This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.
RBC CANADIAN OPEN
Purse: $8.7M
Winner's Share: $1.56M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the Winner
Location: Toronto
Course: St. George's Golf and Country Club
Yardage: 7,014
Par: 70
2021 champion: None
Tournament Preview
It's safe to say that no tournament has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic more than Canada's national championship. Take the "19" in COVID-19 and that will tell you the last time this tournament was played. It is the only PGA Tour event that was completely wiped out the past two years. Unfortunately, it does not return without some controversy, albeit none of its own doing. Dustin Johnson, who had been the centerpiece of RBC's worldwide stable of golfer's and was being heavily promoted as playing in this year's tournament, will instead be six time zones away in London playing in the first LIV Golf Invitational event, along with fellow former RBC pitchman Graeme McDowell. RBC has cut ties with both of them. Their absence, though, barely put a dent in the bold-face names that are on hand for the return to famed St. George's for the first time in 12 years.
With the U.S. Open coming up next week, five of the top-10 golfers in the world are on hand, led by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Cameron Smith and Rory McIlroy, who, technically, is the defending champion, having won the 2019 edition. Unfortunately, after that the 156-man field falls very hard and very fast, with only 15 more golfers in the top-100 in the world rankings, notably native son Corey Conners. The world's No. 31 leads a contingent of 21 Canadians, including Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin and Mike Weir, who will be making his 29th start -- and, as we say every time, still looking for his first win here. No Canadian has won this tournament since Pat Fletcher in 1954. And before that, Karl Keffer in 1914. Only six Canadians have won going back to its inception in 1904. (Maybe that's because they can play golf like only two months out of the year, eh?) And of the six, only Keffer was actually born in Canada.
Some of the other top golfers in the field include Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed and Harold Varner III. Conversely, there are also 10 golfers from last year's 126-150 category and more than 20 even lower down the pecking order in the dreaded "Reshuffle within categories 34-38." With those 30-some-odd guys, plus a bunch of little-known Canadians in on sponsor invites, plus the bottom dwellers of last season's Korn Ferry grads, plus a few others here and there, we can probably eliminate more than one-third of the field from our lineup calculations, leaving about 105 guys to fight it out for the top-65 and ties. Will some of them make the cut? Sure. But there will be few and, frankly, hard to identify with only a dart and a dartboard at our disposal.
A couple of more names worth mentioning are No. 123-ranked Rasmus Hojgaard, part of the Danish golf-playing Hojgaard twins, and Christopher Gotterup, the Haskins Award winner from Oklahoma making his professional debut.
With the return of their beloved tournament, Canadians will not care about the quality of the field, nor should they, especially with it taking place on perhaps the country's finest golf course for the first time since 2010 and only the sixth time ever. St. George's is ranked well inside the top-100 courses in the world on many golf ranking lists, and No. 3 in Canada. It has not been a bigger part of the Canadian Open rota because the size of the property makes it difficult to play host to a modern-day PGA Tour event. As such, nearby Islington Golf Club will serve as the practice facility for the golfers, who will be shuttled back and forth to St. George's.
St. George's, around since 1929, was scheduled to be the host course for the 2020 Canadian Open (and the 2021). It barely reaches 7,000 yards. As an odd par-70, there are five par-3s, four of which exceed 200 yards, and only three par-5s, none longer than 560 yards on the scorecard and therefore reachable in two by the entire field. Where is the length made up with so many par-3s and short par-5s? Seven of the par-4s are 450 yards or longer, with the other three under 400. A very odd layout indeed.
While Carl Petterson's 2010 win is too long ago for us to consider in formulating this year's strategy, we do have information to go by. Here is what Golf Digest said when ranking St. George's as the No. 41 course in the world in 2016: "St. George's is an outstanding Stanley Thompson design routed through forest-covered glacial land, with meandering fairways that diagonally traverse valleys and greens perched on domes. The putting surfaces are tightly bunkered and full of hidden undulations. These are considered some of Thompson's best bunkering. Some of the credit belongs to Canadian architect Ian Andrew, who supervised their rebuilding over a five-year period, highlighting their sweeping lines and graceful movements."
So we know there are many trees lining the tight, narrow fairways, and there is significant trouble awaiting the golfers approaching the tiny bentgrass greens (basically the whole course is bent). They average only 4,000 square feet. That's not small, that's tiny. There are 104 bunkers on the course and water comes into play on three holes, courtesy of one creek.
Weather-wise, showers are in the forecast every day but one from Tuesday through Sunday except for Friday, so keep an eye on things before the lock. Highs will be only in the 60s all week, meaning there could be some chilly mornings. The wind is forecast to be moderate all week.
Historical Canadian Open factoids: This is one of the oldest tournaments in the world, behind only the Open Championship, U.S. Open and Western Open -- now the BMW Championship. It has been played every year since 1904 except during World Wars I and II, and now the pandemic. Tiger Woods won here for the ninth time in 2000, with what is often considered the greatest shot of his career. Sitting in a fairway bunker on the par-5 18th at Glenn Abbey, he sent a 6-iron 213 yards over water and birdied the hole for a one-stroke win over Grant Waite.
Key Stats to Winning at St. George's
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Approach/Greens in Regulation
• Driving Accuracy/Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
• Par-3 Efficiency 200-225 yards, Par-4 Efficiency 450-500 yards, Par-5 Efficiency 500-550 yards
Past Champions
2021 - None
2020 - None
2019 - Rory McIlroy (Hamilton)
2018 - Dustin Johnson (Glen Abbey)
2017 - Jhonattan Vegas (Glen Abbey)
2016 - Jhonattan Vegas (Glen Abbey)
2015 - Jason Day (Glen Abbey)
2014 - Tim Clark (Royal Montreal)
2013 - Brandt Snedeker (Glen Abbey)
2012 - Scott Piercy (Hamilton)
Champion's Profile
We don't have much to go by, but we do know the types of golfers who profile well on shorter courses where accuracy is paramount. Driver will often be left in the bag, giving many guys the chance to get in the leaderboard conversation. To say St. George's is a second-shot golf course, as shorter tracks so often are labeled, would not necessarily be incorrect, but it would be oversimplifying things. If your first shot is not in the fairway, good luck on your second. With the greens so small, that gives an advantage to poorer putters, as the threat of 3-putts is greatly reduced. The over/under on the winning score as determined by golfodds.com was 265.5 under par -- 14.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 Values
Scottie Scheffler - $11,100 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +700)
We always present Tier 1 picks for you to consider. Candidly, this will be hard week to go with one of them, because you will have to dip far down the board to balance it out. That said, Scheffler is a must-consider any week the way he's playing right now. The only thing that prevented a fifth victory in the first five months of the year was a miracle putt from Sam Burns two weeks back at Colonial.
Rory McIlroy - $10,500 (+800)
McIlroy hasn't won in 2022, but he's doing everything but. Last week's tie for 18th at the Memorial could be considered an off-week following three straight top-10s, two of them at majors.
Matt Fitzpatrick - $9,900 (+1600)
Fitzpatrick had a quirky week at the Memorial, where he struck the ball beautifully but putted whatever the opposite of beautifully. He was top-25 in every strokes-gained category, but now he's fallen outside in Putting. He remains first in SG: Total. Fitzpatrick profiles very well in the par-3 and par-5 efficiency stats.
Tony Finau - $9,400 (+3000)
Finau is starting to compile better finishes after going into a long slump following his big win at last season's Northern Trust. A few weeks following his runner-up at Mexico, he tied for fourth at the Charles Schwab last time out. Finau should be able to eat up the short par-5s this week, as he's ranked 11th on Tour in par-5 efficiency from 500-550 yards.
Tier 2 Values
Keith Mitchell - $9,000 (+5000)
In 12 starts in 2022, Mitchell has three top-10s and three more top-25s, including last week's T18 at the Memorial. Before that, he had a good PGA Championship with a tie for 34th. Mitchell is ranked in the top-20 in both par-4 and par-5 efficiency stats, which covers more than half the holes at St. George's.
Jhonattan Vegas - $8,500 (+7000)
Vegas had another very good week going at Muirfield Village until crashing with a final-round 81. He is ranked in the top-40 on Tour in both greens in regulation and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (in this field, that's enough to get you in the Hall of Fame). We have to remember that Vegas is the 20th-best golfer in this field as based on world rankings. He is No. 100 this week.
Brendon Todd - $8,200 (+8000)
On a short course, Todd is always a must-consider. Last time out at Colonial, he tied for third. Interestingly, Todd is ranked fifth on Tour in par-3 efficiency 200-225 yards. He's also fifth in driving accuracy and, on a shorter track, his GIR percentage should improve significantly.
C.T. Pan - $8,100 (+8000)
Pan has been on quite a nice little roll of late, making seven straight cuts. There's been only one top-25, but this field opens up opportunities. He's ranked 41st n tour in SG: Approach and just outside the top-50 in Tee-to-Green. Pan is ranked sixth in par-3 200-225, a nice little boost from a shorter hitter.
Tier 3 Values
Aaron Rai - $7,900 (+13000)
Rai just missed a top-25 last week at the Memorial, tying for 26th, to add another notch to a good rookie season. The Englishman is 26th in driving accuracy and 43rd in greens in regulation, a very nice combination to tackle St. George's.
Tyler Duncan - $7,500 (+18000)
We often turn to Duncan on short courses -- though normally he's in the $6,000s. This is a little different at this price, but we still like him. He's coming off a tie for 15th at Colonial and was also T12 at Harbour Town. Duncan is top-25 on Tour in par-4 450-500 and just outside the top-50 in par-5 500-550.
Matthias Schwab - $7,300 (+15000)
The Korn Ferry grad has quietly been having a very nice rookie season. He's made six of his past seven cuts and also has three top-10s in 2022. Schwab is an impressive 10th on Tour in par-4 450-500 and top-25 in par-5 500-550. The Austrian is also top-25 in both SG: Around-the-Green and Putting.
Stephan Jaeger - $7,300 (+18000)
Jaeger has struggled in his return to the PGA Tour after a great year on the Korn Ferry. But he's started to turn it around of late, making three straight cuts before missing at the Charles Schwab. He was 15th at Mexico and sixth at a narrow TPC Potomac track for the Wells Fargo. Jaeger impressively is ranked 17th on Tour in par-3 200-255 and 25th in par-5 500-550.
Long-Shot Values
Brandon Wu - $6,900 (+25000)
Wu is coming off another made cut last week at the Memorial, giving him six cashes in his past eight starts. He is a shorter hitter who should find St. George's more to his liking, as was the case at Mexico, where he was runner-up, and Puerto Rico, where he was third. Despite being distance challenged, Wu is ranked 50th on Tour in par-4 efficiency from 450 to 500 yards.
Justin Lower - $6,800 (+25000)
Lower had made six of seven cuts before missing at the Memorial. It might've been a pressure-filled week for the Ohio native. Lower is ranked 36th on Tour in greens in regulation despite hitting from way back in the fairway with drives averaging only 292 yards. He recently tied for 31st at the Wells Fargo at another narrow course where accuracy is important.
Brice Garnett - $6,700 (+25000)
Garnett is coming off a T15 at the Bryson Nelson, so he's rested. He's another guy who should benefit from a shorter track, and his accuracy off the tee is already sound, as he's ranked 25th. Garnett is also ranked 17th in par-3 200-225. He's made six of his past nine cuts, mostly in far stronger fields.
Christopher Gotterup - $6,300 (+40000)
The fifth-year senior from Oklahoma was the 2022 Haskins Award winner as the nation's most outstanding college golfer. He will be making his professional debut. Gotterup played the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open as an amateur a few months back and tied for seventh. He led the field in driving distance on a similarly short course and was pretty accurate to boot, ranking 58th in the field. He ranked top-50 in in the field in greens in regulation. Gotterup followed Sahith Theegala as a Haskins winner.
