RBC Canadian Open Review
Dates: July 24 – July 27, 2008
Location: Glen Abbey Golf Club – Oakville, Ontario, Canada
by Matt of Predictem.com
The PGA pros spent the week north of the border for the Canadian Open with
Chez Reavie coming out on top after four days of strong
play. The win came in Reavie’s 22nd career start and punctuates a solid
rookie season. Reavie held off all challengers with a Sunday round of 1-under
that was more steady than spectacular, and finished at 17-under total, three
clear of the field. The victory brings a $900,000 check and allows Reavie
to make the trip to the PGA Championship and this week’s WGC Bridgestone
Invitational.
The event was interrupted by rain all week, leading to several players completing rounds in the mornings, including the leaders. The weather did lead to the low scores, with lift, clean and place rules in effect for all four days. The Glen Abbey roughs were made difficult by the soggy conditions and Reavie handled the situation better than most, hitting the 4th most fairways on the week.
Billy Mayfair was the closest contender for the week, finishing in solo second at 14-under. Mayfair carded four rounds in the 60’s, but his 68/68 finish was not enough to overtake Reavie’s 65/64 start.
Steve Marino and Sean O’Hair tied for the third spot, finishing four back at 13-under. Marino logged a trio of 67’s to put him in position, but a 1-under final round left him where he started the day. O’Hair held a share of the lead after a Thursday 65, but could only muster an even-par round on Friday and spent the weekend playing catch-up.
The group of Scott McCarron, Nicholas Thompson and Mike Weir round out the top five finishers, with all three ending up at 12-under. McCarron leapfrogged the field with a tournament low 63 on Saturday, but couldn’t duplicate the magic on Sunday. Weir was another who shot 65 on Thursday and slept on the day one lead, but the native Canadian could only muster 6-under for the rest of the event despite the crowd support.
Anthony Kim was looking for his third win of the year, trailing by only one entering the final round. A Sunday 75 dropped Kim off the pace and the youngster had to settle for a T8 finish. Notable finishers include Jim Furyk and Mark Calcavecchia at T14 and Fred Couples at T20. Among those missing the cut were Bubba Watson and Stephen Ames.
Chez Reavie was able to maintain his lead through the week with a high level of accuracy and a hot putter. Reavie hit a lot of fairways and took advantage by hitting the 5th most greens and recording only 109 putts for the event, 14th fewest. Reavie took advantage of the 18th at Glen Abbey, carding three birdies on the par-5, including one in the third round that preserved his lead going into the final round. Reavie was a combined 8-under on holes 4 and 9, never failing to birdie either hole on any day.
The FedEx Playoffs are nearing and Kenny Perry tops the list with Tiger out for the year. Mickelson is in the third spot with Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard rounding out the top-5.
The official money list follows the FedEx List as far as the top-6 go, with Perry on top and Leonard in 6th at just over $3 million. Chez Reavie jumps from 137th to 48th on the list with the win and joins the millionaires club that now has 70 members.
The Ryder Cup team selections are right around the corner and Stewart Cink remains the leading American on that list. Mickelson, Perry, Furyk and Kim make up the rest of the top-5 with Leonard, Weekley, Stricker and Woody Austin as the next group seeking qualification.
Each week, we check out the golf sportsbooks and make our picks to win the tournament from a short, middle and long odds group, as well as a few head-to-head match picks. Here is how we did with our picks for the RBC Candadian Open.
For the Win
Short: Anthony Kim – In the hunt at only one back going into Sunday, but a 75 leads to a T8.
Middle: Stephen Ames – Ames never got it going early and wound up at 1-over and missing the cut.
Longshot: Steve Marino – Three 67’s were a great start, but Sunday’s 70 wasn’t enough for this 80 to 1 shot to break through. Finished T3.
Head to Head Matches (our pick)
Jim Furyk (-130) v. Anthony Kim (even) (Kim)
Furyk was the favorite here coming off consecutive wins in this event, but we took Kim and his better play of late for the even money winner.
Kevin Sutherland (-115) v. Bo Van Pelt (-115) (Sutherland)
We notched another win here as we took the steadier Sutherland on a shot-makers track. Sutherland was only 5-under and T30, but Van Pelt made this one easy with a 4-over start and a MC.
See you for the WGC Bridgestone preview and picks.
