The PGA Tour heads north of the border this week for the 2023 edition of the Canadian Open. The event returned to the circuit 12 months ago after a two-year hiatus as Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title.
McIlroy is back as he aims for the three-peat in a mixed quality field. The venue is the Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Ontario, so let us assess the course and see if we can pick some winners with this Canadian Open preview, with its predictions and picks.
As well as being one of the most successful golfers in the history of the Canadian Open, McIlroy is the highest ranked player in contention this week. He is a clear favorite and he goes into Thursday at best USA betting industry odds of 5/1. The winner of each of the two previous editions of this competition, he is an obvious market leader.
Rory will need to respond to a final-round slump at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday. A co-leader for the first few holes, he eventually finished in a tie for seventh after carding 75. While it was a disappointing end, it was McIlroy’s second seventh place in succession, so his form is reasonable coming into Thursday.
There is a big gap between the favorite and the rest of the field, which is led by Tyrrell Hatton at a top price of 12/1. The Englishman is one of the Tour’s form golfers right now with five straight top 10 finishes.
Next are Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns and Cameron Young who are all on offer at 14/1 in places. Fitzpatrick is building for a US Open defense and he recovered from an opening round 76 to tie for ninth last week. Young is expected to make big strides this season, but a dismal run since a tie for seventh at the Masters includes two missed cuts.
Corey Conners is the biggest home threat on Canadian soil at 18/1. At the same odds in the betting lines, Justin Rose is enjoying something of a comeback season as he climbs back to number 28 in the world rankings.
Other names to consider in this section include Shane Lowry at 20/1, Tommy Fleetwood at 22/1 and Sahith Theegala at 30/1. Of those names, Lowry was one of two runners-up to McIlroy in 2019, while Theegala is attracting interest after making 18 consecutive cuts.
Matt Kuchar kicks off the underdog section at best odds of 40/1. A veteran of the circuit, Kuchar was one of four runners-up to Brandt Snedeker back in 2013. Also available at that top price of 40/1 is Keith Mitchell, while Adam Hadwin and Adrian Meronk are further back at 50/1. Meronk is being talked up as a contender following a good run of form on the DP World Tour.
Other interesting names here include Nick Taylor at 66/1, Eric Cole at 70/1, Taylor Pendrith at 90/1, David Lipsky at 100/1, Webb Simpson at 125/1 and Garrick Higgo at 125/1. The 2013 Canadian Open champion Brandt Snedeker is also lurking, but he is way out at best odds of 250/1.
Canadian Open 2023 Predictions & Picks Verdict with Course & Betting Trends for this Preview
The Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Ontario hosts the Canadian Open for the first time. There are three nine-hole courses at the complex and the final 18-hole set up is a hybrid of all three. The result is a fairly standard par 72 location with a distance for 2023 of 7264 yards. There will be some advantage for the distance hitters in places but, on a tree lined course, there is an obvious need for a degree of accuracy. Wind can also be a factor at times, while rain is expected at some point over the weekend.
Rory McIlroy is one of three multiple winners in recent years. Jhonattan Vegas also enjoyed back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2017, while Jim Furyk did the same in 2006 and 2007. On a new course, the multiple win trend may not be so important, but Rory remains the highest ranked player here and the man to beat.
McIlroy’s suspect form should, however, offer a chance to the others and the golfer that interests us is Sam Burns. While his own game is inconsistent, he has a good mix of all-round stats that should suit this course. Burns is too good a player to be out of the winners’ circle for long and, in a mixed quality field and on a relatively straightforward course, this could be the time.
Sam Burns for the win is the main pick, and there are three additional top 10 finish selections aiming to make it a profitable four days north of the border. So these are the betting picks and predictions, at best odds, for this Canadian Open 2023 golf preview:
- Sam Burns to win at +1600 (16/1) with BetOnline. He is 14/1 with Bovada and 12/1 with EveryGame.
- Top 10 Finish Picks (best odds in brackets): Sam Burns (+150 EveryGame), Justin Rose (+200 BetOnline), Adam Hadwin (+450 BetOnline) and Webb Simpson (+800 BetOnline & EveryGame).
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.