After a week in the Lone Star State, the PGA Tour is north of the border for the 2024 RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario. Although Canadian Nick Taylor is the defending champion, the last time this event was held at HGCC, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy won by seven shots thanks to a final-round 9-under 61.
McIlroy, coming off a T-12 performance at the PGA Championship, won the Zurich Classic and Wells Fargo Championship in back-to-back starts earlier this season. Taylor, on the other hand, missed the cut at Valhalla Golf Club two weeks ago.
McIlroy and Taylor are joined in the field by Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala, Shane Lowry, Sam Burns, Cameron Young and Adam Scott, among others.
Golf course
Hamilton Golf & Country Club | Par 70 | 7,084 yards
2019 leaderboard
| Position | Player | Score |
| 1st | Rory McIlroy | 22 under |
| T-2 | Shane Lowry | 15 under |
| T-2 | Webb Simpson | 15 under |
| T-4 | Brandt Snedeker | 13 under |
| T-4 | Matt Kuchar | 13 under |
| 6th | Adam Hadwin | 12 under |
| 7th | Sungjae Im | 11 under |
| T-8 | Graeme McDowell | 10 under |
| T-8 | Henrik Stenson | 10 under |
| T-8 | Danny Willett | 10 under |
Betting odds
| Player | Odds | Player | Odds |
| Rory McIlroy | +360 | Tom Kim | +3500 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +1600 | Mackenzie Hughes | +3500 |
| Sahith Theegala | +1800 | Keith Mitchell | +3500 |
| Shane Lowry | +2200 | Aaron Rai | +3500 |
| Sam Burns | +2200 | Erik van Rooyen | +4500 |
| Corey Conners | +2200 | Davis Thompson | +4500 |
| Cameron Young | +2200 | Akshay Bhatia | +4500 |
| Alex Noren | +2200 | Taylor Pendrith | +5000 |
| Maverick McNealy | +3000 | Adam Hadwin | +5000 |
| Adam Scott | +3000 | Nick Taylor | +6000 |
Picks to win
Rory McIlroy puts on a Kyle Lowry No. 7 Toronto Raptors jersey after winning the 2019 RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. Photo: Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports
Obviously, don’t love the odds here — in Scottie Scheffler territory — but McIlroy dominated at this golf course five years ago and is playing great golf at the moment.
He also loves this golf tournament, winning it again in 2022.
Simple pick, doesn’t need a long explanation.
Shane Lowry reacts after hitting a 62 during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
Lowry finished in a tie for second behind McIlroy at Hamilton in 2019 and is coming off a great T-6 performance at the PGA Championship two weeks ago. If he can get the putter going a little bit, watch out for the Irishman.
Alex Noren watches his shot from the second tee during the third round of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
With how he’s been playing recently, it’s tough to leave him off the card.
Noren has finished third at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson — TPC Craig Ranch is the second-best course comparison to HGCC according to Data Golf — T-24 at the Wells Fargo Championship and T-12 at the PGA Championship in his last three starts.
The Swede made the cut here in 2019.
Maverick McNealy plays his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
This kid has to win on Tour at some point, right?
Don’t love his number — 30/1 — in a weaker field, but McNealy’s played well two weeks in a row: T-23 (PGA Championship) and T-17 (Charles Schwab Challenge).
Let’s see if his putter gets hot.
Mackenzie Hughes plays a shot on the 12th hole during the first round of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
Taylor ended a Canadian winless drought at this event last year, so why not go back-to-back?
Thanks to a 74 to open the PGA Championship, Hughes missed the cut despite a second-round 1-under 71 on Friday. A week before, Hughes tied for sixth at the Wells Fargo Championship. Overall, Hughes has three top-15 finishes in his last six starts.
In 2019, Hughes tied for 14th at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
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