Following the bombshell announcement of the merger between the PGA Tour, the Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour, there is still the small matter of this week’s RBC Canadian Open to be played.

The field includes only two of the top 10 players in the world rankings, and our golf experts break down the tournament along with their favorite prop picks and best bets to win this week.

RBC CANADIAN OPEN
Location: Toronto, June 8-11
Course: Oakdale Golf & Country Club (Par 72, 7,264 yards)
Purse: $9M (Winner: $1.62M)
Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (GC), 5:30-7:30 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6:30 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN+: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday, 9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Twitter: @RBCCanadianOpen

PROP PICKS
–Matt Fitzpatrick to Finish Top 10 (+138 at BetMGM): Fitzpatrick has largely stayed out of the merger fray this week, having his press conference session canceled on Tuesday. He may have plenty on his mind as he prepares to defend his title at next week’s U.S. Open, but Fitzpatrick should be a factor come Sunday as one of only two top-10 players in the field.

–Corey Conners to Beat Lee Hodges (-135 at DraftKings): We can handle the smaller payout here because this should be a solid bet. Hodges is coming off a T12 at the Memorial and has quietly made seven of his past nine cuts. But Conners is Canada’s best player at the moment, and he cares deeply about his country’s biggest tournament. In addition to finishing sixth last year, Conners has been a Sunday factor on the game’s biggest stages. He also won the Valero Texas Open earlier this year before a T8 at the Wells Fargo.

–David Lipsky to Finish Top 20 (+250 at BetMGM): Lipsky has posted a T16 and a T12 in his past two starts, with the latter coming against a designated field at the Memorial. Against a more modest field in Toronto, a third consecutive top-20 is a very reasonable expectation.

2023 Prop Picks Record: 23-33-2

BEST BETS:
–Rory McIlroy (+450) is the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3. He’s understandably the heavy pre-tournament favorite, but where is McIlroy’s focus given the news of the merger breaking two days before teeing off? He is second at the sportsbook with 6.0 percent of the total bets backing him to win after opening at +400.
–Tyrrell Hatton (+1100) has five consecutive top-20 finishes, including a pair of top-5s.
–Fitzpatrick (+1400) is the only other top-10 player in the field and finished T10 in last year’s RBC Canadian Open.
–Sam Burns (+1400), who is an RBC ambassador, finished T4 in his tournament debut last year.
–Cameron Young (+1500) is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory. He’s the third biggest liability at BetMGM with 9.14 percent of the total money backing him to win.
–Conners (+1600) is the top-ranked Canadian in the field at No. 29 and finished sixth last year. He won the Valero Texas Open earlier this year but is coming off a missed cut at the Memorial. Connors is third at the sportsbook with 5.2 percent of the tickets backing him to win.
–Sahith Theegala (+2800) is also still seeking his first victory on tour. Against a softer field, Theegala is BetMGM’s biggest liability this week, having drawn both the most total tickets (6.7 percent) and money (9.3 percent) among the entire field. His odds have shortened significantly since opening at +3300.
–Former Texas Tech star and two-time Ben Hogan Award winner Ludvig Aberg (+5000) will make his first start since earning his tour card via the PGA Tour University. Despite making his pro debut, Aberg is tied for the 14th-shortest odds in the field and is BetMGM’s third biggest liability this week while drawing 9.06 percent of the total money.

NOTES:
–McIlroy is the two-time defending champion, having also won the event in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic led to it being canceled from 2020-21. He can become the first player to win an event three consecutive times since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11).
–Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett (+20000) is in the field on a sponsor’s exemption after finishing 63rd in his professional debut last week. He is one of 30 players in the field who will also compete in next week’s U.S. Open.
–Michael Block (+50000), the club professional who tied for 15th at the PGA Championship, is also playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week.
–The event was established in 1904, making it the second-oldest non-major on the PGA Tour behind the BMW Championship (1899).
–The last Canadian to win the event was Pat Fletcher in 1954, before it was recognized as an official PGA Tour tournament.

–Field Level Media

Rory McIlroy won last year’s RBC Canadian Open for his 21st career win on the PGA Tour and headed to the interview room with something to say.

“This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time,” the Northern Irishman said. “Twenty-one PGA Tour wins, one more than somebody else.”

The “somebody else” was Greg Norman. The gripe was with LIV Golf, where Norman was the figurehead at the time. The same week that the PGA Tour made its annual trip north of the border, LIV held its debut event outside London.

Oh, the things that can change in one year.

The future of the game of golf is once again the topic du jour as the PGA Tour returns to the RBC Canadian Open this week at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto.

This time, the PGA Tour is the one accepting investment from Saudi Arabia, as tour commissioner Jay Monahan dropped the unexpected news Tuesday morning that the PGA and DP World tours will merge commercial enterprises with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and receive a capital investment from them.

McIlroy said Wednesday he felt like a “sacrificial lamb” after going to bat for Monahan and the integrity of the PGA Tour. He also said he’s come to terms with the Saudis’ insistence on pouring money into the sport.

“(Tuesday) was tough. I think the shock of it, the surprise of it,” McIlroy said. “I wasn’t looking forward to this (press conference), to be honest with you. But once we all get done here and you write your stories and say what you say, what I say or quote me or whatever it is, I’m going to go to the range and do some practice and try to get ready for a golf tournament.”

The Canadian Open has been through the ringer. Canada’s national open missed two straight years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it returned in 2022, LIV stole the headlines.

“I can’t help but feel sad for the Canadian Open, once again, that this news drops Tuesday of what is our national open, a very important event for golf in Canada and hopefully viewed from the PGA Tour’s standpoint as an important event to them,” Adam Hadwin of Canada said. “Now once again we’re overshadowed … most likely for the entire week.

“My hope is that we end up with hopefully myself — if not myself, two or three other Canadians in contention, with Rory, with Justin Rose, with Tyrrell (Hatton), with these guys, these top players that are here and we can put the emphasis back on the event, that what happened last year. But I can’t help but feel for the event now.”

Hadwin is one of 21 Canadians in the field, with world No. 29 Corey Conners the highest-ranked among them. A Canadian player hasn’t won the event since Pat Fletcher in 1954.

McIlroy is the two-time defending champ (2019, 2022), but he won those tournaments at two different courses. Oakdale is hosting the event for the first time, playing as a par 72 of roughly 7,200 yards.

With many players resting up for next week’s U.S. Open, the field only includes 10 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and none of the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings. Matt Fitzpatrick of England, Sam Burns, Cameron Young and Shane Lowry of Ireland are among the other notables competing.

Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, the former No. 1 amateur in the world, will make his professional debut in Toronto. He’ll play alongside Englishmen Fitzpatrick and Hatton in one of the marquee groups.

One more thing to monitor will be the air quality.

Wildfires in nearby Quebec have spread smoke across the Northeast U.S. and Ontario, where the course is located. The Canadian Open’s official Twitter account said experts are on site monitoring the air quality and “delays are always a possibility given we are an outdoor event.”

–Field Level Media