The PGA Tour heads north of the border to TPC Toronto’s Osprey Valley North Course that will host the 2025 RBC Canadian Open this week. It’s a lengthy par 70 set to make its PGA Tour debut, with Rory McIlroy leading all golfers as the outright betting favorite at +450 odds.
Last week, my PGA DFS Primer: Memorial Tournament had a lot of success. All four golfers made the cut and three of them carded top 20 finishes, excluding Matt Fitzpatrick’s T31 finish at +5. Sepp Straka’s solo third-place finish (-5), Rickie Fowler’s T7 finish (-1) and Sungjae Im’s T16 finish (+1) helped propel DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineups into profitable position at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
I’m back with the latest edition of the PGA DFS Primer for the upcoming 2025 RBC Canadian Open that tees off on Thursday morning. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more PGA DFS recommendations, plus analysis and free picks during the remainder of the 2025 PGA Tour season.
2025 RBC Canadian Open DFS Primer
Previous Winners
- 2024 – Robert MacIntyre (-16)
- 2023 – Nick Taylor (-17)
- 2022 – Rory McIlroy (-19)
- 2019 – Rory McIlroy (-22)
- 2018 – Dustin Johnson (-23)
Relevant Betting Stats
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
- Driving Distance
- Driving Accuracy
- Total Driving
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- Scrambling
Course Overview
TPC Toronto’s Osprey Valley is a par 70 that runs 7,389 yards. It starts and ends with par 5s, with narrow, doglegged fairways and plenty of water hazards.
A lot of the par 4s at Osprey Valley are 450 yards or longer. Four of them are 500+ yards, while only two par 4s are under 400 yards in length. This means bombers off-the-tee and on approach will have an advantage.
Accuracy tee-to-green is critical to avoid six-inch rough at Osprey Valley. The greens are comprised of a Bentgrass-Poa Annua mixture that is expected to run 11.5 feet via Stimpmeter, slower than the quick and undulated Bentgrass greens that have been featured in recent PGA Tour events.
Recommended Plays: DraftKings
DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000
Keith Mitchell: $9,100
The past two events Keith Mitchell has played have yielded a missed cut and a T36 finish. These pedestrian results are the reason we’re landing Mitchell at a $9,100 salary on DraftKings.
He ranks 15th total driving, including 11th driving distance, 21st greens in regulation percentage and 36th putting average. Mitchell also sits fourth in scoring average and par 4s, while boasting an impressive eighth-ranked birdie average at 4.44 per round.
Alex Smalley: $7,600
This might be the third or fourth time I’ve recommended Alex Smalley in DFS contests this season. Smalley has a ton of impressive metrics but he’s cheap due to a missed cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge during his last event played.
Smalley’s game is designed for a lengthy course like Osprey Valley. He’s ranked 13th SG: Off-the-Tee, including second total driving, and 34th at finding greens in regulation. Smalley is sixth in scoring average, third on par 4s and averages just over four birdies per round.
We’re going to back Smalley’s tee-to-green efficiency, plus a solid putter, to wind up between a top 10 and top 25 finish by Sunday evening at the RBC Canadian Open.
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Recommended Plays: FanDuel
FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000
Matti Schmid: $9,200
I’m all over Matti Schmid at Osprey Valley this week. The 27-year-old German nearly forced a playoff against Ben Griffin during the final hole of the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge a couple weeks ago.
Schmid is a bomber off-the-tee, ranked 15th in driving distance and 52nd total driving. He’s also 36th SG: Approach, 38th at finding greens in regulation, and 22nd proximity, plus 10th on approach shots from 200+ yards.
While there may be a couple blunders along the way, Schmid has three top 10 finishes in his past four events played, so he’s in good form ahead of Round 1 on Thursday.
Nate Lashley: $7,600
The biggest discount I’m willing to roster in PGA DFS lineups this week is Nate Lashley. He has yet to record a top 10 finish through 14 events in 2025. However, he grabbed a T12 at Valero and a T39 at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson since April.
Ranks 47th proximity, 69th SG: Approach and 24th scrambling. Lashley’s game is far from perfect but he’s got good touch with his irons and around the greens. At a cheap $7.6K salary, he has the potential to be a quality fill-in at Osprey Valley.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
