munneypicks

2015  RBC Canadian Open

Tournament: Let’s first look back at last week. What a tournament. Event though the tournament took 5 days to complete, it was thrilling to watch and see the story lines play out. Dustin Johnson had the 36 hole lead at a course that suits him well. It looked like he would run away with the trophy for a while, but in true DJ fashion, he had a meltdown and played horribly on the weekend. Spieth came up short of 3 in a row and Zach Johnson somehow won out on what is referred to as a bombers course. I was a bit ticked when he won because we backed him in his past 2 tournaments. Concerns over his length and Open Championship history led me off of him. But on to this week and the RBC Canadian Open. This tournament used to have a lot more stature on TOUR, but when it was moved to the week after the Open, interest quickly faded. The only top golfers in the field are ones with ties to RBC. But we make the most of any tournament and any opportunity. This tournament uses a course rotation and this year it will be played at Glen Abbey, a Nicklaus design, outside of Toronto. It is a par 72 with 4 par 5’s that can definitely be taken advantage of. An odd feature of this course is that 11 of the greens are bentgrass and 7 are poa annua. But most players say all 18 roll true. In the past, the rough was grown up and accuracy was a premium to distance. However, in the 2013 edition at Glen Abbey, the rough was lowered and Snedeker won while being one of the least accurate players in the field. Reports are that the rough is low again so we will keep that in mind.

Field: If the RBC didn’t sponsor some good players, this has the potential to be one of the worst fields on TOUR. But luckily we have Bubba, Kuchar, Furyk, Day, and Donald in the field. But not much outside of that. You’ll surely see some names this weekend that you’ve never heard of. 

What to Look For: The weather should be of no factor this week. Possibly some high winds Sunday morning, but that’s all. Par 5 scoring is the #1 factor this week. With 4 gettable par 5’s, players will have to take advantage if they want to play well. So either bombers who can reach in 2, or great wedge players that can knock it stiff with a wedge. This tournament was held at Glen Abbey in 2013, 2009, 2008, and 2004 so we can look back there for some historic trends. In 2013 Mahan held the 36 hole lead before leaving for the birth of his daughter and also went off well in 2004 when he finished 4th. I certainly think some course experience and familiarity will bode well here. Scrambling and sand save % are also some stats to look at. Glen Abbey has small greens that players will definitely miss. Getting up and down from the rough or the sand will be crucial to making clutch pars to keep rounds alive here.

Free Picks:

Charley Hoffman e/w*: If you ever need to make birdies. call on Charley Hoffman. The guy thrives in birdie fests and has 2 top 30 finishes in 2 starts here. Charley didn’t play well in his last 2 tournaments, but they were both majors and Charley simply isn’t a player I expect to do well at majors. Prior to that, Charley racked up 5 top 11’s in 7 starts.

H2H:

*Chad Campbell over Brendon de Jonge*