Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – RBC Canadian Open

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the RBC Canadian Open

The RBC Canadian Open Fantasy Sleeper Preview

The 2016 PGA TOUR season is slowly dwindling down, and the golf world is currently on a high after a masterful showing by the duo of Open Champion Henrik Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson this past week at Royal Troon Golf Course. Now for the third straight week, golf’s main event will be played outside of the United States, with the TOUR heading north of the border for the RBC Canadian Open at famous Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario. The event was first established in 1904 and has seen many beautiful settings along the way, but has taken a keen liking to Glen Abbey, with this visit being the fifth for the event in the past nine years. The par-72, 7,273-yard course is the capitol of golf in Canada, and was Jack Nicklaus’ first individually-designed course.

While this event has no chance to live up to the prestige of last week’s epic finish, there always seems to be a close matchup when Sunday rolls around. The victor has won by a single stroke or extra holes in 12 of 14 events since 2002. In that time, there have been five playoffs and seven victories coming by a single shot, with some big names having taken home the trophy. In just the past three years, golfers such as Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, and Jim Furyk have made their way inside the Top 2, with Day (2015) and Snedeker (2013) topping the leaderboard. Last year, Day was just starting an amazing run of wins, taking down the top prize a whopping eight times since February of last year. The Aussie was able to shoot a 69 or better each round, and birdied the last three holes on the final day to hold off Bubba Watson by just a single shot.

Day will look to defend his crown this week as he attempts to jump back into the winner’s circle for the first time since the PLAYERS back in May. Right on his heels will be the OWGR No. 2 golfer in the world, Dustin Johnson, who is the hottest player in the game right now with wins at both the U.S. Open and Bridgestone Invitational, while also coming off a Top 10 finish in the Open last week. There will be only three other players from the OWGR Top 25 making the trek north, with No. 17 Matt Kuchar, No. 22 Jim Furyk, and No. 23 Brandt Snedeker teeing it up. Furyk should feel rather comfortable in this event, as he topped the leaderboard in consecutive years (2006, 2007) and was the runner-up in 2014. Unfortunately for the 46-year-old, none of those outings took place at Glen Abbey.

Joining the top names this week are a slew of youngsters who are looking to continue their ascent up the rankings. No. 40 Emiliano Grillo, No. 77 Tony Finau, Bryson DeChambeau, and Jon Rahm have all been playing exceptional golf in 2016. No Canadian has won their home event since Pat Fletcher in 1954, and the top golfer from Canada in the field this week is David Hearn at 66/1 odds as he aims to improve on his third place last season.

Every single week there are players who are able to get into the Top 15 despite having low expectations, and just last week, Tyrrell Hatton, Andrew Johnston, Matthew Southgate, and Andy Sullivan did just that at the Open Championship. There is a very top-heavy field here at Glen Abbey, and there will certainly be plenty of these players who could make a push come Sunday. Below are some of the names to watch out for despite not owning the best chances.

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The RBC Canadian Open 2016 Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The RBC Canadian Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

Tony Finau – Vegas Odds 66/1 – Finau possesses the skills to be a stud in this game, and over his first two full seasons, he’s made it to the weekend 68% of the time, and has climbed into the Top 25 64% of the time when he’s played all four rounds. Thanks to his monster driver (310.7 yards per drive, 3^rd on TOUR), the 26-year-old was able to get his first career victory at the Puerto Rico Open, and comes into this week with three Top 18’s in his past six events. One of those came just last week at the Open Championship, where he finished in the Top 20 of a major for the third time in just four chances thanks to shooting four-under on the par fives over the week. His length has allowed him to rank 17^th in par five scoring (4.59), and as long as he can put his putting together for four days, he could improve on his 22^nd place here last year while looking at getting another win under his belt.

Roberto Castro – Vegas Odds 80/1 – Castro is quietly putting together his best career year in 2016, as he is consistently making it to the weekend (16-for-20, 80%) and nearly grabbed his first PGA TOUR victory as the runner-up in the Wells Fargo Championship. Since then, he has notched two finishes in 11^th place over four events, and is currently riding a streak of seven straight events at which he’s made the cut. Castro has also made the cut at Glen Abbey in both 2015 (48^th) and 2013 (6^th), shooting a score of 70 or better each round in the latter. The 31-year-old has pinpoint accuracy, with 69.32% Driving Accuracy (10^th on TOUR) and 69.48% GIR (13^th on TOUR), and as a result has gained 0.942 strokes from tee-to-green (22^nd on TOUR). He is playing his best golf right now, and this seems like a great opportunity to take another stab as his first PGA victory.

Chad Campbell – Vegas Odds 100/1 – Campbell is in the midst of his best campaign since 2011, currently ranking 76^th in the FedEx Cup standings with three Top 10 finishes on the year. Overall, he is 14-for-23 (61%) in cuts made and was in the Top 20 at fairly large events such as the Waste Management Open (17^th), Arnold Palmer Invitational (20^th), Byron Nelson Classic (12^th), and most recently the Dean and Deluca Invitational (10^th). Campbell is also a big fan of Glen Abbey; his recent performances here include a 16^th in 2013 and an 11^th in 2015. Last year he was at 14-under-par before heading into the weekend, and was the leader before giving back three strokes over the final two days. He will look to redeem himself behind an accurate swing both off the tee (65.18%, 37^th on TOUR) and with his approach shots (67.49% GIR, 39^th on TOUR) which has led to a scoring average in the Top 50 (70.581, 43^rd on TOUR). Campbell won’t knock the socks off of anybody with his play, but he is consistent and should have no issues making a weekend visit and another impressive outing at this venue.

Michael Kim – Vegas Odds 150/1 – Kim is playing his first full season on the PGA TOUR after two impressive years on the Web.Com TOUR in which he came away with 14 Top 25’s over 41 outings. The 23-year-old is 19-for-24 (79%) in making cuts in 2016, and is playing his hottest golf right now with three of his four Top 25 showings coming in his last four events played. Two of those, a 20^th at the Barracuda Championship and an 11^th at the Barbosal Championship, came against very weak fields, but he also did well in the St. Jude Classic (16^th) and will once again be faced with a fairly shallow field of golfers. The youngster makes his money with his short game, as he ranks 11^th in Sand Save Percentage (59.29%), 34^th in Scrambling (61.77%), and 42^nd in Strokes Gained Putting (0.307). Kim is just coming into his own as a player, and his recent successes should give him the confidence boost he needs to put up a nice performance in his first professional visit to this course.

Mark Wilson – Vegas Odds 175/1 – Wilson is past his prime as a 41-year-old, but he does have five career PGA TOUR victories on his resume and has been playing solid golf over the past two seasons. Things looked to be going downhill for him after going 18-for-44 (41%) in cuts made between 2013 and 2014, but since then he has gotten back on track with visits to the weekend in 27-of-45 (60%) chances, and earned his way into the Top 25 11 times. Four of those have been in 2016, as he comes off his best finish, a tie for 13^th at the Barracuda Championship. Another two have come in his last six outings, and in his past two visits to Glen Abbey, Wilson has done well enough to get a sixth (2013) and a 22^nd (2015). His Driving Accuracy (64.51%, 42^nd on TOUR), Sand Save Percentage (59.02%, 12^th on TOUR), and Scrambling (60.31%, 55^th on TOUR) should keep him out of trouble and allow him another Top 25 in Ontario.

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

Cover photo via Instagram.