Our golf writer takes a look at the RBC Canadian Open to be played at the Glen Abbey Golf Course in Ontario.
Not content with taking our breath away with that bunker shot to win the Traveler’s Championship, Jordan Spieth had to enter Tiger Woods territory with a final nine at Birkdale that had to be seen to be believed. The attention in America turns to the third oldest continuously running tournament on the PGA Tour: The Canadian Open.
RBC Canadian Open | Thu 27 July – Sun 30 July | Glen Abbey Golf Course, Ontario | Canada
This historic event started back in 1904 and a casual glance at the previous winner’s list makes for a veritable ‘who’s who’ in the history of golf: Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk have all conquered this event.
Glen Abbey Golf Course in Ontario was the first golf course that the great Jack Nicklaus designed on his own. It was once designated as the official host tournament for the event before organizers decided to give other courses a chance let it occasionally alternate. Still, this will be the 28th edition held here, and for all intents and purposes this is the spiritual home of the event. The fairways are of an average width while the bentgrass greens are perhaps slightly smaller than average. The back nine features the ‘Valley Holes’ with the 11th featuring a tee shot to a fairway 60 yards below. At just over 7,200 yards, this par 72 is not overly long and should encourage good scoring, particularly with rain expected in the first few rounds, which should lead to soft, receptive greens.
Clearly there is always going to be something of a downturn in the field in the wake of the Open Championship. There is still room for interest however, with world number one Dustin Johnson teeing it up in a bid to recapture the spooky aura that he possessed in the early part of the season. He has completed at Glen Abbey twice before and has finished runner-up on both occasions. Matt Kuchar has been runner-up here before but will no doubt still be reeling from an agonizing last round defeat to Spieth at Birkdale. The patience he showed on the 13th- while Spieth questioned the philosophical permutations of his relief shot- leads me to believe that he should have the stomach for a charge this weekend. Elsewhere, the likes of Bubba Watson and Tony Finau will look to tame Glen Abbey with a barrage of unadulterated heavy hitting.
Past Winners
2016: Jhonattan Vegas (-12)
2015: Jason Day (-17)
2014: Tim Clark (-17)
2013: Brandt Snedeker (-16)
2012: Scott Piercy (-17)
To Win Match
Dustin Johnson (13/2), Matt Kuchar (10/1), Charley Hoffmann (22/10), Tony Finau (28/1), Bubba Watson (28/1)
Value Bets
Ian Poulter- To Win (40/1), To Place (17/2)
I may sound like a broken record of late, but there is no reason why the Englishman should not be in contention again this week. After that well-documented mathematical error led to him retaining his PGA Tour card, the sartorially flamboyant Englishman has produced his most consistent golf in years. His tie for 2nd at the Players announced his arrival back on the golfing stage. Before his tie for 14th at Birkdale, he was unfortunate to capitulate on the last day of the Scottish Open at Dundonald, where he still managed a top 10 finish.
Ollie Schniederjans- To Win (60/1), To Place (13/1)
Two years ago, the young American made his professional debut here after a tie for 12th at the Open that signaled the end of his amateur career. After losing his tour card in 2015, he had a remarkable time on the Web.Com Tour. He finished 2nd in his 3rd event on the tour, which was a playoff defeat at a course also designed by the ‘Golden Bear’. Recently, he finished with a closing 63 at the John Deere Classic. Furthermore, giving his fledgling career, he will have the rare opportunity this week to be teeing it up at an event that he has played before. He finished 3rd at the Heritage and 9th at the Farmer’s Insurance Open. The 9th place finish at the Farmer’s is encouraging as there does seem to be a correlation between Glen Abbey and Torrey Pines.
Rory Sabbatini- To Win (125/1), To Place (25/1)
I’m going with the abrasive South African as my leftfield bet this week. But there have been encouraging signs of late for Sabbatini. Before going into current form, he has shown himself to be a bit of a Nicklaus course specialist over the years. He has won the Honda Classic and come within a whisker of winning at Memorial. Not to mention the fact that he has three top 10 finishes here in five starts. He had back to back top 20’s before the Barbasol last week, where he faded badly on the final day after shooting a third round 62. I think that he game has shown signs of improvement and he should benefit from a weakened field and familiarity with the course.
The Man to Beat- Matt Kuchar (10/1), To Place (22/10)
While I earlier alluded to the psychological challenges that will await Kuchar in competing this week, he has shown an ability to put aside disappointment in the past. Firstly, he has shown an affinity with the golf course and finished runner-up here in 2013. Furthermore, he played perhaps the best golf of his career last week at Birkdale only for the genius- and I mean that word- of Spieth to prevail. But more importantly, Kuchar is a consistent professional who has shown an ability to rebound in the past. His last PGA Tour victory came a week after placing at the Masters. His previous victory had come a week after finishing second at Crowne Plaza. As a matter of fact, every Kuchar win seems to come off of being in contention a week prior and being in excellent form. I expect him to come really close at a course that suits him to a tee.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets
