This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
RBC Canadian Open
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Hamilton Golf and Country Club - Par 70 - 7,084 yards
Field - 156 entrants
Purse - $9.4M
The Preview
The PGA Tour heads to the land of hockey and maple syrup this week as our neighbors to the north host their country's national open, with a completely renovated Hamilton Golf and Country Club serving as the site of the RBC Canadian Open for the first time since 2019. The layout's rebuild features not only potentially significant tree removal, but also enlarged bentgrass greens, though strategic target golf figures to remain pronounced as accuracy off the tee lends advantageous positioning for approach shots, which must be precise in order to amass enough birdie chances to win what could become a putting contest. Aside from a few chilly mornings, the weather should cooperate to promote low scores before scattered showers possibly arrive throughout the early stages of Sunday's final round.
Recent Champions
2023 - Nick Taylor (Oakdale G&CC)
2022 - Rory McIlroy (St. George's G&CC)
2021 - None
2020 - None
2019 - Rory McIlroy (Hamilton G&CC)
2018 - Dustin Johnson (Glen Abbey GC)
2017 - Jhonattan Vegas (Glen Abbey GC)
2016 - Jhonattan Vegas (Glen Abbey GC)
2015 - Jason Day (Glen Abbey GC)
2014 - Tim Clark (Royal Montreal GC)
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
Birdie or Better percentage
Par-4 scoring
Driving accuracy
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Rory McIlroy - $45
Assuming Scottie Scheffler's typical role as a 4-1 outright betting favorite atop the board this week, McIlroy heads back to the site of his 2019 RBC Canadian Open victory in Hamilton where he racked up 26 total birdies and an eagle to ultimately win by seven shots. McIlroy followed up his recent Wells Fargo Championship triumph with a T12 effort at the PGA Championship, notably gaining 8.3 strokes with his ball striking at Valhalla. The $45 salary is hardly a hindrance for lineup building, and McIlroy's DFS upside remains immense as he sits No. 1 in both Opportunities and Birdies or Better Gained over his last 24 rounds.
Corey Conners - $38
Conners' short game is pretty terrifying, but he's the best approach player in this field by a significant margin, boosting him to the No. 3 spot in my custom model while he doesn't even crack the top-10 in terms of salary. The elite ball-striking floor makes him a cut-making machine, and the Canadian gained at least seven strokes with his irons during each of his previous two starts in May.
Glue Guys
Maverick McNealy - $34
McNealy has been crushing par-4s this season, and there are a lot of them on the card at Hamilton G&CC. He's also gained strokes both off the tee and tee to green in nine consecutive outings dating back to the WM Phoenix Open, tallying five top-25s along the way. Additionally, he's sixth in scrambling over his past 36 rounds, and he just gained a combined 6.8 strokes around the greens at the PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Doug Ghim - $32
It'll be his first time at Hamilton, but Ghim put on a tee-to-green clinic during his first two career RBC Canadian Open appearances in 2022 and 2023, guiding him to a pair of top-20s. He's gone seven straight starts since the Valspar Championship without a top-30 result, but Ghim still ranks top-20 in each of driving accuracy, SG: Off-the-Tee and P4: 350-400 Efficiency over his last 24 measured rounds.
Bargain Bin
Ben Martin - $27
Rising to 12th or better in SG: APP, overall proximity and Opportunities Gained over his last 24 rounds, Martin quietly has made the cut in seven consecutive events dating back to the Puerto Rico Open. He's coming off a top-40 at Colonial where he gained 4.2 strokes with his irons, marking the second best approach play performance of his 2024 campaign.
Daniel Berger - $20
Berger returned value once again for us at the minimum salary last week with a T45 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and he's still yet to lose strokes off the tee in a measured tournament this year. He's fourth in driving accuracy over his last 24 rounds, and Berger tied for 35th here at Hamilton in 2019 when he gained 2.8 strokes off the tee and another two with the flat stick. At this point, Berger is deserving of a salary around the $30 mark.
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