The PGA Tour will travel across the northern border for the RBC Canadian Open in Toronto. This tournament is sandwiched between an elevated event (the Memorial Tournament) and the third major of the season (the U.S. Open). You would think that most of the top golfers would skip the RBC Canadian Open to rest for the U.S. Open next week. The field is decent this week. 10 of the top 30 golfers in the world will tee it up at Oakdale Golf and Country Club Thursday. There are plenty of choices to build a good DFS lineup from this week.
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The RBC Canadian Open rotates course each year, similar to the way the U.S. Open travels to different courses. The PGA Tour will use Oakdale Country Club in Toronto as the host course this week. This is the first time the RBC Canadian Open has been played at Oakdale Country Club.
Oakdale Country Club will play at 7,264 yards and be scored as a par-72. There are three par-5’s that should be easily reachable in two shots. There are also four par-four’s that play under 400 yards. This is not going to be a tough course for the PGA Tour professionals. Some of the golfers have said Oakdale Country Club plays like a Pete Dye course. That means that positioning off the tee and approach shots into the greens is the key to scoring well this week.
The greens are small, with a lot of elevation changes. The golfers must hit the right portion of the green or their ball could run off into the rough. The greens are a mixture of Bentgrass and Poa. This is the same type of grass that is found at TPC River Highlands (Travelers Championship played in two weeks). I will use the putting stats from the tournaments at TPC River Highlands for the rankings this week.
Click here to see the course: Oakdale Golf and Country Club
KEY STATS FOR RBC CANADIAN OPEN
– Accuracy off the Tee
– Stroke Gained Approach (Under 150-yards)
– Strokes Gained Putting
– Par 4 Scoring (450-500 yards)
– Birdie or Better %
TOP 30 GOLFERS
RBC CANADIAN OPEN STRATEGY
There will be 156 golfers in the field this week and only 20 of them are really good. That is going to make it difficult to get 6/6 golfers through the cut Friday. You will likely win every Cash Contest if all of your golfers make it through the cut, so my strategy this week in Cash Contests is to build a more balanced lineup.
My strategy for the Tournament Contests will be to build around the higher-priced golfers. Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose are clearly the class of the field. Some people will pick one or two of these golfers to build their lineups around. I want a lot of exposure to each of them and take my chances with a lot of golfers from the lower $7K price range.
CORE GOLFERS FOR RBC CANADIAN OPEN
* ERIC COLE and MARK HUBBARD are going to be the chalk this week. These are two good golfers, and they are underpriced, but they also have a good chance of blowing up your lineup. I will fade the highly owned Cole and Hubbarb in Tournament Contest lineups and play them in Cash Contests this week.
** The Canadians always have higher ownership then they should in this tournament. I will be fading COREY CONNERS, ADAM HADWIN and ADAM SVENNSON in my Tournament Contests lineups. I will play NICK TAYLOR simply because his game fits this course well and MACKENZIE HUGHES because of his success in this tournament.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
TYRRELL HATTON ($10,200): Paying Rory McIlroy at the top of the Cash Contest lineup is going to be a popular strategy this week. I rather have Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose than McIlroy and a bunch of $7K golfers. This course fits perfectly for Hatton’s game. He ranks in the top-10 in all of the key stats and No. 1 overall in the key stats. The only thing that can stop Hatton from winning this week is his temper.
JUSTIN ROSE ($9,700): If Tyrrell Hatton is not holding the trophy Sunday, it could be Justin Rose. I thought it was nice that Rose won at Pebble Beach, but I did not think it would last. Well, here we are in June and Rose ranks No. 2 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 2 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 5 in Scrambling and No. 5 overall in the key stats. Hatton and Rose make a good combo at the top of the Cash Contest lineup this week.
ERIC COLE ($7,900): I originally had Joseph Bramlett in this spot, but he withdrew on Tuesday. I will pivot to Eric Cole. He is in good form and Cole ranks highly in the key stats. Cole ranks No. 9 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 32 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 2 in Scrambling and No. 9 overall in the key stats. He should be a good play this week.
VINCENT NORRMAN ($7,500): It gets tricky down in the mid-$7K price range, so all I want is a golfer who can make the cut. Norrman checks that box. He has made three cuts in a row and 4/5. Norrman ranks No. 10 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 26 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 8 in Ball-Striking and No. 17 in the overall key stats. His putter is the only club holding him back, but I heard the greens will not be too tough this week.
MARK HUBBARD ($7,300): Welcome to “Mark Hubbard Chalk Week”. He is the most mispriced golfer on DraftKings. Hubbard has not missed a cut since March (6 for 6). This is a second-shot course and Hubbard ranks No. 1 in the field in Shots Gained Approach. He does rank No. 122 in Shots Gained Putting and that is likely why we are getting a discount. Putting is the most volatile stat in golf. Hubbard could win if he can fix the flat stick this week.
CARSON YOUNG ($7,100): Many people will play Cameron Young, but I like Carson Young this week. Carson ranks higher than Cameron in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green (15th), Shots Gained Approach (13th), Shots Gained Putting (2nd), Scrambling (19th) and No. 7 overall in the key stats. This Young is way underpriced. I will have a lot of ownership of Carson and I will fade Cameron in Canada.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
RORY MCILROY ($11,500): Rory McIlroy is going to be the highest owned golfer above $9K this week. I will eat the chalk and be contrarian with the rest of my lineup. McIlroy has won this tournament the last two times he has played it. His length off the tee is a huge advantage this week. Hole No. 18 is a 496-yard par 5. McIlroy should hit driver, sand wedge into this green and eagle this hole every day. I would be shocked if McIlroy doesn’t finish in the top-three Sunday.
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK ($9,900): Fitzpatrick may get overlooked this week, because Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose will be the popular plays. I doubt too many people will pay up for both McIlroy and Fitzpatrick in their lineups, but I will do it. Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage. That is also a second-shot course, and the field was much stronger. Fitzpatrick ranks No. 4 in the key stats, and he is coming off a top-10 finish last week at the Memorial Tournament. I like the combo of McIlroy and Fitzpatrick at the top of the Tournament Contest lineup in Canada.
LEE HODGES ($7,500): I have not heard too many people hyping up Lee Hodges this week, so I doubt his ownership will be over 10%. Hodges ranks No. 20 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 16 in Shots Gained Approach, No. 16 in Ball-Striking and No. 26 overall in the key stats. His only downside is his putter (he ranks 106th in putting). Hodges has made three straight cuts in some pretty tough fields. He should have no problem making the cut Friday.
AARON BADDELEY ($7,200): I had to decide between Doug Ghim and Aaron Baddeley for this pick. I like both golfers. I think Ghim will have less ownership, but Baddeley has the higher floor and ceiling. Baddley has made six cuts in a row on the PGA Tour. He has not missed a cut since February. Baddeley ranks No. 31 in the key stats this week too, so he should make the cut Friday. That is all I need Baddeley to do if Rory McIlrory and Matthew Fitzpatrick do their thing at the top of the lineup.
AARON COCKERILL ($7,000): You cannot play a DFS contest at the Canadian Open without a Canadian in your lineup, right? Cockerill will be my token Canadian golfer in my lineup. He should be the lowest owned Canadian in the field. Cockerill has been tearing up the DP World Tour. The narrative about the DP World Tour players is that they do not play well in the United States. Well, we are not in the U.S. this week. Cockerill should be able to make the cut and finish in the top-40 if he simply plays like he has been playing the last three months.
SAM BENNETT ($6,900): I played Sam Bennett last week at $6,300 in my Tournament Contest lineup and he made the cut and scored 43.5 DK Points. I am going back to Bennett this week. He is one of the more talented young golfers on the PGA Tour and no one knows about him….yet. That will likely change over the summer, so I want to play Bennett before he becomes more popular in the DFS community.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (FantasyRacingTips)
*** I updated the Multi-Entry Lineups in the link above. Some of the golfers who were in the lineups that were posted Tuesday withdrew, so I removed them and replaced them with different golfers.
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the first tournament of Segment 4. This is the toughest Segment to navigate because there are two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), one elevated event (Travelers Championship) and four FedEx Playoff Tournaments). Use your golfers wisely.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: JUSTIN ROSE (CANADIAN OPEN)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Patrick Cantlay (30TH) (Memorial), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Jon Rahm (50th), Adam Scott (8th), Viktor Hovland (43rd), Tony Finau (Win), Sungjae Im (7TH), Jordan Spieth (4th), Si Woo Kim (39th), Tyrrell Hatton (60th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zalatoris (53rd), Matt Kuchar (MC), Tony Finau (20), Xander Schauffele (10th), Seamus Power (15th), Max Homa (1st), Brian Harman (MC), and Corey Conners (12th)
SEASON LONG ONE & DONE PICK: JUSTIN ROSE (CANADIAN OPEN)
Players Used This Season in One & Done: Patrick Cantlay (30TH), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Brooks Koepka (Win), K-H Lee (50th), Cameron Young (59th), Tony Finau (Win), Keith Mitchell (6th), Tom Kim (MC), Brooks Koepka (2nd), Matt Kuchar (3rd), Wyndham Clark (6th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zallatoris (53rd), Sungjae Im (42nd), Max Homa (2), Xander Schauffele (10th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Jon Rahm (7th), Taylor Montgomery (5th), Russell Henley (32nd), Seamus Power (25th), Brian Harman (2nd), Maverick McNealy (27th), Emiliano Grillo (42nd), Nick Hardy (28th), Terrell Hatton (13TH) Christian Bezuidenhout (29th), Cameron Davis (37th), Denny McCarthy (39th), Brendon Steele (CUT)
BEST BETS FOR RBC CANADIAN OPEN
TYRRELL HATTON (11-1)
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK (14-1)
JUSTIN ROSE (18-1)
NICK TAYLOR (50-1)
ERIC COLE (60-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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