This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
RBC Canadian Open
Course: TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley North Course (7,389 yards, par 70)
Purse: $9,800,000
Winner: $1,764,000 and 500 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
The Canadian Open has a storied history that dates back to 1904. 2025 will be the next chapter that includes a first time host in TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. The North Course recently underwent a renovation to prepare to host the PGA Tour's best and it can now stretch to nearly 7,400 yards. It will be the 38th different venue to host this national open, and not only will it play host this year, but also in 2026.
A year ago it was Robert MacIntyre who broke through for his first PGA Tour win by one stroke over Ben Griffin. That edition was played at Hamilton Country Club. It ended up being the first of two national opens that MacIntyre won in 2024, later becoming the first Scot to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.
Speaking of long droughts at your national open, that was always a storyline coming into the Canadian Open. A Canadian had not won the event since 1954, but Nick Taylor ended that streak in dramatic fashion in 2023 at Oakdale. He holed a 72-foot putt for eagle in a playoff to defeat Tommy Fleetwood and send the Canadian crowd into a frenzy. It was one of the most epic scenes in golf this century. There are plenty of Canadian golfer playing well that could easily win again this year and avoid any more talk about a drought for a long time. Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes are the four Canadian golfers ranked inside the top-50 in the OWGR.
If a Canadian is to win they will have to take down a strong group of contenders led by Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman won back-to-back RBC Canadian Open's in 2019 and 2022 after the 2020 and 2021 editions were canceled due to Covid. McIlroy is coming off a poor showing at the PGA Championship which was his first finish outside the top-25 anywhere since the FedEx St. Jude Championship last August. Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre and Sungjae Im lead a strong international contingent of challengers. Wyndham Clark is the highest ranked American in the field at 23rd.
This will be the final tuneup for players competing in the U.S. Open next week at Oakmont. Many players in this field will have taken part in final qualifying on Monday from a variety of different venues. The good news for those who don't make it through is that they could still earn a spot in the Open Championship with a strong finish at TPC Toronto. The RBC Canadian Open is part of the Open Qualifying Series and offers three spots to the highest finishing players not currently exempt into the Open Championship.
After some very windy days during the practice rounds, the winds will calm down for the four tournament rounds. There's a chance for some early showers on Thursday, but there's a decent chance we don't get any more precipitation the rest of the week. Hopefully the course can be allowed to dry out and the staff at TPC Toronto can have their course play just how they want to in their first crack at hosting the PGA Tour's best. It's tough to tell what scoring will look like, but the winning score has averaged out to around 17-under-par over the last three years in this event and three different courses.
Recent Champions
2024 - Robert MacIntyre (-16) at Hamilton
2023 - Nick Taylor (-17) at Oakdale
2022 - Rory McIlroy (-19) at St. George's
2021 - No Tournament
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Rory McIlroy (-22) at Hamilton
2018 - Dustin Johnson (-23) at Glen Abbey
2017 - Jhonattan Vegas (-21) at Glen Abbey
2016 - Jhonattan Vegas (-12) at Glen Abbey
2015 - Jason Day (-17) at Glen Abbey
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- Proximity 175-200 Yards/200-225 Yards
Champion's Profile
TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley is a very long course on the scorecard as a par 70 at nearly 7,400 yards. There are six par-4s that will measure in excess of 480 yards in length. The spacious fairways and greens also mean that bombers should be able to thrive here. The rough will be just under four inches, but it's not expected to be anywhere near as penal as it was last week at Muirfield Village. There's not much in the way of water hazards on this course either. With it unlikely we get really firm conditions and limited wind expected, scoring will probably still be pretty decent, even with some longer irons into holes. Typically we don't look for putters on unfamiliar greens, but the GIR percentage for the field should be pretty high, meaning you're going to have to be rolling in birdies to make up ground.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Sam Burns ($11,700)
Burns fits exactly what I'm looking for this week. He is a bomber who is also leading the PGA Tour in SG: Putting this season. Burns has gained at least a full stroke per round on the greens in nine different tournaments this season. After he missed three straight cuts a few months ago, Burns has now finished top-20 in four of his last five starts. He has finished top-10 in two of his three career starts at the Canadian Open.
Taylor Pendrith ($11,300)
Pendrith hasn't had his best putting season, but historically that has been one of his biggest strengths along with being one of the longest drivers on Tour. Pendrith also has more rounds at TPC Toronto than any other player in this field, which should certainly help him on these greens. The Canadian is coming off a T5 at the PGA Championship and then a T12 at at the Memorial last week in which he led the field in SG: Approach.
Keith Mitchell ($11,000)
Mitchell is one of the best drivers out there ranking seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee and 11th in driving distance this season. His iron play and putting have been really consistent as well over the last few months, as he has gained on approach in his last eight and on the greens in six of seven. Mitchell also has good history in Canada where he finished top-10 in 2022 and last year. He showed out very well a few weeks ago at the Truist which featured another new course to the Tour.
The Middle Tier
Chris Gotterup ($10,300)
Gotterup is quietly having a pretty solid season already racking up seven top-25 finishes. Five of those have come in his last six starts, with the lone outlier being a T28 last time out at Colonial. Gotterup is one of the longest hitters on Tour and should be able to send it around TPC Toronto. He is also 16th in GIR percentage and 14th in par-4 scoring average. Gotterup has a great chance to post his best finish of the year at this venue.
Rasmus Hojgaard ($9,800)
It hasn't been the rookie season on the PGA Tour I think Hojgaard was expecting, but he's at least established a little consistency after making his last six cuts. I'm highlighting him here simply because he's much more talented than a lot of players above him on the salary board, and TPC Toronto should be an excellent course fit. Hojgaard can hit it a mile and also ranks 16th in proximity outside of 200 yards.
Ryan Fox ($9,400)
Fox has played well of late starting with his breakthrough victory at the Myrtle Beach Classic. He followed that up with a solid T28 showing at the PGA Championship and then a T20 in a signature event last week. Fox has been one of the longer hitters out there, but his approach game has really come into its own as well. On the season he is now gaining strokes in every category and finished T7 in the Canadian Open last year.
The Long Shots
Ricky Castillo ($8,800)
Castillo's ball striking has been quite impressive for a rookie. He ranks 24th in SG: Off-the-Tee, 16th in total driving, 10th in GIR percentage and 11th in proximity this season. The 24-year-old is also top-25 in scrambling, bogey avoidance and par-4 scoring average. The putter has been up and down for Castillo, but maybe these new greens will give him a chance to pop. The rest of his game is all there to make a run.
Karl Vilips ($8,500)
This selection isn't for the faint of heart, as Vilips has been one of the most volatile players all season. That said if any course was going to line up for him, TPC Toronto might just be it. Vilips hits it very long and ranks top-15 on Tour in proximity from 150-175 yards and proximity 175-200 yards. He's also top-30 in putts per GIR. Vilips can put up birdies in bunches when he's on and he should carry momentum from a T11 at Colonial last time out.
Danny Walker ($8,200)
Walker is a solid player to round out FanDuel lineups this week. He missed the cut last time out at Colonial, but that broke a streak of four straight top-35 finishes. Walker is a great DFS players because he ranks 13th in birdie average. He hits it plenty long enough, has gained strokes on approach in seven of his last nine starts and on the greens in four of five starts.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Pretty much every player I've highlighted above is known for their ability to bomb it, which from a lot of accounts is going to be pretty crucial around this venue given the extra space off the tee and all the lengthy par-4s. I think that distance combined with being a player who can pop on the greens is going to be the easiest way to find yourself in contention. Rory McIlroy does fit the formula, but at $13,000 in a shallow field with a very deep $11K range, it does tend to limit the optimal roster builds it feels like. With no course history available and a full 156-man field, this will be one of the more challenging weeks to get all six players to the weekend.
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