RBC Canadian Open betting tips and preview
The young American, Cameron Champ (80/1, 6 places), has been lighting up the Web.com tour over the past few months, and while it remains to be seen if that can be transferred to PGA Tour level, he simply has to be backed at 80/1.
This monster-hitting 23-year-old looks to be a really special talent, and he finally broke through on the Web.com tour last time out when he opened with a 61 at the Utah Championship and held off Steven Ihm and the ever-improving Sam Burns.
Champ is known for his distance off the tee, but his average driving distance was a jaw-dropping 391 yards that week, and that’s bound to give him an advantage here at Glen Abbey where distance from the tee is typically rewarded.
Prior to his win, Champ had notched five consecutive top-11 finishes, so clearly he’s right on the top of his game at the moment – if he can bring that sort of level while stepping up in class, he has a big chance of going close this week.
Forgotten man Hunter Mahan (150/1, 8 places) is gradually making his way back to form, and last week’s 7th place at the Barbasol Championship represents his first top-10 finish since the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship.
That’s a pretty remarkable stat for a player that has six PGA Tour wins and has been a part of three U.S. Ryder Cup teams, but Mahan has made three consecutive cuts now on the PGA Tour, and he hit the most greens in regulation in the field last week in Kentucky.
Now this might be a stretch, but try and cast your minds back to the 2013 Canadian Open. Mahan was 13-under after 36 holes and held the lead by two strokes, but he received news that his wife had gone into labour and as a result, had to withdraw. That paved the way for our other pick, Snedeker, to go on and snatch victory.
Who knows if Mahan would’ve gone on to win, but clearly this is a golf course that he is extremely comfortable on, and that was again evidenced the year before when he finished 4th.
At another juicy three-figure price, Harold Varner (125/1, 8 places) looks worthy of the final pick.
This 27-year-old has been around the tour for a good few years now, and while he’s never won on the PGA Tour, he’s certainly shown glimpses that he has the talent to win at this level.
Varner won the Australian PGA Championship two years ago among decent company, so he’s clearly capable of getting over the line when he gets into contention.
Varner was 23rd here at Glen Abbey last year, and he has every chance of improving on that coming in off the back of consecutive top-6 finishes at the John Deere Classic and Greenbrier.
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
