The British Empire flexes its ownership rights over the game of golf, following up the oldest and most storied crown — The Open — by moving to the new world. That means this week we are in Oakville, Ontario, for the RBC Canadian Open, held at the Glen Abbey Golf Club.
On the heels of a tight and interesting Open, where again I finished in the green, it does make me wonder how the pros hit out of those bunkers?
There is indeed one word that describes the Glen Abbey Golf Club, and that is long. Long as in 7,273 yards with five par fives ranging between 502 and 558 yards. The four threes are somewhat less imposing distance-wise, but still long enough with a short of 141 (#15), while a pair, holes seven and 12, rake in at 197 and 205 yards, respectively.
That leaves nine par fours, none of which is less than 400 yards on a course where the fours average 439 yards, with a long of 458 (#9) and short of 414 (#2).
Meaning this time I am looking at both the long hitters out of the box as well as those players who are good between 150-175.
And, it looks like the Toronto skies will be sunny and blue, bereft of much interference from Mother Nature.
As usual I’m playing the $1 Triple Up at FantasyDraft, a format I really like because they drop the low score from your seven-man roster ($100K cap) for the weekend, so sign up and see if you can beat me!
Tommy Fleetwood ($16,800): Why not go with the coolest golfer on the tour, especially when en fuego barely begins to describe him? With 10 cuts over 11 tries in his young career, Fleetwood has top 20s in all the majors this year, and though a win is in our sights, just playing four days is the prime directive. Case closed.
Bubba Watson ($16,100): If I am going distance, I am going with a fave, and Bubba is a good fave (I seem to have thing for the lefties, with Phil Mickelson being my other fave?) to trust here. Bubba is not so strong between 150-175, but he is a monster out of the box, averaging 313.9 yards per drive. And, he’s got a win this year, meaning Bubba is my man this week!
Adam Hadwin ($13,900): Hadwin ranks #8 at GIR between 150-175 with a 71.35% accuracy and has 19 cuts made under his belt out of 20 tries this season. Hadwin has three top 10s and is definitely a value pick.
Joel Dahmen ($13,600): Ranking at #3 overall hitting the carpet at 150-plus with a 73.48% rate, Dahmen finished well at Greenbrier two weeks ago making him a hot hand, so that is where I am going.
Chez Reavie ($13,500): I’ve become a big Reavie fan this past season, and he too ranks among the top at GIR from 150-175, holding the #5 slot nailing 137 of 192 (72.78%) of his shots while making three top 10s and averaging 95.90 FPPT.
Nick Watney ($12,600): Another player with a generally lower salary I have come to appreciate is Watney, who has made the cut 17 times of 21 tries and ranks #17 off the tee with a 308.3 yard average.
