Best bets
1pt each-way Tommy Fleetwood @ 20/1
1pt each-way Tyrrell Hatton @ 11/1
1pt each-way Justin Rose @ 16/1
1pt each-way Corey Conners @ 16/1
1pt each-way Adam Svensson @ 50/1
Place FIVE pre-tournament bets and get an in-play matched FREE BET! T&Cs apply.
Not since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic in 2011 has anyone won the same tournament three times in a row but that’s what Rory McIlroy will be attempting in Toronto this week at the Canadian Open.
Whereas Stricker’s hat-trick came on the same Deere Run course, McIlroy’s would be over three different ones, Hamilton, St George’s and now Oakdale in Ontario, a new venue to the PGA Tour.
With Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, the two golfers ranked above him, resting for next week’s US Open in Los Angeles, Rory naturally assumes the mantle of short-priced favourite but a very vulnerable one after Sunday’s woeful 75 at Memorial which saw the Northern Irishman slump from joint-leader to seventh, by no means the only time this year he has let punters down.
With other big names like Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele also preparing for LA away from competitive golf, Rory may well get his mojo back in easier company and on a less demanding track than Muirfield Village but there are still a fair number in this week’s line-up in a more positive frame of mind and he will be starting at shorter odds than he should be.
Outside Rory there’s a strong European raiding party headed by US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, a top-ten finisher at Jack’s Place, Pebble Beach winner Justin Rose, the ever-consistent Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry. Lending strong support are Danish bomber Nicolai Hojgaard, steady Englishman Arron Rai and 6ft 6in Pole Adrian Meronk.
With Fitzpatrick’s mind likely to be more on the defence of his US Open title, I’m taking three other Englishmen, Fleetwood (5th Quail Hollow, 15th Heritage, 18th PGA), Hatton (runner-up Sawgrass, top 5 Quail Hollow & Nelson, 15th PGA) and Rose (1st Pebble, 9th PGA, 12th Colonial, 16th Masters), to make hay.
This is a great opportunity for them as the Americans are on the back foot after suffering another reverse on Sunday, Norway’s Viktor Hovland coming from behind to beat luckless Denny McCarthy (now winless in 157 starts) at Muirfield Village.
That makes 12 tournaments out of 24 to have evaded the Americans’ grasp since the turn of the year and the eighth to fall into European hands. And if a Euro doesn’t make it 13 then the Canadians have three live candidates in Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson, all winners in the 2022-23 wraparound season and primed to end the long search for a home-grown winner (69 years since Pat Fletcher did it). Two more Canadians, Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith, could have a say too.
Conners, Texas Open winner in April and 12th in the PGA even with a 75 fade-out on the Sunday, looks the best of them and must have a real chance of ending the jinx.
Of the Americans, Sam Burns won the Match Play but the rest of his year has not gone to plan while tour maidens Cameron Young and Keith Mitchell should both be winning tournaments and will see this as their big chance.
Young was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread after top-threes in two Majors in his rookie year but we’re still waiting. His last three efforts have been underwhelming but if he returns to the form that took him to the Match Play final and seventh at the Masters, he should contend. Classy Mitchell is a great driver who pushed Rahm all the way at Riviera but his putting doesn’t match the rest of his game.
Oakdale, although almost 100 years old, is a rolling parkland layout that will be new to most of the field outside the Canadians. It’s a renovated composite course using holes from the club’s three nines to make up a 7264-yard test. The Black Creek is a persistent menace that has to be avoided. Lack of course form makes this a hard one to call and it may pay to keep your powder dry until we see how round one shakes out.
Apart from a weekend shower, the weather should be pleasant with Saturday the warmest day at 73F.
Best bets
1pt each-way Tommy Fleetwood @ 20/1
1pt each-way Tyrrell Hatton @ 11/1
1pt each-way Justin Rose @ 16/1
1pt each-way Corey Conners @ 16/1
1pt each-way Adam Svensson @ 50/1
