Golfers to Bet - RBC Open
By Sportsbook.ag
After an exciting weekend at The Open, the golfers now head to Ontario for the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday.
Last year, Jason Day won this tournament with a score of 17-under. He defeated Bubba Watson by only a stroke and one could only hope that this year’s event will be as exciting as last year’s.
Day will be back to defend his championship on Thursday and guys like Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker and Jim Furyk will also be out there competing this weekend.
Snedeker won this thing back in 2013 and Furyk won in both 2006 and 2007. All of these guys have really good chances of winning once again on Sunday.
This should be a pretty high-scoring tournament, as the winner of this event has shot at least a 16-under in each of the past four years that this event has taken place at Glen Abbey Golf Course.
With that out of the way, let’s now take a look at some of the golfers that could pay off big come Sunday evening:
Golfers to Bet
Jason Day (5/1) - In a tournament that lacks a lot of star power, it’s hard to stay away from taking the chalky competitors. Day is certainly that, as he is the favorite to win this thing and one of only two big names in this tournament. He is, however, a worthy favorite and it’d be an absolute shocker if he is not in contention to win this thing on Sunday. Day tore it up on this golf course a year ago and he will also be coming into this event with some serious motivation. Day is currently the top ranked golfer in the OWGR, but that is not something that can’t change. Dustin Johnson is creeping towards the top of the rankings and Day will need some victories to hold him off. Look for a determined Day to play some excellent golf this week and don’t be afraid to throw a few units on him at 5/1.
Dustin Johnson (11/2) - As previously mentioned, Johnson is another one of the favorites to win this thing and it’d be a wise move to put a few units on him at 11/2 as well. Johnson is the hottest golfer on the TOUR right now, as he has now racked up seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 outings. Not only has Johnson been finishing near the top, but he also won both the U.S. Open and WGC-Bridgestone in June. He also finished tied for ninth at The Open last week and it says a lot about the way he is playing considering that was a disappointing finish for him. As long as he is putting well, Johnson will be a steady force at the top of the leaderboard moving forward. He’ll also be eager to get out there and try to win this thing, as he was a runner-up in this tournament at Glen Abbey Golf Course in 2013.
Tony Finau (35/1) - Finau is a guy that not many people know, but he is an excellent golfer and is currently 40th in the FedExUp rankings and 77th in the OWGR. He is receiving some very favorable odds at 35/1 and should be feeling extremely confident coming into this tournament. Finau made his The Open Championship debut last week and finished tied for 18th, shooting an even score on the weekend. Playing that well on the national stage should really help him moving forward and he’s certainly a guy to watch out for this weekend. He also happened to be playing well going into the The Open, finishing tied for eighth at the CVS Health Charity Classic in the tournament he played before the major. Look for him to build upon all of that and find himself in the running on Sunday.
Graeme McDowell (75/1) - McDowell has not played well over the past few years, but he is still a very talented golfer and his experience should help him in this tournament. McDowell is good with his irons and is capable of getting hot with the putter as well. He’s a guy that was once one of the top golfers in the world and should not be getting the 75/1 odds he’s receiving in this tournament. Taking a shot on him could pay off huge, as this is exactly the type of tournament that he could make a splash. There is not a ton of top ranked golfers, so it’s a very good opportunity for him to break through and turn his season around.
SPORTS WAGERS
Canadian Open:
The dreaded Open hangover. Who’s playing, who’s withdrawing, and who’s going to show up in beast mode? As of now, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are the headliners this week, and the field will be filled with more lower-caliber players—predominantly a spillover from the Barbasol last week. With only six weeks remaining on the schedule before the first round of the playoffs, players will be on the hunt for some essential FedExCup points but it’s a good week to try and grab a longshot and we’re going to attempt to do just that.
Glen Abbey Golf Club measures in at 7,253 yards and plays as a par 72. The track will host this event for the 28th time, and has always presented a challenge, with significant elevation changes.
The back nine contains a number of holes known as the “Valley Holes,” which feature a tee shot elevated by more than 58 feet before coming up on three consecutive water-riddled holes. After 16, the elevation evens out, but 18 is no walk in the park. Remember 2000, when Tiger Woods hit one of the greatest fairway bunker shots of his career to make birdie for the victory? Precision and scrambling are key indicators this week and we’ll cover that more in our analysis.
Glen Abbey also caters well to the long ball hitters and we’ve seen guys like Day, DJ and Bubba stand out on this course over the years. In 2015, Bubba led the field in Driving Distance (he finished in 2nd place) and Day wasn’t far behind off the tee. On the other hand, Day was ranked T72 in Driving Accuracy last year, so we know that isn’t a necessary stat to dominate this week for success. In 2013, DJ finished runner-up here, and we all know how he likes to beat up on Par 72 courses like this one. The bottom line is that Glen Abbey will feel like a walk in the park, especially for the Royal Troon spillover. Last year, this course yielded 82 eagles over the four days, which shows us that long ball hitters can rack up numbers in a hurry.
We’ve also changed our strategy in regards to head-to-head matchup tournaments. We are going to play each one of our tournament choices to beat their opponent in the heads-up as well. All bets to win the tournament will be placed at Bet365 because of their “cashout option” and all heads up bets will be made at :
Tony Finau +40-1
Finau has been bringing some fire power as of late. He’s a remarkable long ball hitter and ball striker with the ability to light up the board. He finished his week at Royal Troon T18 in his debut, and he comes into Canada with three top-20’s in his last six starts. He currently ranks 3rd on TOUR in Driving Distance, and he comes with a much better price tag than Kucher and even Furyk. Finau is 40-1, but we feel he should be a 22-25/1, which signals to us that he’s underpriced this week (Risking 0.2 units to win 8 units).
Head-to-head:
T. Finau +101 over W. McGirt (Risking 1 unit)
Emiliano Grillo +30-1
Grillo is a solid player who’s been putting the pieces together rather nicely over the past few weeks. He has three Top 14 finishes in his last four events, including a T12 last week at Royal Troon. He also finished T22 here last year. With regards to his stats and our indicators, he is an extremely accurate ball striker and he gets off the tee better than most players on TOUR (Risking 0.2 units to win 6 units).
Head-to-head
E. Grillo -109 over B. Snedeker (Risking 1.09 units to win 1)
E. Grillo -105 over J. Furyk (Risking 1.05 units to win 1)
Charlie Hoffman +50-1
Ignore the disconnect and let’s focus on the stats. There is no doubt that Hoffman can contend here at Glen Abbey. He has a T16 and T7 in last two events at Glen Abbey and he ranked fourth in birdies or better here last year. He fell into a bit of a funk over the last few weeks, but this is a course that can bring him back to life. Charlie ranks 23rd on TOUR in Eagles, and this type of track can yield him plenty (Risking 0.2 units to win 10 units).
Head-to-head
E. C. Hoffman +102 over W. McGirt (Risking 1 unit)
Jhonattan Vegas +110-1
Vegas is one of the hottest players right now and so the price on him alone here makes this wager a very worthwhile one. At the Barbasol last week, Vegas finished T4 and he shot a 60 in Round 2 alone. An even more important stat for this week is Par 5 Scoring, a statistical area in which he led the field with an impressive 3.83. Overall, he ranks fourth on TOUR in greens in regulation (GIR) and T13 in Par 5 Scoring. His long ball and eagle ability make him a threat this week (Risking 0.2 units to win 22 units).
Head-to-head
J. Vegas +107 over B. Martin (Risking 1 unit)
Colt Knost +66-1
Here’s a name we haven’t spoken of in a while. Knost is extremely accurate off the tee (1st on TOUR in Driving Accuracy) and deadly on the greens from 10 feet and in (1st). A bargain at 66-1, he comes into Glen Abbey with three Top 4 finishes in his last six events. He lacks the power that we are craving this week, but his short game skills can add some solid scores. If the top names falter, Knost can sneak in with his consistency and ability to convert birdies (Risking 0.2 units to win 13.2 units).
Head-to-head
C. Knost -114 over J. Walker (Risking 1.14 units to win 1).
Sam Saunders +110-1
We had to play Saunders this week because he’s hot and he’s dangerous. He finished T21 at Congressional, notched a T9 in Reno, and a T8 at the Barbasol last week. He has also shown some success here at the RBC Canadian Open as he finished T22 in his debut here last year. His stats don’t make you jump up and down, but he’s trending in the right direction and he could absolutely be ready to make a run this week (Risking 0.2 units to win 22 units).
Head-to-head
S. Saunders -101 over Kyung-Tae Kim (Risking 1.01 units to win 1).