Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on X at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2026 RBC Canadian Open, which gets underway Thursday in Toronto.
I love the Canadian Open. Beginning in 1904, it is the longest running non-major event on the PGA Tour. I’ve been leaning heavily on the recent Byron-Ben-Jack run of tournaments, the last two of which have been decided by a playoff. Now it becomes national open season, north of the border this week, on Long Island next week, then in Scotland, and eventually at Royal Birkdale for the Open Championship. Given that we are in the Northeast neighborhood this week, the New York Knicks and Shinnecock are right through the very heart of it, but I’m going to begin with TPC Toronto and the Canadian Open as we start spreadin’ the news.
This is the second of three consecutive years that we will see the North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley host the RBC Canadian Open. What is most noteworthy about the design is the fact that Ian Andrew was brought in for a full course renovation in 2023. Andrew is responsible for multiple such projects all over Canada, including work on recent Canadian Open venues St. George’s Golf & Country Club and Hamilton Golf & Country Club. The course will play as a par 70, measuring nearly 7,400 yards. The fairways are generous in width but are bordered by significant rough if missed. The greens are a blend of Bentgrass and Poa Annua. Many are elevated and surrounded by deep sand bunkers.
Ryan Fox won the first edition of the Canadian Open held at this golf course last year. He beat Sam Burns in a playoff with a winning score of 18 under par. Four of the top five players on last season’s leaderboard ranked in the top 20 in the field for Driving Distance. All five ranked inside the top 15 for putting. The greens are above average in size. The par 4s are really the meat of the track with eight of the 10 measuring between 440-500+ yards.
Having only seen this golf course once before, I kept the statistical analysis pretty simple, looking at Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach, Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, and Strokes Gained: Putting (Bent/Poa). I also looked at the Par 4s between 450-500 yards and Hole Proximity from 150-200 yards.
Again, with only one result in the books, it is too early to draw any strong conclusions regarding other courses that may or may not be correlated – but we can look at similarities in design, layout, and architects. I mentioned Ian Andrew and Hamilton and St. George’s earlier. The Philadelphia Cricket Club, which played host to the Truist Championship in 2025 appears to have a very similar design to TPC Toronto as does Detroit Golf Club, where they play the Rocket Classic.
Tommy Fleetwood (13-1)
I believe the last time I was on Fleetwood, it was for a winner at last year’s Tour Championship. If you have seen our “Early Bets” article for next week’s U.S. Open, you’ll see I’m on the Englishman there as well. Let’s see if we can get one of the two – and maybe both? Fleetwood was fourth last year at the Cricket Club and was 21st at the Canadian Open at Hamilton in 2024. It doesn’t hurt that he was also runner-up here in Canada in 2023, losing to Nick Taylor in a playoff at nearby Oakdale – which was also restored by Ian Andrew. Over the last 24 rounds, Fleetwood ranks 13th in this field for SG: Off the Tee and is 17th on the 450-500 yard Par 4s. He is also one of the best putters in this field on the Bent/Poa blend. Fleetwood has finished top 5 in two of his last three starts.
Justin Rose (31-1)
The veteran Englishman has also had tremendous success here north of the border and on these types of greens, winning earlier this season at Torrey Pines and being a past champion at Pebble Beach. Rose was eighth at Oakdale in 2023 and fourth at St. George’s in 2022. Over the last 24-rounds, Rose is ninth in this field for SG: Tee to Green, 11th on approach, and ranks fourth on the 450-500 yard Par 4s. He’s finished 10th and 12th in his last two starts.
Shane Lowry (36-1)
I feel like I’m putting together a European Ryder Cup team here to try to take down TPC Toronto. The Irishman was 13th last year here at Osprey Valley, was 10th at St. George’s in 2022, and was runner-up at Hamilton in 2019. Lowry was also runner-up last year at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Statistically, Lowry is having a brilliant year on Tour, where he ranks 43rd in SG: Approach and 25th for SG: Putting. Over the last 24 rounds, he is third in this field on the 450-500 yard Par 4s.
Shane Lowry hits a shot at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Getty Images
Aaron Rai (43-1)
Nope, we’re not done yet. The 2026 PGA Champion is yet another European who has had excellent success here in Canada. Rai was 14th at Hamilton in 2024, 13th at St. George’s in 2022, and was third at Oakdale in 2023. He has also finished ninth and runner-up at Detroit Golf Club. Over the last 24 rounds, Rai is fifth in this field for SG: Tee to Green and eighth for SG: Approach.
Eric Cole (47-1)
Remember when we had this guy two weeks ago and he lost in a playoff at Colonial? Ugh. Well, I think he might be ready to make another run at that first-ever PGA Tour win again this week. He was eighth last week at the Memorial, giving him two sixth-place finishes, an eighth, and a runner-up in his last five starts. He was sixth at Oakdale in 2023 and has finished as high as sixth at Detroit Golf Club. Cole ranks 12th in this field for SG: Tee to Green and in Hole Proximity from 150-200 over the last 24 rounds. Over the last 12 rounds on Bent/Poa greens, he is 11th in this field for SG: Putting.
Jackson Suber (175-1)
I thought I had uncovered a diamond in the rough longshot here – and maybe I have – but it appears some of my peers in the golf handicapping industry have also stumbled onto young Mr. Suber, which is fine. How about a group win? Yes, he’s a long-shot, but it was just a few weeks ago that he took fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Suber finished 18th here at TPC Toronto last year and has been as high as sixth at the Rocket Classic. Over the last 24 rounds, he is 12th in this field for SG: Approach and is 10th for SG: Putting (Bent/Poa) over the last 12 rounds.
