6 choose our favorite expert

Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com expert Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a regular guest on SportsGrid, an integrated audio network dedicated to sports and sports betting. You can follow on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the RBC Canadian Open, which starts Thursday in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with Kannon’s recommended games, you’ll see data from Chirp, a free-to-play mobile platform featuring a series of games with attractive rewards, giving fans all kinds of ways to get in on the action without risking money.

Golf bettors and golf enthusiasts are among what is an excellent program of events. It started with the Wells Fargo Championship three weeks ago. The PGA Championship and the Charles Schwab Challenge made up the final two weeks of the schedule. This week, we’re north of the RBC Canadian Open and moving on to the Signature Event at Muirfield Village for the Memorial Tournament, followed by the third major of the season, the US Open at Pinehurst.

Last year, the Canadian Open was one of the most exciting episodes of the entire season when Nick Taylor dropped a 72-foot eagle bomb to defeat Tommy Fleetwood on the fourth qualifying hole at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto. Taylor became the first Canadian to win his country’s open in 59 years. We vividly remember one Canadian, Adam Hadwin, being knocked down by a security guard on his way to the green to congratulate Taylor. Since then, I expect Canadian fans to turn out in droves this year at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario.

Hamilton has hosted the RBC Canadian Open six times in the past, most recently in 2006, 2012 and 2019. Rory McIlroy is in the field this week as the overwhelming favorite and has won by seven shots here in 2019 over Shane Lowry.

The course was designed in 1914 by Harry Colt. Shortly after the 2019 edition, Martin Ebert was invited to undertake a remodel of the course in an effort to restore some aspects of the Colt’s design. Hamilton Golf and Country Club plays as a par 70, measuring approximately 7,100 yards. It consists of narrow roads, lined with trees, with bends, undulations, and dog legs bordering on extreme difficulty. The four par-3s are very challenging as three of the four measure over 200 yards. Of the twelve par-4s, seven of them measure between 400 and 450+ yards. The greens are above average for the tour in size, unchanged, and, since being resurfaced by Ebert, are now pure bentgrass.

In addition to par-3s and par-4s between 400-450 yards, I looked at Strokes Gained: Approach, Fraud, and Strokes Gained: Putting (bentgrass). I also emphasized Good Drives and Fairways Gained off the tee as the Canadian Opens of the past held in Hamilton showed that to be a beneficial skill set. When McIlroy won here in 2019, he was sixth in the driving distance category but also ranked 22nd in driving accuracy. If you look at past competitions held at this course, Driving Accuracy seems to be a prevalent trend among the leaders.

Finding courses that compare to Hamilton Golf and Country Club can be a bit of a challenge as we have seen this course a few times over the last 20 years but I found that the last two Canadian Open venues are comparable, Oakdale Golf and Country Club ( 2023 ) and St. George’s Golf and Country Club (2022). I also watched TPC River Highlands (Travelers Championship), Sedgefield (Wyndham Championship), Pebble Beach (AT&T Pebble Beach), Detroit Golf Club (Rocket Mortgage Classic), Silverado (Fortinet Championship), and Port Royal Golf Club (Bermuda Championship) . Another study I looked at was Wentworth in England. It is also a Harry Colt design and hosts BMW’s annual championship on the DP World Tour.

Note that there has been heavy rain in the area prior to this event. I expect we will see favorable courses, just like we have seen in the last two weeks at Valhalla Golf Club and Colonial Country Club. Scores can be low and birdies will need to be made.

We got two top 20 scores last week with Collin Morikawa and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Morikawa was the only player in the field to shoot all four rounds in the 60s but was unable to reach the winning round, finishing fourth. We have six picks that were completely successful this week and I played each of them to finish in the top-20.

Sahith Theegala (20-1)

With limited star power in the role this week, I think Theegala will be a popular choice. While that’s usually something I like to avoid, it’s hard to skip this week’s list. Theegala has been playing some really good golf this season, starting with his win at the Fortinet Championship last fall. Most recently, he was in contention for the PGA Championship, which led to his seventh top-20 finish in 2024. In the last 24 rounds, Theegala is ranked 22nd in Good Drives Achieved, 13th in SG: Way to Go, No. Par 3s, and second in Par 4s (400-450 yards). He is also ranked fourth in this category in SG: Putting (bentgrass).

Alex Noren (25-1)

Speaking of good golf, Noren is one of the hottest players in the world right now, with eight straight top-25s and no missed cuts this season. He has finished in the top 10 twice at Detroit Golf Club, tied for second at Port Royal Golf Club, won and finished third at Wentworth. Noren has an excellent short game, ranking second on the Tour in Scrambling. In this field, over the last 24 rounds, Noren is 11th in SG: Approach, 12th in Best Drives Achieved, and fifth in 400-450 yards on Par 4s.

Aroni Rai (42-1)

Looking at the RBC Canadian Opens played on what I believe are parallel courses, Rai was third last year at Oakdale and 13th in 2022 at St. George’s. He also finished 14th and finished second at Wentworth. His putting could be a cause for concern but he should get plenty of looks as he’s seventh on Tour in Hole Proximity, second in Fairways Achieved over the last 24 rounds and fifth in SG: Approach. Rai is also ranked eighth in Scrambling. Current form looks good as he has made it four times in a row, including a fourth place finish earlier this month in the Byron Nelson CJ Cup.

Mark Hubbard (80-1)

Hubbard is having probably the best year of his career. He has yet to miss the cut in 2024 and was in contention for the PGA Championship through the first 36 holes before finishing 26th. He was sixth last year at the Canadian Open at Oakdale and has finished in the top 20 or better at the Traveler Championship, Wyndham Championship, Pebble Beach, Silverado, Detroit Golf Club, and Port Royal. In the past 24 rounds, Hubbard is ninth in Fairways Gained, 28th on approach, and 25th in Par 4s (400-450 yards). His putting has been a big area for improvement, ranking 26th in the field in SG: Putting (bentgrass) over the last 24 rounds. It feels like his first Tour win is coming soon, and this field-facing spot could be the right place.

Daniel Berger (80-1)

I’ve been waiting to see when the right time would be to return to Berger, who before resurfacing in January of this year, missed almost 19 months on the Tour with a back injury. He may start to turn the corner as he has won five of his last six games. Remember, before the back problems, Berger was the best player in the world. Maybe he’s ready to show you that again this week. Back when Berger was competing regularly on Tour, he had two top-5 finishes at TPC River Highlands, three top-10 finishes at Pebble Beach, including a win, and two top-25 finishes at Silverado. The ball-striking looks good as he ranks fourth in Fairways Gained in the last 24 rounds and 26th in SG: Approach. If his short game follows through, Berger could make some noise.

Seamus Power (105-1)

Davis Riley got us back to triple digit winners on the PGA Tour this season last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge and as I’ve noted before, without much star power in the field, we could be in for another long bomb. this week. With that, I’ll power up the gun. He has top 25 finishes at the Travelers and Wyndham Championships. He finished twelfth of fifteen at both Pebble Beach and Detroit Golf Club, and won at Port Royal Golf Club in the Bermuda Championship in 2022. He’s strong in the numbers this week, ranking 21st in Fairways Gained over. 24 final rounds, 14 in SG: Approach, and 21 in Scrambling. Powers finished 12th against a field of Signature status last month at the RBC Heritage and was 16th three weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship, another Signature Event. As with Rai and Berger, if the putter is visible, Power should be in the mix.

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