The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: $700K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Field
This will be the fifth season in a row that the RBC Canadian Open has been played since 2019. It was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has taken place a week (or two) before the US Open in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
With such a big event on the horizon, many of the top players in the world have again chosen to skip this week’s event so that they can focus on the upcoming major. However, there is still a solid group of top players, with seven of the top-30 golfers in the OWGR in attendance. Two-time Canadian Open champion Rory McIlroy leads that charge and is joined by the likes of Ludvig Aberg and Shane Lowry, who have both shone at various points this season. Cameron Young and Sam Burns are two other top players making the trip North this week, and both are part of Team RBC (the headline sponsor for this event).
Since it’s the Canadian Open, plenty of Canadian-born players have gained exemptions into the event, so names (who are not current PGA TOUR card holders) like Ben Silverman, David Hearn and Myles Creighton are on the start list and set up as intriguing contrarian targets for DFS.
The field this week will max out around 156 players and feature the regular cutline after Friday, meaning only the top-65 and ties will get to play the weekend.
The Course
TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (North Course) — Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Par 70, 7,445 yards, Greens: Bentgrass
TPC Toronto joins a long list of Toronto-area courses to host the Canadian Open. The venue was renovated a couple of years ago so that it can handle PGA hosting duties and will be making its debut as a host course this week. The venue is part of the TPC network and is a longer Par 70 that winds through some parkland with a few water traps set in between. The venue isn’t overly saturated with bunkers (there are under 50), so that could help the big hitters who will likely be happy taking a bomb-and-gouge approach this week.
At the same time, the venue was also renovated to challenge the pros strategically this week. The most likely scenario is that this course plays very similarly to some of the other TPC courses we see on the PGA, where accuracy often matters just as much as power. TPC Summerlin, TPC Scottsdale and TPC River Highlands are all some of the comparables to consider this week and courses that generally challenge players throughout the bag, but specifically on approach.
While the course is long, two of the four par 3s measure in at under 160 yards in length, and the two par 5s don’t play overly long either and should be good birdie chances for the entire field. The par 4s are where the bigger hitters will gain an advantage. The setup isn’t overly technical, but much like TPC Scottsdale, the fairways do wind around some natural impediments, water and bunkers, so players can’t get too wild without incurring penalties.
Six of the Par 4s will measure in over 450 yards, so while mid-iron play will be essential, also expect players’ short games to be tested on these holes, as many will have to scramble to save par. Overall, this should be a good all-around test where good off-the-tee play will be of assistance, but good iron and around-the-green play will be heavily relied on. For stats, players who are efficient in the 450-500 yards range on par 4s should have a solid advantage. I’d also look for wedge play to be somewhat important (proximity from 100-125 or 125-150 yards) as we have two short par 3s and a few shorter par 4s mixed in where players will likely be dialing in short irons.
2025 weather outlook: The weather this week doesn’t look terrible. Highs will only be in the high 60s to low 70s, but wind isn’t expected to be a huge factor either. The gusts will stay down below 10 MPH for most of the first two days, with Saturday seeing slightly bigger gusts. Thursday looks like the nicest day overall, so expect solid scoring out of the gates. Friday is cooler, and there is some potential for rain. Saturday, we could see actual rain showers or storms interrupt play for a small bit, but overall, the chances of rain significantly impacting the event seem low for now. The course should play softer with the cooler weather and moisture.
Last 5 winners
2024–Robert MacIntyre (-16, over Ben Griffin -15)
2023–Nick Taylor (-17, over Tommy Fleetwood, playoff)
2022—Rory McIlroy (-19, over Tony Finau -17)
2019 — Rory McIlroy (-22, over Webb Simpson -15)
2018 — Dustin Johnson (-23, over Byeong Hun-An -20)
**None of the previous five events were played at TPC Toronto
Winners Stats and Course Overview
2023 Winner: Robert MacIntyre (16-under par)*
2024 lead-in form (MC-T8-T13-MC-MC)
2024 Winner stats (played at Hamilton G&CC): Robert MacIntyre (-16)
SG: OTT—+1.1
SG: APP—+0.7
SG: TTG—+4.7
SG: ATG—+2.9
SG: PUTT—+11.2
*played at Hamilton
- MacIntyre had a strong result at the year’s second major (T8 at the PGA in 2024) in his lead-in to the Canadian Open
- He had two top-15 finishes in his last three starts coming in as well and had gained strokes putting in six straight starts
- MacIntyre had very unbalanced splits, gaining mostly with the putter, but that does exemplify that these setups don’t favor one style over another (players can get hot with the putter and still go low if their ball-striking isn’t elite for the week)
- MacIntyre was also the first first-time winner at the RBC Canadian Open in over five years
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Sam Burns +3000 and $9,300
Comparables:
John Keefer +6000 and $7,800
Comparables:
RECENT FORM
1. Harry Hall ($9,200; T6-T19): Hall is playing some solid golf right now. He finished T-6 at Colonial and T-19 at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago as well. His putter remains his best weapon, but he’s gaining well in other areas, too.
2. Robert MacIntyre ($9,800; T20-T6): MacIntyre has put together some nice starts of late. He was T-6 at Colonial and then T-20 at Muirfield Village on his first go around the course. He’s gained over a stroke on approach in three straight starts.
3. Vince Whaley ($7,400; T11-T15): Whaley has made some nice moves of late. He enters having made three cuts in a row and has been solid off the tee and on the greens. He remains one of the TOUR’s most elite putters.
4. Sam Burns ($9,300; T12-T19): Burns is starting to heat up. He’s finished top-20 in four of his last five starts and finally took an uptick on his approaches last week.
5. Eric Cole ($8,100; T44-T28): Cole enters having made nine cuts in a row. While he consistently loses off the tee, he is gaining enough around the green and on approach to make some weekends and post decent results. Expect the same to continue this week.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Rory is cheap, too cheap.
McIlroy ($11,900) takes this event quite seriously, as evidenced by his decision to play up in Canada vs. the Memorial, where there is a far bigger prize purse. He’s a multiple-time winner of the event and certainly will be looking to log a big week before the US Open. Unlike Scottie Scheffler last week, he’s priced well below 13K, despite this being a very weak field. It’s hard to start core lineups without him this week. Sam Burns ($9,300) also looks like a decent value in the 9K range, but things get harder as we go lower, thanks to the lack of depth. Ryan Fox ($7,700) still seems too cheap for how well he’s been playing, and Doug Ghim at $7,300 also seems like a decent bargain given how many cuts he makes and how consistent a ball-striker he is.
Tournaments: Will Cam Young (finally) deliver?
I expect the 9K range to be popular for the most part, but further down there are chances for some lower-owned plays to be had. Thorbjorn Olesen ($8,700) has been gaining big on approach of late and made some noise in April with a T-5 in Texas. He’s not likely to be heavily owned given his price. Cameron Young is further down and a wild card, but he has been more consistent of late. His putter has gained him strokes in three straight events, so if he can keep improving with his irons, the chance for a big week is there. Further down, Victor Perez ($7,000) is another name I’d consider using in big fields, as are Adam Schenk ($6,700), Harry Higgs ($6,500), and David Lipsky ($6,300).
MY PICK: Taylor Pendrith ($9,600)
Pendrith should be a solid fit for this week’s venue. He’s big off the tee but is also a solid iron player who has plenty of success at other target-style venues. The Canadian won his first event on the PGA last season at TPC Craig Ranch, and he also finished T-8 at TPC Summerlin and T-5 at TPC Twin Cities in 2024.
He’s had a very up-and-down season but has made some big strides as of late with his game. The 34-year-old gained 9.1 strokes ball-striking last week at Memorial and has now gained strokes around the green in three straight starts. After some awful performances in the middle of the season, he’s finally starting to turn things around and looks like he’ll be bringing a very sharp and well-rounded game to this longer par 70.
It’s been tough for Canadians to win their home country event, but after Nick Taylor broke through in 2023, Pendrith seems like the logical choice to contend this season. At 9.6K, he can be used in balanced or stars and scrubs builds for DFS, and at +3000 on DraftKings Sportsbook, he makes sense as a logical outright selection for this week as well.
MY SLEEPER: Andrew Putnam ($7,000)
I’m going to stick with Putnam as a sleeper pick this week. He only managed a T-44 at Colonial (where I also mentioned him), but gained strokes everywhere but on the greens, where he is typically quite strong. The veteran has now made three cuts in a row and showed some flashes of great play two starts ago in Myrtle Beach, where he shot 65 in Round 1.
Setup-wise, this should be a course where Putnam can get around. He’s 13th in efficiency on Par 4s between 450-500 and 14th in Par 4 scoring, overall. He’s also still top-15 over the last 24 rounds in SG: PUTT and ATG stats. Putnam’s not a player I expect to win, but if his putter heats up, he could certainly put in a low round or two and get himself into the mix for a top-10.
At $7,000, he’s cheap for DFS and offers a nice blend of upside and floor this week. For betting, he’s also appealing as a top-20 (+360)/top-10 (+900) ladder play.
