Jack’s Place brought the heat this past weekend. The final leaderboard featured only 30 players under par, but Billy Horschel stood out at the top with -13 for the week, earning him a four shot victory at The Memorial Tournament. The 35 year old Horschel got to share his special moment with Jack Nicklaus after his round and the win gave him his 7th victory on the PGA Tour as well as placing him in 10th place in the important (and lucrative) FedEx Cup Rankings.
As far as my picks went, it could’ve gone better. Rickie Fowler had a strong showing on Thursday and Friday and things looked good for him to finish top 40, but he fell off on the weekend and couldn’t even crack the top 60.
Collin Morikawa didn’t help my case at all but flat out missing the cut. I thought he would be fired up after his playoff loss last year, but I guess I was wrong. Speaking of last year’s heartbreak, however, Jon Rahm fired a Sunday 69 to back door his way into the top 10 (thank God) at -4. Rahm struggled to score on the first three days of the tournament, but luckily he found something on Sunday.
The big story of my picks is Max Homa. I had him to finish top 20 and boy did he deliver with a T5 finish at -6. Homa has been lighting it up this season as he now sits in 7th place in the FedEx Cup rankings. He has been a little under the radar for me because to me he has always been the relatable Twitter guy that roasts people’s swings online, but now he has arrived as one of golf’s top stars.
Now on to the RBC Canadian Open. The last time this tournament was played was 2019 due to to Covid, and the champion was Rory Mcilroy. Rory dominated the field with a Sunday 61 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, just a short drive from Buffalo. His stellar play earned him a seven shot victory and over 1 million dollars in prize money.
This year the event is being held at St. George’s Golf and Country Club just a little West of Toronto. I hate picking reigning champions to win so I will not be betting Rory, but I will be riding with Scottie Scheffler because he is by far and away the best golfer on the Tour right now. There is not a lot that I love this week in terms of betting, especially with the US Open next week taking a lot of people’s attention away from this event. I am going to sprinkle the moneyline for there to be a playoff to decide the winner, that is always a fun prop that helps you root for an exciting finish. My longshot is Mackenzie Hughes, the Hamilton, Ontario native who I expect to play well in front of a home crowd this weekend.
Here are my official picks for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open:
-2 units on Scottie Scheffler top 10 finish -150
-1 unit on Mackenzie Hughes top 20 finish +250
-0.5 unit on Mackenzie Hughes top 10 finish +650
-0.5 unit on Scottie Scheffler to win +800
-0.5 unit on Playoff +310
-0.25 unit on Mackenzie Hughes to win +5000