Preview and Predictions for the 2016 RBC Canadian Open
From one Open to another: The PGA Tour heads from the coast of Scotland to Canada this week for the RBC Canadian Open with the PGA Championship and the Olympics breathing down the necks of the tour's best.
Jason Day and Dustin Johnson, the two top-ranked golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking, headline a field that features five of the top 25 golfers on the planet.
Day's 22-foot tournament-clinching birdie last year sparked an incredible run, which included his first major victory and five additional wins.
Top among the Canadians in the country's national Open is David Hearn, who led entering the final round last year at Glen Abbey.
The 35 golfers who competed at Royal Troon last week are making the seven-hour flight across the Atlantic to compete in Ontario.
Read on for our full Canadian Open preview and our best bet to hoist the trophy.
Tournament Information
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Defending Champion
Jason Day
Where
Glen Abbey Golf Club: 7,253 yards, par 72
What
Total Purse: $5.9 million
Winning Share: $1.062 million
FedEx Points to Winner: 500
When
Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday-Sunday: 1-2:30 p.m (GC); 3-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
Biggest Storylines
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The Summer of Golf continues: We had a major last week and there's a major next week. And beginning August 11 is Olympic golf. Phew. Nestled into this packed portion of the calendar is the RBC Canadian Open, which usually draws a respectable field for a tournament the week after a major.
As with other RBC events, the Royal Bank of Canada sponsorship helps as Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and more are sponsored by RBC and thus are encouraged to tee it up.
Certainly, both Day and Johnson, who found themselves on the wrong side of the draw at Royal Troon, would like to head to Baltusrol next week off a strong showing at Glen Abbey. As the top two players in the OWGR, many eyes will be trained on the pair this week.
Johnson, interestingly, has the opportunity to win two of the three Opens this season. Would he to win this week, The Long Bomber would have won both the U.S. and Canadian Opens.
And bad news for Jason Day: Only two golfers have defended their RBC Canadian Open titles since 1951.
Crazy as it may seem in a year that has flown by: There are only six more weeks in the FedEx Cup regular season, so players will begin concerning themselves with playoff position and the magical 125 number (golfers who make it into the first playoff event).
The Favorites
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Jason Day: Thrice a winner on tour this season, Jason Day returns to the site of his surge-inducing victory last year. Day tied for 22nd at Royal Troon with a pair of top-10 finishes prior to that. Day leads the tour in putting strokes gained and is second in total strokes gained.
Dustin Johnson: Victor at the U.S. Open and then the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, DJ found himself in the unenviable early, late draw, which doomed his bid for an Open victory. A cut-misser last year, he finished second at Glen Abbey in 2013. Second on the tour in off-the-tee SG, the driving distance leader is also the tour leader in SG:T.
Jim Furyk: A perennially solid performer north of the border, Jim Furyk has finished inside the top 10 the last three times the RBC Canadian Open was contested at Glen Abbey. He made the cut on the number at The Open Championship and didn't impress at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Still his course history, veteran presence and overall skill land him among the favorites.
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The Dark Horses
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Daniel Summerhays: A top-15 finisher at Glen Abbey last year, Daniel Summerhays has shown a spot of form as of late. He tied for eighth at the U.S. Open two starts ago and hasn't missed a cut in nine starts. He is 18th on tour in SG:P.
Chad Campbell: Quietly playing some decent golf at the moment, veteran Chad Campbell returns to a venue where he's notched top-20 finishes in two of his last three starts. Campbell hasn't missed a cut in his last five starts and is a respectable short-iron player, which is key at Glen Abbey.
Other sleepers to consider: Vijay Singh, John Curran, Graham DeLaet, David Hearn, Roberto Castro.
Prediction
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Winner: Matt Kuchar
While he didn't impress in either the U.S. or British varieties of Open golf, Matt Kuchar is still the third best golfer in the field (behind Day and Johnson) from an Official World Golf Ranking standpoint.
His recent form (outside of the aforementioned Opens) has been impressive with five top-10 finishes in his last seven starts. He tied for third at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational ahead of The Open Championship.
The Georgia Tech alumnus recorded top-10 finishes each of the last three times the RBC Canadian Open was held at Glen Abbey.
Defending champions don't repeat at the Canadian Open (sorry, Jason Day), and the odds of Dustin Johnson winning his third tournament in four starts can't be as good as Kuchar, the field's third-best golfer, hoisting the trophy.
Stats via PGATour.com.
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