Last week landed heavy. Although Davis Riley’s first solo PGA Tour victory saw the previously underachieving golfer leave the world’s best in the dust on Sunday, it was immensely difficult to find levity under the cloak that descended upon the golf world the morning prior. We lost Grayson Murray. The 2024 Sony Open champion succumbed to an illness that has become endemic in our country. He preached love and understanding while he was here; empathy for those in our scope. Murray stood on a mightily courageous pulpit and showed the world his scars. We laid his soul to rest on Saturday morning, searching for answers to questions unanswerable. Depression is a bed of tar. Sometimes we are consumed, even if our loved ones rip at our limbs to help us escape. Murray was too young for his bright future to be shrouded by unthinkable agony. One can only take solace in the belief he is finally free and has found peace.
The next stop on the Tour takes us north of the border into the Province of Ontario for the RBC Canadian Open. Hamilton Golf & Country Club returns to the rota for the first time since 2019. The story then was a furious Sunday 61 for Rory McIlroy, who obliterated the field by seven strokes. Compared to the last few weeks, this quaint track will offer a measured exhale in difficulty. McIlroy is the headliner and is riding hot form into the event. As one can imagine, he will be a chalk monster in DFS contests. On one hand, it might be a costly mistake to fade him completely to leverage the field. On the other, exposing ourselves too much to the most expensive player on the slate might lock us out of optimal lineups. I’ll likely split the difference and come in just under the projected rostership in my array of lineups.
PGA DFS Advice & Picks: RBC Canadian Open (2024)
(Salary Prices Courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Hamilton is a short king. At only a breath over 7,000 yards, the par-70 still has some decent teeth. Off the tee prowess is greatly rewarded, as evidenced by McIlroy’s dominance five years ago. Approach proximity might still hold more value. Hamilton’s main defense features fast greens with severe undulations and tier breaks. A solid putter is certainly helpful, but it is more pertinent to be in a better scoring range on approach. My player pool was generated from a weighted statistical model with stats over each player’s last 36 rounds. Of course, I used some discretion and omitted certain players based on their recent form. Depending on DFS contest selection (single-entry or mass multi-entry), the player pool will be varied in exposure. This hinges on projected rostership and confidence level. I use Fantasy National, but there are a great many sites to gather the same premium data. Smother some good gravy on that poutine, eh? Let’s dig in.
High-Priced ($9,000 & Above)
- Chalk Plays: Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners, Sam Burns
- Chalk Fades: Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Alex Noren, Maverick McNealy
- Leverage Plays: Cameron Young, Adam Scott
Mid-Priced ($7,600 to $8,900)
- Chalk Plays: Tom Kim, Mark Hubbard, Nick Taylor
- Chalk Fades: Aaron Rai, Keith Mitchell, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Huges, Akshay Bhatia, Taylor Pendrith
- Leverage Plays: Erik Van Rooyen, Davis Thompson, Daniel Berger
Value-Priced ($7,500 & Below)
- Chalk Plays: Adam Svensson, Seamus Power, S.H. Kim
- Chalk Fades: Doug Ghim, Ryo Hisatsune, Andrew Novak
- Leverage Plays: Eric Cole, Grayson Sigg, Bud Cauley, JJ Spaun, Sam Ryder, Chez Reavie, Chandler Phillips, Pierceson Coody, Zack Blair, Myles Creighton
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