The past data for Birkdale proved to ring true as it was a Red Zone/Short Game/Putting course. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick either Spieth or Kuchar due to their performance in all three categories being a little off this season. However, they have traditionally performed well in those areas and sometimes it just takes a while for a top player to return to their old form.
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Glen Abbey will be hosting the 114th Canadian Open. The Canadian Open is hosted at a numerous different locations, but Glen Abbey has hosted the most Canadian Opens (27). This is likely due to the popularity of golf in the Ontario region, the size of the city of Toronto and more predictable weather. If you can get a passport, this could be a fun tournament to go to with a trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto is one of the nicest cities you’ll ever visit.
Glen Abbey was originally designed by Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus’ prime architectural mentor was Pete Dye. However, Glen Abbey was one of Nicklaus’ earlier designs so there is not so much of a Pete Dye influence as you tend to see in Nicklaus’ later designs.
Typically from Nicklaus designs you see a course that features false fronts and a lot of nuances that make the course made for TV. It also tends to come with some disputed opinion on the course itself as I’ve heard varying opinions from Tour players. Some really enjoy Glen Abbey and others strongly dislike it. It’s probably one of the courses with the largest discrepancy in reviews I’ve come across on Tour. It does typically play fast and firm, but that region has received a lot of rain which could make the course softer and thus favor longer hitters.
PROJECTED WINNING SCORE: -17
3JACK FAVORITES
Dustin Johnson +600
Matt Kuchar +1,100
Tony Finau +2,200
Bubba Watson +2,800
Gary Woodland +4,500
Keegan Bradley +4,500
3JACK DARK HORSE PICKS
Adam Hadwin +6,000
Kevin Tway +6,600
Jason Kokrak +10,000
Harold Varner III +12,500
3JACK
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