Worthy favourite at Canadian Open
Published:
Johnson to pull rank over a modest field
Glen Abbey Golf Club, Ontario provides the setting for this week’s golf headline, the RBC Canadian Open giving punters an interest from Thursday through to Sunday. Catch every swing, drive and putt live on Sky Sports, and back your winners with Coral.
You can have your say on the outright winner before day one, as well as throughout play, and there’s also first round leader, top-10 finish and forecast betting. Click here to have your say, or read on as we pick through the betting.
Two-in-a-row written off by traders
We won’t get the drama of last week’s Open Championship, but there’s real value around for eagle-eyed punters. Traders stick to the basics, pricing Dustin Johnson as pre-tournament favourite, the American ranked a 7/1 shot at the time of writing.
Jhonattan Vegas goes to Oakville as defending champion, winning here 12 months ago with a score of 12 under par. That was a weak effort, judging by some of the recent winners here, but it was enough to bank the prize money. There’s no chance of two in-a-row however, with Coral handing out as much 125/1 as you can carry. A big price about a defending champion, and it may just attract a share of attention, but the Venezuelan isn’t for us.
Encouragement taken from DJ’s course form
It doesn’t happen very often, but we are in agreement with the trading floor and Dustin Johnson looks the man to be on. We all know the 33-year-old’s talent, and although he hasn’t been at his best for a while now, this looks an excellent chance to get back on track. Playing against a fairly average field, he arrives in decent enough form, having put in an eye-catching round of golf at The Open last weekend. Encouragement can also be taken from his course form, ending as a runner-up here last year and in 2013.
We’ve seen the selection seems to enjoy it around here, and if we can catch him in the mood this weekend, he’s more than capable of winning at a canter. There’s not a lot in terms of competition that’ll cause favourite backers to lose any sleep, and 7/1 looks about fair. It could be worth having a go on DJ in play, as we’d be surprised if he made a fast start, so you may get a better price after day one.
Poulter looks to have been overpriced
If you prefer to take on the shortest price, we’d suggest a play on Ian Poulter at 40/1. We had the 41-year-old Englishman picked at The Open last week at a decent price, and did get a good run for our money. If Poulter has recovered physically from that effort, he should go better than his odds suggest.
It’s a bit of a gamble, of course, but we’re taking Ian to be in the same kind of mood he was at Royal Birkdale. If you’d like to have a go on Poulter, but fancy a bit of a safety net, Coral are offering each-way terms of 1/5 the odds the best seven finishers, which puts most of our rivals to shame. We’ll also gift you 3/1 on a top-10 finish.
