PGA RBC Canadian Open Futures

The Canadian Open got a bit unlucky with its schedule causing it to have a lesser status than it otherwise would have. This means that many top players won't be participating because they are focused on preparing for the next major tournament. Last year, it was easier to attract popular players like Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, and Tony Finau because the tournament in Massachusetts followed the Canadian Open and was a short trip. However, this year, since the next tournament is in Los Angeles, these players chose to skip international travel.

Rory McIlroy is always a strong contender in the Canadian Open. He is the clear favorite to win because he has been performing well in recent tournaments, and he has already won the Canadian Open twice before, in 2022 and 2019.

Apart from McIlroy, there are other good players in the competition. Among the 156 players participating, there are 10 who are ranked in the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose, and Corey Conners are the ones to watch out for.

In addition to McIlroy, we will also see previous winners of the Canadian Open like Brandt Snedeker, Scott Piercy, and Sean O'Hair. There are also notable Canadian players in the tournament, including Conners, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith, and Adam Svensson.

The Canadian Open is a golf tournament that has been around for 117 years. This year, for the first time, Oakdale Golf & Country Club is hosting the tournament. It's a big deal because Oakdale has never hosted the event before. They will host again in 2026, so we don't have to wait a hundred years for it to happen again.

Oakdale is the 37th golf course to host the Canadian Open. This tournament has been going on for a long time and is one of the oldest events on the PGA TOUR. Each year, the tournament takes place at a different golf course, so the history of the event doesn't give us much information about what to expect at Oakdale. But we do know that the greens at Oakdale are made of a type of grass called Bentgrass and Poa, and the design of the course was influenced by a famous Canadian architect named Stanley Thompson.

When we talk about the Canadian Open, we should think about Canadian golfers. However, compared to Americans at the U.S. Open or Europeans at The Open, Canadian golfers have not had as much success in this tournament. Only four Canadians have won the event, and the last time was in 1958 when Pat Fletcher won at Point Grey.

The golf course at Oakdale Golf & Country Club is not very intimidating in terms of its length. It has three par-5 holes that are easy to reach and four par-4 holes that are less than 400 yards long. Only four par-4 holes are longer than 450 yards.

The greens at Oakdale are made of a combination of Bentgrass and Poa, which is a type of grass commonly found in this region. These greens are similar to those at other PGA TOUR stops in northern areas like Detroit Golf Club and TPC River Highlands. The greens are small in size and have false fronts, slopes, and uneven surfaces, which means that the pin placements can be set in different positions each day.

The rough on the course is described as tough, with 4-to-6-inch Bentgrass. As you move further away from the tee box, the fairways become narrower. This design feature might make long hitters think twice about using their drivers and instead consider playing more conservatively with layups or shorter drives. Because the greens are small, the pin placements are challenging, and the rough is punishing, I expect that this course will reward players who are accurate and careful with their shots off the tee. Being long off the tee is not necessary to have good opportunities for birdies here.

The model breakdown for this course is as follows
Driving Distance18%
Putting 14%
Driving Accuracy 25%
Around The Green 18%
Approach 25%

The emphasis is on the last 24 rounds the golfer has played. These are the best values, not necessarily the best golfers this week. As always, I play these bets to win 1 unit. It limits your risk which is what we want to do on longshot futures types of bets.

To Win

Top 5

Here are the top selections from the model this week in order

1. Hatton

2. Kim

3. Rose

4. Fleetwood

5. Conners

6. Hubbard

7. Lowry

8. McIlroy

9. Bramlett

10. Roy

11. Todd

12. Burns

13. Rai

14. Norman

15. Kuchar

16. Smalley

17. Stevens

18. Hodges

19. O'Hair

20. Bhatia