0	500	500	500	500
J.J. Henry	$6,600	$7,500	421	206	16%	5%	2/4	120	81	41	31
Shawn Stefani	$6,600	$7,100	418	289	4%	11%	0/2	77	103	500	500
Brett Stegmaier	$6,600	$7,200	815	344	-8%	-10%	1/2	120	49	500	500
Matt Every	$6,600	$7,000	667	403	-18%	-1%	2/3	14	500	92	28
Zach Wright	$6,600	$7,200	605	380	-13%	-15%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Martin Flores	$6,600	$7,000	379	328	-4%	11%	2/3	19	500	63	106
John Senden	$6,600	$7,200		344	-8%	-10%	1/2	500	23	500	106
Conrad Shindler	$6,600	$7,200	460	322	-3%	-5%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Jonas Blixt	$6,600	$7,000	302	339	-6%	10%	1/2	500	81	22	500
Ken Duke	$6,600			400	-16%		2/3	67	49	103	500
Sang-Moon Bae	$6,600	$7,100	1032	467	-24%	-15%	1/2	500	500	108	31
Roberto Diaz	$6,600	$7,000	677	559	-28%	-10%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Steve Wheatcroft	$6,500	$7,600	669	158	33%	6%	3/3	54	5	58	500
Jonathan Byrd	$6,500	$7,100	359	300	10%	7%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Talor Gooch	$6,500	$7,100	237	289	14%	11%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Brian Stuard	$6,500	$7,500	281	275	14%	-7%	2/4	109	92	22	75
Rob Oppenheim	$6,500	$7,100	348	472	-12%	-16%	0/1	500	124	500	500
Will Claxton	$6,500	$7,000		785	-21%	-15%	1/1	500	500	500	61
Jonathan Randolph	$6,500	$7,000	416	403	-5%	0%	1/2	149	500	87	500
Kyle Thompson	$6,500	$7,000	571	606	-16%	-10%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Zecheng Dou	$6,500	$7,000	708	683	-19%	-14%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Martin Piller	$6,500	$7,000	282	461	-8%	-3%	0/1	500	81	500	500
Ryan Yip	$6,500		838	630	-17%		0/0	500	500	500	500
Zachary Bauchou	$6,500	$7,000		638	-18%	-12%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Adam Schenk	$6,400	$7,000	399	358	11%	6%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Matt Atkins	$6,400	$7,200	592	462	0%	-25%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Ethan Tracy	$6,400	$7,200	566	461	2%	-23%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Billy Hurley	$6,400	$7,000	598	417	2%	-2%	1/3	120	49	141	500
Rod Pampling	$6,400	$7,000	481	506	-2%	-7%	1/2	500	65	500	125
Andrew Yun	$6,400	$7,000	650	669	-8%	-13%	0/0	500	500	500	500
D.A. Points	$6,400	$7,100	499	553	-4%	-18%	1/3	96	124	56	500
Joey Savoie	$6,400	$7,000		971	-12%	-18%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Todd Fanning	$6,400	$7,000		1029	-14%	-19%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Chris Crisologo	$6,400	$7,000		1033	-15%	-20%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Norman Xiong	$6,300	$7,400		271	29%	-1%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Adam Svensson	$6,300	$7,100	350	329	21%	3%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Austin Connelly	$6,300	$7,900	295	294	26%	-51%	1/1	500	500	79	500
Xinjun Zhang	$6,300	$7,100		388	13%	-7%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Hugo Bernard	$6,300	$7,000		838	-3%	-16%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Nyasha Mauchaza	$6,300	$7,000		856	-4%	-17%	0/0	500	500	500	500
George Cunningham	$6,300	$7,100	781	377	16%	-4%	0/0	500	500	500	500
Mike Weir	$6,300	$7,000		779	-1%	-15%	1/3	127	136	500	49
Jared du Toit	$6,300	$7,600		521	4%	-60%	1/2	149	9	500	500
Marc-Etienne Bussieres	$6,300	$7,000		971	-4%	-18%	0/0	500	500	500	500

Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a made cut with a finish outside of the top 25.
Course history in RED indicates a missed cut.

Legend