New track this year as the event returns to Hamilton Golf & Country Club for the first time since 2012.
Scott Piercy is the defending champion on this track but big, bad Dustin Johnson won last year at Glen Abbey Golf Club.
110th RCB Canadian Open
Hamilton Golf & Country Club
Hamilton, Ontario
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 6,967 |
| Par: | 70 (35-35) |
| Greens: | 5,000 square feet; Poa annua/Bentgrass |
| Stimpmeter: | 11.5′ |
| Rough: | Poa annua, Kentucky bluegrass at 3.5″. |
| Bunkers: | 88 |
| Water Hazards: | 9 |
| Architect(s): | HS Colt (1916). |
| Purse: | $7.6 million; $1.368 winner plus 500 FedExCup Points. |
| Defending Champion (course) | Scott Piercy (-17). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Dustin Johnson (-23). |
| Notes: | Hamilton hosted in 2003, 2006 and 2012. Any other course history is worthless this week. |
Previous Winners:
| Year | Winner | Comment | |
| 2012 | Scott Piercy | -17 | Set the course record in Round 1 and never looked back. |
| 2006 | Jim Furyk | -14 | Posted the round of the day on Sunday (65) as he came from off the pace to win. |
| 2003 | Bob Tway | -8 | Defeated Brad Faxon in a playoff as only 22 player broke par for the week. |
2018-19 Winners
| Event | Winner |
| Safeway Open | Kevin Tway** |
| CIMB Classic | Marc Leishman |
| CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES | Brooks Koepka |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Cameron Champ** |
| WGC-HSBC Champions | Xander Schauffele |
| Shriners Hospitals for Children | Bryson DeChambeau |
| Mayakoba Golf Classic | Matt Kuchar |
| The RSM Classic | Charles Howell III |
| Hero World Challenge* | Jon Rahm |
| Sentry TOC | Xander Schauffele (2) |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Matt Kuchar (2) |
| 60th Desert Classic | Adam Long** |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Justin Rose |
| Waste Management | Rickie Fowler |
| AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | Phil Mickelson |
| Genesis Open | J.B. Holmes |
| WGC-Mexico Championship | Dustin Johnson |
| The Honda Classic | Keith Mitchell** |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Francesco Molinari |
| THE PLAYERS | Rory McIlroy |
| Valspar Championship | Paul Casey |
| WGC-Match Play | Kevin Kisner |
| Corales Punta Cana | Graeme McDowell |
| Valero Texas Open | Corey Conners** |
| 83rd Masters Tournament | Tiger Woods |
| RBC Heritage | C.T. Pan** |
| Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Ryan Palmer & Jon Rahm (2) |
| Wells Fargo Championship | Max Homa** |
| AT&T Byron Nelson | Sung Kang** |
| PGA Championship | Brooks Koepka (2) |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Kevin Na |
| Memorial | Patrick Cantlay |
(* unofficial event; **First-time winner)
Facts and Figures:
Poa Poa Poa and away we go go go.
This is four weeks running on that surface and next week will make five.
This is just the fourth event this century on this track. The results from the other tracks are of no interest to me.
| Tournament Record: | 263 (-17); Piercy, 2012. |
| Course Record (last): | 62; Piercy and Tim Clark, 2012. |
| Defending Champions: | N/A. |
| Multiple Winners (entered) | N/A. |
| First TOUR win (recent): | N/A. |
| First Appearance: | Piercy. |
| Margin of Victory (recent): | 1; 2012, 2006; playoff 2003. |
| Low Rounds 2012: | 62; Piercy, Clark highlighted 10 rounds of 63 or better for the week. |
| Odd Fact: | Lift, clean and replace was in effect for the first two rounds in 2012. |
| Odd Fact II: | 1,000 trees have been removed since the TOUR last visited in 2012. |
| Odd Fact III: | This is first time in the event is being played in June in 30 years. |
The Confidence Factor was the weekly column I wrote for PGATOUR.COM. It has evolved into Horses for Courses. I’ve included the link here for you.
Trend or Not a Trend?
| Stats | 2012 | 2006 | 2003 |
| Scott Piercy | Jim Furyk | Bob Tway | |
| Score | 263 (-17) | 266 (-14) | 272 (-8) |
| All Drives | 21 | 53 | T26 |
| Accuracy | T30 | 4 | T41 |
| GIR | T53 | T34 | 2 |
| Ball-Striking | T25 | T22 | 7 |
| Proximity | T12 | 54 | T21 |
| Putting: Birdie or Better % | 2 | 2 | T50 |
| SG: Off-the-Tee | 11 | 19 | |
| SG: Approach-the-Green | 34 | 30 | |
| SG: Around-the-Green | 4 | 30 | |
| SG: Putting | 4 | 1 | |
| SG: Tee-to-Green | 9 | 19 | |
| Scrambling | T24 | T16 | 1 |
| Bogey Avoidance | T19 | T7 | 1 |
| Par-3 Scoring | T8 | T14 | T18 |
| Par-4 Scoring | T8 | T2 | T4 |
| Par-5 Scoring | T1 | T4 | T3 |
Horses for Courses
Each week I’ll put the major players in here. There are always exceptions to rules and “new” players every year so use this as a guide or tiebreaker.
| 2012 Results | 2006 Results | |
| (entered this year) | (entered this year) | |
| Win Scott Piercy | Win Jim Furyk | |
| T4 Josh Teater | T5 Jonathan Byrd | |
| T4 Bud Cauley | T14 Bubba Watson | |
| T7 Scott Stallings | T20 David Hearn | |
| T15 J.B. Holmes | T41 Alex Cejka | |
| T19 Will Claxton | T44 Bill Haas | |
| T19 Brian Harman | T60 Zach Johnson | |
| T19 Brendon Todd | ||
| T19 Cameron Tringale | MC | |
| T28 Brian Gay | ||
| T28 Jimmy Walker | Jimmy Walker | |
| T34 Matt Kuchar | Brian Gay | |
| T34 Brandt Snedeker | Ryan Palmer | |
| T37 J.J. Henry | Mike Weir | |
| T48 Ricky Barnes | Nick Watney | |
| T48 Colt Knost | ||
| T61 Matt Every | 2003 Results | |
| T61 Chris Stroud | (entered this year) | |
| T71 David Hearn | ||
| T73 Albin Choi | 10 Mike Weir | |
| MC | MC | |
| Scott Brown | David Hearn | |
| Harris English | Brian Gay | |
| Jim Furyk | Nick Watney | |
| Adam Hadwin | J.J. Henry | |
| Danny Lee | ||
| D.J. Trahan | ||
| Chad Campbell | ||
| Billy Hurley III | ||
| Roberto Castro | ||
| Mackenzie Hughes | ||
| Michael Gligic | ||
| Mike Weir | ||
| Nick Taylor |
Thoughts
It’s been seven years since this course was in play so remember that when you’re searching for course history.
The tight fairways, smallish greens and decent rough should be an excellent tune-up for Pebble Beach next week. Colt’s inland links course will have a different feel this time around after the massive tree removal but I’m not sure who will remember.
The green complexes aren’t the defense here; wind and dry conditions handle that. At not even 7,000 yards, target golf should be the order of the day. The best players in the world don’t need a second offer at that distance!
The Chalk
Dustin Johnson: Leads the TOUR in Strokes-Gained: Total; seven top 10s from 11 starts; second in scoring. His “off” weeks are even really good plus I don’t care who his swing coach is. He was a fixture in Memphis most years before the U.S. Open and raked. On schedule.
Brooks Koepka: Last three on his own ball are T2 (Masters), T4 (Byron Nelson) and WIN (PGA Championship). He’s third in scoring and seventh in GIR. Only thing that ever concerns me with him is his GAS tank.
Matt Kuchar: Burnt gamers last week with MC at a course he’s crushed over the years so I expect a big bounce-back. His record at Harbour Town suggests this week should be an excellent fit.
Rory McIlroy: His two worst finishes this year are the Masters (T21) and the Masters of the north (MC).
Webb Simpson: Sits eighth in scoring because of his ball-striking and short game.
Scott Piercy: 2012 champ defends as he sits inside the top 25 in fairways, greens and scoring.
Sergio Garcia: Metrics tee-to-green and approach the green are both in the top 10. Has no problem working the ball both ways.
Jim Furyk: 2006 champ is No. 1 in GIR and 13 in fairways. Keeping the ball out of trouble won’t hurt this week and neither will a short track for the non-bomber.
Brandt Snedeker: The swing changes have yielded results on two ball-strikers tracks (Bethpage, Colonial). I’m not worried about the short game.
Ryan Palmer: One of the few who has a top 25 from 2012, he was sixth at Colonial last time out.
Bubba Watson: His short-course form at Travelers is either going to be a trap or a “duh” moment this week. His wife’s family is local but trying to figure out Watson is anyone’s guess.
Justin Thomas: He’s never played the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Shane Lowry: Not hard to connect these dots after he was T3 at Harbour Town and T8 at Bethpage. He should be on your radar for next week as well.
Next Tier
Henrik Stenson: Steady, yet unspectacular, his 3-wood should give him plenty of chances to attack pins.
Corey Conners: The pressure of performing in front of the home fans is always something. His ball-striking is excellent but his putting numbers are something else.
Jimmy Walker: Steady along, making cuts, but hasn’t popped on yet. Hard to fake it at Bethpage (T23) and Colonial (T19).
Graeme McDowell: The carrot of qualifying for The Open (top 3 T10 or better previously not exempt) pushes me in his direction.
Erik Van Rooyen: With three top-10 paydays in his last five worldwide, including T8 at Bethpage, I’m interested.
Danny Willett: Should remind him and Garcia of Wenworth as Colt designed that track as well.
Daniel Berger: Five straight.
Lucas Bjerregaard: He’s followed his last two MC with T21 (Masters) and T16 (PGA). He MC last week in Denmark.
Brian Harman: Posted a 63 and 64 last time he was here. Also signed for 71 and 74. His T31, T27 in his last two are his best run of form in a year.
Nick Watney: Loves when putting isn’t the key factor. Backed up a top 10 at Colonial with a top 25 at Memorial.
Jonas Blixt: T30, T20 and fifth in three of his last five.
Form/Long Shots/Course Horse/DFS
Bud Cauley: The week I remove his own section he hits the top 10. He was T4 here in 2012. My universes are colliding.
Kevin Tway: Making cuts, hitting GIR.
Tyler Duncan: Five straight because he finds tons of GIR. T5 last time out.
K. H. Lee: Top 50 in fairways and greens and 11 of 12 checks cashed.
Mackenzie Hughes: Big finish at Colonial (T8) and big pressure this week.
David Hearn: He’s gone through every layer of emotions in his national open including holding and losing the 54-hole lead. He’s made the cut in two of three previous here and T20 in 2006 is the best of the bunch.
Adam Hadwin: For my money he’s the best with a maple leaf on the bag.
Michael Gligic: Hot. Won in February and added T18 and T12 in his last two on the Web.com. Plus he’s Canadian.
Nicholas Lindheim: Shot 62 his last time out (T12).
Peter Malnati: #NappyFactor rolls on with paychecks in 11 of his last 13 including T17 at Memorial last week. Was also T16 at RBC Heritage.
Matt Every: All-or-nothing. Caution.
Brandon Harkins: Doesn’t mind a bit of Poa and has rattled off six of seven plus four straight.
Joaquin Niemann: T38 or better in his last three.
Collin Morikawa: Cal player had a massive senior season. He won’t be bothered by the surface either.
Roberto Diaz: T37 is the best of six in a row. Making cuts good. Missing cuts bad.
Fades
Alex Noren: Maybe this will be his week. He hasn’t had a top 25 on his own ball in 2019. Maybe all I need to do is put him in here.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out on Twitter (@MikeGlasscott) or email me mikeglasscott@gmail.com.
