RBC Canadian Open Golf Preview, Odds and Tips

South African strong crop of bets in a dominant field of Americans

After all the thrills and gusty spills of The Open last weekend, which actually petered out into a bit of a disappointing finish in terms of excitement, most of the week’s golfing attention will turn towards the Great White North, where the RBC Canadian Open should be a closely ran thing. First of all, we may as well look at the Canadians on their home turf at the St George’s Golf and Country Club, who have not traditionally done very well at this tournament. It’s been a very long 56 years since Canada had a home grown champion to cheer about at the tournament. They aren’t exactly producing players who are standing high up on the rankings again this year either with Stephen Ames the pick of the bunch, but who is listed at 67th on the FedExCup standings. He played a decent round of -3 Under in the first round, to finish the day T22 along with England’s Paul Casey and South African Retief Goosen. Ames is unlikely to go all of the way in quite a strong field though, and with their neighbouring Americans dominating proceedings on Thursday, the Canadians will probably again be left to dream of better things to come. But Ames did not hit a bogey in his round of 67 (3 under par) and at 28/1 at SkyBet is worth keeping an eye on during Friday to see if he consolidates or makes a move.

Day One
American Vance Veazey was probably thinking that he would be top of the leader board at the end of day one, after putting in one of the best performance of the RBC Canadian Open, shooting a six under. It wasn’t to be though, as fellow American Brent Delahoussayne was still finishing, and put three birdies on the back nine to take him two shots clear of Veazey. Neither were exactly front runners when it came to golf betting on the tournament, but they have set themselves up for a nice run at making the cut after Friday. Friday will, more likely than not, see a big turn around in fortunes for the top twenty. Players who performed well in the first round may not go quite as well in the second, and that is what separates the best golfers from the rest of the field, consistency. That is why, even with a bunch of unfamiliar names at the top of the leader board, you won’t see online bookmakers falling over themselves in drastically shortening their odds. There are much stronger names to take a look at in golf betting for the RBC Canadian Open, and that is what we will do here, and scour the field for the best looking bets.

Sean O’Hair – 40/1 at Stan James
Consistency is the name of the golf game for American O’Hair and he is rightly one of the best players to back here in Canada. Has four top 12 finishes in his last four outings, and came home seventh at The Open at St Andrews on the weekend. He is being heavily backed and tipped to pick up a win here, and has a decent record at St George, even if it is as a nearly man. Out of his last four appearances at the tournament, he has finished third on two occasions. He may be a little disappointed with his round of 70 Even Par on Thursday, but there are signs that there is more to come. Got off to a terrible start, hitting a bogey on three of the first five holes. Recovered very well though to get himself one under, but bogeyed on the 18th to leave him even. Driving accuracy was a little off, but with a big day on Friday, he could seriously play his way into contention, and should. His average first round will only serve to provide better odds on him at the moment.

Paul Casey – 16/1 at Stan James
It was all so near for Casey at The Open at one point, but going into the final round with eventual winner Louis Oosthuizen, the Englishman just could not put any pressure on the South African. Casey played some wonderfully consistent golf through the terrible weather at St Andrews, and he must be commended for that, even if he did fade on the last day a bit when it counted. He realistically should be carrying a lot of momentum going into this tournament, but he could be just a little bit tired physically and mentally after his exertions. Probably worth a punt in the golf betting, and had another good round on Thursday, but his first round was all undone by a double bogey on the 18th, else he would be in much better standing. Casey should still be very hungry and that will make him strong to back, as he is still hoping for a wild card entry into the Ryder Cup team for this year. There is another six weeks or so before Colin Montgomerie actually names the squad of twelve, to compete against the USA starting on October 1. Casey, who has been bothered by injury over the last year, has still not made his way into one of the nine automatic qualification spots for the team which currently stands as Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ross McGowan.

Retief Goosen – 14/1 at Paddy Power
Another solid performer and can be please with his work at St Andrews, just like Casey. He has had plenty of top five finishes this year, and came oh so close to winning this one last year. It was within his grasp, but he lost in a play-off, but it could be a good week for South African golf after Louis Oosthuizen won the Open and is going well again in Sweden at the moment. Can Goosen cap a fine week or so by winning here. Well worth a bet to do so and had one of those solid, quiet rounds in the first, which saw him get into the swing of things without being spectacular. Finished the day on three under and just couldn’t quite push on from the great start he made after making birdies on the first two holes. Only one bogey in the round on the 8th, so looking in good shape. Driving very well and putting well, so will be in with a chance at the end of the day.

Tim Clark – 12/1 at Boylesports
The highest ranked player on the list of FedEx Cup points for the year, taking part in the RBC Canadian Open this year. What are FedEx Cup points? Golfers can earn points on the PGA Tour from the first tournament of the year in January, to the shut off date in mid August. The more points you get for finishing higher in PGA Tour events, the more points you will accrue. The top 125 players then go into the Play-Offs which are four tournaments, ending with the Tour Championship. Whoever has the most wins the title, and a nice bonus pay check. Ernie Els is leading that at the moment, and Clark is ranked 6th. That equates to consistency. Another South African who could rise to the top here. Finished four under on his first round, and “The Penguin” is ideally suited to St George, where it is a relatively tight and short par 70 course. Didn’t make a bogey all day in the first round, and hit his four birdies on the front nine. Held even par all the way to the clubhouse then. Good performance.

Trevor Immelman – 40/1 at Stan James
Let’s ride the South African train while it is hot. Immelman kind of let a good round get away from him on Thursday, after hitting a bogey on the 13th and 14th holes when he was three under. Those back to back bogeys spoilt his round, but showed good mettle in picking up birdies on the 15th and 17th to redress the balance a little bit. Six birdies in the day was a good result. If he can pick up his greens in regulation percentage, then he could be a fantastic sleeper bet at the tournament.