Familiarity Key For Furyk In Canada

Jason Day heads the betting at 8/1 for this week’s Canadian Open but will he be over his 4th place disappointment at St Andrews?

The Tournament
The Canadian Open is the third oldest tournament in professional golf, and was once considered amongst the most prestigious. It is still regarded as an important event, and despite being sandwiched between the British Open, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship, it has once again attracted a high class field. Only one European has won the event in the last thirty years.

The Course
This year the Canadian Open returns to its most frequent home: Glen Abbey, Ontario, which last staged the event two years ago. It’s a reasonably long layout at a touch over 7200 yards, but the main challenge is offered by dramatic elevations and extensive water hazards, including three holes which incorporate the local river, Sixteen Mile Creek. It is regarded as one of the trickier courses on the PGA circuit.

In The Bunker
Jason Day is the 8/1 antepost favourite in Canada this week, following his fourth at the British Open, but there are better value options elsewhere in the field. He hasn’t played this event since 2009, when he finished way down the field at Glen Abbey, as he also did in 2008, his only other entry to date. Factor in a little lingering post-St Andrews disappointment and he doesn’t feel like a favourite to bank on.

Recommended Bets
Like Jason Day, Jim Furyk was involved in Monday’s delayed finish at St Andrews but heads to Canada with a much better record than the favourite.

Furyk won this event in 2006 and 2007 and though he hasn’t played it every season since then, he did finish second last year and ninth at Glen Abbey in 2013.

His results have been all or nothing in recent weeks but this is a good week to back him at odds of 16/1.

Matt Kuchar was also in action on Monday, but assuming that he’s recovered from his Scottish exertions, he’s one for the shortlist this week. His form in recent tournaments has been mixed, but he made the top five at the RBC Heritage and finished twelfth at the US Open and given his record of three top five finishes at the Canadian Open in his last five visits, including a second at Glen Abbey in 2013, he should give you a good run for your money at 18/1.

The final name to add to your shortlist is Luke Donald. He missed the cut at this tournament in 2013 and 2014 but we can probably put a line through those performances given his struggles in recent months, and there are positive signs in his recent outings.

A top ten at the Travelers Championship was followed by an excellent twelfth at St Andrews and on the basis that he might be finding some consistent form at long last, he looks a good bet at 20/1 this week.

*Prices correct at time of publication