This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Canadian Open – Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Glen Abbey GC (7,253 yards, par 72)
$6.0M Purse
$1,080,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner
Tournament Preview
Whether well rested, traveling from Alabama's Barbasol Championship, or jet-lagged from the charter flight out of England's Open Championship, the show must go on as the RBC Canadian Open picks up the schedule. Glen Abbey is the most-hosted course (29 times) in this Canadian national event that has rotated courses since the start of the 20th century. The par-72 course features the standard four par-5s, four par-3s, and 11 par-4s, but plenty of dramatic scoring swings can happen late with three par-5s in the final six holes. The field is diluted as you often see in post-major tournaments, but one thing is certain: Canadian golfers and fans hold much regard for this event. Unfortunately, Canadians have endured a grueling 63 years since one of their own has won. Expect the winning score to fall between 16- to 18-under in normal conditions, making birdies a requirement for success.
Prior Decade Champions
2016 – Jhonattan Vegas (Glen Abbey)
2015 – Jason Day (Glen Abbey)
2014 – Tim Clark
2013 – Brandt Snedeker (Glen Abbey)
2012 – Scott Piercy
2011 – Sean O'Hair
2010 – Carl Pettersson
2009 – Nathan Green (Glen Abbey)
2008 – Chez Reavie (Glen Abbey)
2007 – Jim Furyk
Key Stats to Winning at Glen Abbey
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Greens in Regulation percentage
• Sand Save percentage
Champion's Profile
Most relevant to the profile are the five most recent events at Glen Abbey, where length is helpful on the four par-5s but tee-to-green ball-striking is the real key. Vegas and Day - the last two champions – are long, but Snedeker, Green, and Reavie are average length but were especially precise strikers when they won. Driving the ball in play and dialing in approaches are critical to going low at Glen Abbey. Due to the heavy bunkering, players will inevitably need to save par from tricky sand lies at a high rate, but this is a much lesser factor than Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Dustin Johnson, $10600 – Not only does Johnson lead the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, he's also World No.1 with a pair of runner-up finishes at Glen Abbey. You can't find much better than Johnson this week.
Matt Kuchar, $10100 – Despite a mentally-draining week at Royal Birkdale last week, Kuchar has a load of great history at this event and is clearly in top form with the runner-up last week. If he can muster enough focus for four rounds this week, he'll add to his five career top-10 finishes at the Canadian Open.
Charley Hoffman, $9000 – Hoffman is enjoying a banner year despite no victory with $2.5 million in earnings this season. As a great tee-to-green striker, Glen Abbey fits Hoffman well as evidenced by his five top-30 finishes in seven career starts.
Bubba Watson, $8400 – Watson is finally starting to show some signs of good play with three consecutive cuts made including a tie for 27th at Royal Birkdale last week.
Longer Shots Worth a Risk
Jim Furyk, $7100 – Though Furyk hasn't posted a top-10 finish since last November, his mediocre form combined with a great track record at this venue is a bargain at $7100. His last four starts at Glen Abbey have all been top-15 efforts.
Kevin Chappell, $6900 – Chappell's history is a bit of a conundrum at Glen Abbey, but his course fit and recent play show his potential here. He represents a decent risk of missing the cut, but if he plays the weekend there's upside for a top-10.
Chad Campbell, $6800 – Campbell has notched top-20s his last three events heading into Glen Abbey, where he's made 3-of-3 career cuts. The veteran probably doesn't have upside for a top-5 in him at this stage of his career, but he's a great pick to make the cut.
Chez Reavie, $6600 – Reavie is the former 2008 champ at Glen Abbey who has notched three of four cuts at this course since his win. This year he has made 73% of his cuts and is ranked 68th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green.
Strategy Tips for this week (based on 60k standard salary cap)
In a typically weak field lying in the wake of a major championship, it's prudent to target the limited number of elite ball strikers in the field and back-fill your lineup with lower-cost options that have a good trend coming in.
