The week before the U.S. Open is always a fascinating scenario on the PGA Tour and in 2025 the RBC Canadian Open,= returns to Toronto to play a venue we have never seen before on the PGA Tour – TPC Toronto. This week the field includes defending champion Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Sam Burns, Luke Clanton (making his professional debut), Wyndham Clark, Max Homa, Sungjae Im, Shane Lowry, Alex Noren and Justin Rose with Corey Conners leading the home contingent.
First Round Leader Analysis: First round leader(s), their group and winning score since 2010.
- 2024 – Skinns – PM -8/62 – 200/1.
- 2023 – Conners/Hadley/Lower/Rai – ALL AM -5/67 – 33/1 200/1 150/1 80/1.
- 2022 – Clark – AM -7/63 – 125/1.
- 2019 – Bradley – AM -7/63 – 60/1.
- 2018 – Garrigus – AM -9/63 – 200/1.
- 2017 – Chappell/Every/Hagy/Schniederjans/Swafford – 1AM/4PM -7/65 – 50/1 250/1 125/1 80/1 100/1.
- 2016 – D Johnson/List – AM/PM Split -6/66.
- 2015 – Grillo – AM -8/64.
The RBC Canadian Open tends to visit similar golf courses. Tree-lined and classical – not overly long. Bentgrass greened or a mix of Bentgrass with Poa Annua.
Winners though vary massively. Brandt Snedeker in 2013 (14/1), Jason Day in 2015 (9/1F), Dustin Johnson in 2018 (7/1F), Rory McIlroy in 2019 (10/1) and McIlroy again in 2022 (10/1) have all been favourites or in the top 3 in the betting market.
If a super-elite doesn’t win, then we need to look far deeper down the betting market. 50/1 Scott Piercy (we were on-board) here at Hamilton in 2012 was the shortest odd-wise, with in odds order Tim Clark (2012) 66/1, Nick Taylor (2023) 66/1, Carl Pettersson (2010) 80/1, Sean O’Hair (2011) 100/1, Robert MacIntyre 2024 (100/1), Jhonattan Vegas (2016) 125/1 and Jhonattan Vegas (2017) at 125/1 making up the other winners since 2010. So summarising there have been no winners of the RBC Canadian Open going all the way back to 2009, between 14/1 and 50/1.
Food for thought!