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Canadian golf is on the rise and arguably as strong now as it has ever been.
Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes are not only winners on the PGA Tour this season they have also featured on the front page of recent major championship leaderboards.
Adam Svensson has also joined them on the winner’s board and Taylor Pendrith has represented the International team in the Presidents Cup.
Can one of them win their home Open this week though? Because the last Canadian to lift the trophy was Pat Fletcher way back in 1954.
The locals - and the rest of the field - also have another thought in their heads: next week it is the U.S. Open so this represents the last chance to hone the game for the toughest test in the sport.
Year | Champion and Winning Score |
2022 | Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) -19 |
2019 | Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) -22 |
2018 | Dustin Johnson (U.S.) -23 |
2017 | Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) -21 - playoff |
2016 | Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) -12 |
2015 | Jason Day (Australia) -17 |
2014 | Tim Clark (South Africa) -17 |
2013 | Brandt Snedeker (U.S.) -16 |
2012 | Scott Piercy (U.S.) -17 |
2011 | Sean O’Hair (U.S.) -4 - playoff |
The Northern Irishman’s win in this event 12 months ago was the first of four in 13 starts but then his form hit the rocks, a horror run that included missed cuts at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Masters. But he’s finished seventh in his last two starts and now gets the chance to become the first three-peat winner of a PGA Tour event in 12 years.
The field this week has a very British and Irish look about it (six of the top 10 in the betting hail from across the water) and the course will remind those golfers of home too. Hatton, who was second in THE PLAYERS and has ticked five straight top 20s, might take to the wooded fairways if they remind him of Wentworth where he won the 2020 BMW PGA Championship.
Can the Englishman complete the RBC double after he won April’s RBC Heritage? That triumph was a bit of a bolt from the blue after a poor run of fitness and form, and he regressed again afterward. But he was ninth last week at Muirfield Village and will be keen to put on a good show this week ahead of his defense of the US Open.
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If Oakdale is reminiscent of a British or Irish tree-lined parkland setup then no one is likely to be more at home than Shane Lowry.
He owns nine top 15s in 13 starts at Wentworth, including a victory there last fall.
He’s also finished second at the wooded Woburn.
His tournament record is strong too, taking in 12th at Glen Abbey in 2018, second at Hamilton in 2019, and 10th at St George’s last year.
He’s playing very well from tee to green currently but is struggling with the putter.
The small greens might help clear that hurdle and set him up for a challenge.
Take bet365’s +2000 each way which pays five places.
Oakdale was designed by Stanley Thompson who was also responsible for St George’s, the host of last year’s event and they are said to be alike.
Moreover, golfers who have thrived at Quail Hollow also performed very well at St George’s.
If we run a line through that form Webb Simpson has landed eight top 40s in 12 Quail Hollow starts.
Moreover, Simpson tends to play all his best golf on short, traditional courses - which this one is.
There’s no doubt he lacks form but this test is in his crosshairs.
Back him to land a top 40 at +150 with the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Might the bentgrass/Poa Annua grass on the greens this week play a role?
The former is a common enough putting surface, the latter is a tricky strain that can irritate some golfers but has never bothered the Californian native Maverick McNealy (it’s very common in his home state).
In fact, in 14 starts on the PGA Tour when faced with this combination he has landed eight top 40s (for the bolder punters out there, four of those were top 10s).
With some books his price reflects these results but we can get +120 at the FanDuel Sportsbook about him recording another top 40 and it’s a price worth taking.
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Matt Cooper has been a sports journalist since 2009 with his work appearing at ESPN, Sky Sports, NBC, Sporting Life and the Planet Sport Network among many others, in addition to guest appearances on the BBC and CNN. Although a specialist in golf, who has traveled the world to cover the sport, Matt has also covered rugby, cricket, football and the Olympics. Email: [email protected]
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