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The RBC Canadian Open was previously a bit of a wind-down from the previous week’s Open Championship. But a move in the schedule to early June changes it to a warm-up for next week’s US Open. There’s another part of the puzzle to solve for punters this week as the tournament ends its four-year run at Glen Abbey and heads to another Ontario venue, Hamilton Golf and Country Club. We do have some form at Hamilton, however, as it’s played host three times since the turn of the century. Bob Tway won with 8-under in 2003, Jim Furyk shot 14-under to lift the silverware in 2006 and Scott Piercy took it even lower in 2012 to triumph with 17-under. All three were American and Dustin Johnson became the latest United States winner last year but the previous four Canadian Open champions were Internationals – Tim Clark, Jason Day and Jhonny Vegas (twice). Since Hamilton last staged the event, over 1,000 trees have been removed and, if the weather is calm, players could go really low on the par-70 course which measures just under 7,000 yards. Angles to consider Putting Average Driving Accuracy has been the least important stat when looking at how the top 10 players performed in the last two editions at Hamilton. By contrast, Putting Average has been significant, ranking higher than Driving Distance, GIR and Scrambling. A hot putter looks important. Par 4 Performance With two extra par 4s on this par 70, this, in theory, is a key scoring stat. And looking at the 2006 and 2012 editions, performance on the par 4s was indeed significant. Tournament form Although this is a different test to Glen Abbey, we’ve seen plenty of examples of players excelling despite the tournament switching venues. Jim Furyk won the 2006 Canadian Open at Hamilton, successfully defended at Angus Glen and was runner-up at Royal Montreal while William McGirt was runner-up at Hamilton in 2012 and repeated the feat at Glen Abbey 12 months later. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Dustin Johnson It’s a very obvious pick but DJ ticks every box. He’s the defending champion and was also runner-up two years ago while he ranks third in Par 4 Performance this season. Notably, he also ranks second in the field for Putting Average over the last eight weeks so, after finishing runner-up in the last two majors, Johnson can bank another win before next week’s US Open. Scott Piercy Piercy won the tournament the last time it was held at Hamilton and he appears to be doing the necessary things to shine there on his return. The American is in the top 20 in the field for Putting Average over the last eight weeks and sits second in Par 4 Performance in 2019. He was runner-up at the Byron Nelson three starts ago and also cracked the top 20 at Colonial last time. Ryan Palmer Palmer won the Zurich pairs event with Jon Rahm and was sixth at Colonial on his last start. He ranks in the top 10 for Par 4 Performance and made the top 20 at Hamilton in 2012, shooting a third-round 64 in the process. Tips 0-3; -6.00pts 2pts win Dustin Johnson at 6/1 (General) 20th 1pt e.w. Scott Piercy at 28/1 (Betfair, Paddy Power, Skybet 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) mc 1pt e.w. Ryan Palmer at 60/1 (Betfair, Paddy Power, 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) 35th
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