Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2022 RBC Canadian Open

2022 RBC Canadian Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

If God loves a trier, then you have to hand it to Billy Horschel – he claims to be one of the hardest-working players on the PGA TOUR.

And so you know that when he experiences a slump in form, as he has of late, he’ll be working doubly hard on the range to get some feel back into his game – that makes him a dangerous animal to write off.

So it proved at the Memorial Tournament, where he produced a sublime ball-striking show to clinch a seventh PGA TOUR title – just a week after missing the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

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A 55ft eagle putt holed on the fifteen in his final round was the difference-maker, perhaps, but Billy-Ho had put in the hard yards with a round of 65 on Saturday – the best of the week, and one which gave him a near unassailable five-shot cushion heading into Sunday.

Form is temporary, class is permanent – so says the old adage, at least. Horschel has been the living embodiment of it for the past week.

It’s hard not to get excited about the U.S. Open next week, which will give us a rare look at the Country Club course in Brookline, Massachusetts. But we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves, as the TOUR makes a long-awaited return to Canada after a near three-year hiatus this week.

Many followers of the PGA TOUR will be familiar with the RBC Canadian Open from years gone by, and the event returns to the schedule following its pandemic-related absence at a new(ish) home, St. George’s in Toronto.

This course last hosted the event in 2010, when Carl Pettersson won with a score of -14, and while the world of golf has moved on greatly since then it appears, at first glance, if St. George’s hasn’t changed at all.

It first opened its doors in 1929, and has remained pretty much the same ever since – there’s some seriously mature tree-lines, some big bunkers and uniquely shaped greens, many of which are undulating and contoured.

St. George’s looks and plays like your typical parklands track, but with some expansive undulations and (usually) thick rough, the players will have to pick and prod their way around this 7,014 yard Par 70. 

Accuracy off the tee and quality on approach and/or around the green looks to be the order of the day, and the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Cameron Smith and Rory McIlroy (the defending champion, in a fashion) will be hoping they have got what it takes.

But with the U.S. Open surely front and center in many of the big guns’ minds this week, do we have a great opportunity to see a long odds winner at a course that the vast majority won’t be familiar with?

We certainly hope so, and let’s see if one of our RBC Canadian Open 2022 sleeper picks can get the job done.

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Chris Kirk – 50/1 – It’s fair to say that Chris Kirk has been on a roll since the start of February, and in nine of his eleven starts in that timeframe he has gained strokes on the field on approach – leading to three top-10s and two other top-20 finishes.

His accurate, straight-shooting style should mesh well with the test at St. George’s, and he has gained strokes on the field putting in two of his last three starts – both on Bentgrass greens.

It’s been a long time since Kirk won on the PGA TOUR – is the week before a major the ideal time for him to sneak under the radar and lift the trophy?

Sahith Theegala – 50/1 – Ordinarily, we might argue that Sahith Theegala’s salary/odds are too short this week, given that he’s a veritable rookie on TOUR.

But there is something impressive about this 24-year-old, and in a week where the big guns’ minds might wander, Theegala is exactly the kind of player that can strike.

He’s a really solid ball-striker at his best, and has served up four top-10s on the PGA TOUR this season – two of them at correlating courses at Muirfield Village and Innisbrook. He could have won at the Phoenix Open too, so the trajectory is very positive for Theegala. 

C.T. Pan – 55/1 – A player with the right sort of profile to thrive at St George’s, C.T. Pan just needs to put it all together.

The man from Chinese Taipei has gained strokes on the field off-the-tee in four of his last six strokes, and on approach in all six of those. He’s been in positive numbers putting on the Bentgrass greens of TPC Potomac and Colonial too, so now it’s a case of Pan bringing all departments of his game to the fore at the same time.

For fans of such omens, Pan’s sole PGA TOUR win so far came at the RBC Heritage – Pettersson, the last winner at St. George’s, also triumphed in that event.

J.J. Spaun – 110/1 – In the spirit of backing undervalued sleepers with plenty of upside, we’re banking on J.J. Spaun’s woes at the Charles Schwab Challenge being a red herring in a sea of quality this term.

In his last ten strokeplay starts, Spaun has gained strokes on approach on the field in seven of them – significantly so in the case of his Texas Open win and at the Valspar Championship, which is incidentally played at one of our correlating courses.

Supremely accurate off the tee, Spaun should have ample opportunity for his edges to shine at St. George’s – assuming, that is, his Charles Schwab horror-show was simply a one-off.

J.T. Poston – 125/1 – The golf course and the scheduling of the RBC Canadian Open dictate that taking a chance on an outlier or two could yield rewards.

J.T. Poston is a player who, when he gets on a roll, is capable of contending – as he did at the RBC Heritage earlier this term, and a deep dive into his numbers yields some interesting results. He’s gained strokes on the field on approach in five of his last six starts, with the same return on the greens.

Forced out of his comfort zone at the bomb-heavy Colonial, Poston was more in control at Muirfield Village and bounced back from an opening 78 to finish T37 – ranking fourth and twelfth for SG: Approach in two of his rounds. From small acorns, mighty oaks will grow….

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the RBC Canadian Open here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2021-2022)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”3.125%” bar_text=”5 out of 160 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “15.00%” bar_text=”25 out of 160 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”20.62%” bar_text=”33 out of 160 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”6.25%” bar_text=”2 out of 32 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”3.13%” bar_text=”1 out of 32 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”53.75%” bar_text=”86 out of 160 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram