Our PGA DFS series continues with our RBC Canadien Open DFS Core Plays, which includes a look at Maverick McNealy among others.
The TOUR swings north of the border this week for the RBC Canadian Open. The event this year will be hosted at Hamilton Country Club, a 7,100 yard par 70 layout. Unfortunately, we don’t have a ton of course history to draw from, with only one tournament played here during the ShotLink era back in 2019.
What we do know is that the course is mostly an older style layout that features undulating fairways and elevated greens. Due to the hilly nature of the course, there will be awkward lies in the fairway that can lead some tricky shots into the relatively small greens. All things considered though, it’s a pretty straight forward golf course.
The Scottie Scheffler rule applies to Rory McIlroy this week. You don’t need me to tell you he’s a good play, so he will not be featured below. He’s far and away the best player in this field, and how you handle him is a strategic preference. Outside of Rory, I have identified 3 core plays along with a GPP flier that I’ll be building around this week.
I’ve identified the plays below using the Stokastic PGA Sims tool. Our hole by hole simulation technology allows me to take every golfer in the field’s range of outcomes into consideration, along with what I project the competition’s lineups to look like. By simulating the lineups against each other tens of thousands of times, the best plays on the slate reveal themselves.
The players that appear most in the highest ROI lineups are the ones I want to build my portfolio around. Our sim tool is the core of my weekly DFS process, and something I highly recommend for those looking to take the next step in DFS. For a limited time, get 20% off any of our PGA Sims packages using promo code ‘BERRYMANSIMS‘.
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Below are the players I’ll be building around as my core plays for the RBC Canadian Open. If you’d like to build around these players or your own core plays, another option to consider is our PGA lineup generator, which is the perfect PGA DFS tool. Right now, readers can try it out for a week for just $1 using promo code ‘BERRYMANLG‘.
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2024 RBC Canadian Open DFS Core PlaysÂ
Corey Conners – $9,500
Conners is known as one of the game’s best and most consistent ball strikers. Accurate off the tee and into greens, he gives himself a ton of looks at birdies week to week. A sub-par short game keeps him out of the conversation amongst the game’s truly elite players, but he’s a great fit for the course this week.
The Canadian comes into this week scorching hot with the irons, gaining 14.8 strokes on approach over his last two events. Over the last 24 rounds he ranks first in the field in strokes gained on approach, and 18th in strokes gained off the tee. He’s made the cut in every start dating back to June of last year, a 20 tournament stretch includes 11 finishes inside the top 26. He’s a very solid play in the mid $9k range on DraftKings this week.
Maverick McNealy – $9,200
McNealy is another player who has been rock solid this season. He’s made the cut in 12 out of 13 starts that include 5 finishes inside the top 25. He isn’t a player that jumps off the page in one category, but he is very solid across the entire bag. He ranks inside the top 15 in both around the green and off the tee play, and inside the top 50 in both approach and putting in this field. At $9,200, he fits in nicely with both ‘stars and scrubs’ or balanced builds, making him a versatile piece this week.
Davis Thompson – $7,800
Thompson fits into the same sort of mold as Maverick McNealy on the PGA Tour. He doesn’t do anything you’d consider in the elite category, but he also does enough well to keep him in the mix most weeks. In aggregate, ge’s gained strokes in every statistical category in his time on TOUR outside of putting, where inconsistency has plagued him early in his career.
He fits what I’m looking for this week though because he is relatively consistent throughout the other portions of his game. On a course where we don’t have much course history to draw from, I tend to gravitate towards solid all around players that are above average ball strikers, which Thompson is. This sort of skillset ‘travels well’ as they say in other sports. He has three finishes inside the top 21 over his last 5 starts, including a 17th place finish at Colonial last week. In a very top heavy field that lacks depth in true star power, I think Thompson can make some noise and pay off his modest price tag.
GPP Flier: Ryo Hisatsune – $7,000
As a new face on TOUR this season, Hisatsune has performed admirably making 9/14 cuts including four finishes inside the top 20. Two of these finishes have come in the last three starts, with an impressive 18th place finish at the PGA Championship, and a 13th place finish at Byron Nelson in early May.
At the PGA Championship he managed to gain over five strokes on the field in approach. Given that field was littered with ALL of the world’s best players, that isn’t something to scoff at. Over his last three events he’s gained a total of 10 strokes putting as well. His game appears to be in a really nice spot at the moment. I’ll be taking a shot on him this week at an ownership projection that is hovering around the single digits.
These are a few of the key players who will make up my player pool for my 2024 RBC Canadian Open DFS lineups. I’ll favor them significantly when I build lineups using the PGA Sims. In addition, don’t forget to take advantage of the odds boosts sportsbooks are offering.
