John Swantek and Rob Bolton discuss the history of the long-running tournament and the potential outcomes for different players, including Nick Taylor, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Alex Noren, Max Meissner, Davis Thompson, and Kevin Yu.
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lots of music chatter in the green room today I love it I’m here for it I feel like maybe we should have some Neil Young in the background for this segment or perhaps BTO The Guess Who Rush be naked ladies Drake Joanie Mitchell maybe Ann Murray is more Rob both in speed I don’t know it’s the RBC Canadian open it is the the the the soundtrack of golfers lives in Canada dating back to 1904 big fella what’s happening and you’re Casey swanek that was so much fun that Green Room conversation with Sinclair Chris Sinclair the uh the wizard behind the curtain yeah I learned so much uh when the two of you talk so today was a day of listening for me and now you’ve just set my playlist for the remainder of this Wednesday good to see you B uh what a sweet song orchestrated by Nick Taylor last year huh he’s one of four top 15 four in the top 15 among the Canadian players in the the power rankings I had to get all the way to number 10 before I found the defending Champion who’s the highest ranked Canadian at 30th in the world and checks in at uh plus 6600 this week I’m thinking maybe because he’s defending on a different course Rob uh is why Nick is not a little higher in the pr this week no the fact that he’s in the power rankings is is strong endorsement anyway I mean again field of 156 open record number of uh fellow Canadians in the field um so yeah it’s more than just about the official Golf World Golf Ranking the fact that he’s defending Champion could be the same course you know this happens a lot it’s not surprising that that the defending Champion is uh not number one I mean Nick Taylor in the Long Haul has really I mean he’s in his prime and he’s playing like it um there’s a lot to love in the long term there are no reasons to believe that he’s not going to have a great week uh but he’s not that guy in the inside left lane that we consider most of the time uh to contend for the title so uh at number 10 out of 156 he’s fine in terms of the feels uh in that role at Hamilton Golf and Country Club this week um but this is quite different uh I’m not discounting that in terms of maybe a potential let down because you’ll have to hand that trophy back you know metaphorically speaking uh and that’s a tough one to do this week after last year’s incredible historical experience but he’s the right guy for that you know there are certain guys that wouldn’t fit that role or want to wear that hat necessarily 100% of the time but he leaned into it and I don’t know if there’s a better guy for it either so uh uh yeah confidence is high uh defending the title would be absolutely insane I don’t even know if be it couldn’t be better than last year’s but it’ be a close a close like 1A to last year’s incredible experience of course the guy the Taylor vanquished with that uh 70 foot of her eagle and sudden death was uh Tommy Fleetwood it must have felt like Tommy against the entire world with all the energy uh at Oakdale in Ontario last year so now Fleetwood is on a short list right of best players in the game without winning that becomes a burden week uh after week and I’m sure he’s a little fatigued from hearing all the questions but he’s at plus, 1600 here this we Rob so I think the betting Market yeah are in agreement that this could be the Breakthrough perhaps had this conversation before haven’t we with this guy yeah I’m not part of the uh American contingent that that refers to him as a non-winner uh there’s a qualifier to that non-winner on the PGA tour if you don’t like it all he has to do is win well if it was that easy then he would have won already he’s certainly been so close my third favorite reaction after Nick Taylor threw the putter hugged his cat and Adam hadwin went to the ground was Tommy fleetw smile because in the face of defeat coming so close never one on the PGA to where here he is with a chance there was a victim he was the victim and all he could do was say yeah he was first front row seat for history for an entire country that’s pretty special and he seems to be of the ilk to handle that so it was a pretty cool like matchup of those two guys the right guy won in terms of the storyline and the narrative the proverb is that unfortunately somebody had to lose because it’s golf there’s only one winner in this tournament uh but Fleetwood he’s been playing well again I mean it didn’t slow him down he was already sort of re-energized at that point last year and he just kept the pedal down the problem with him as we’ve seen with so many other guys of his caliber Swan is that they they tend to play in all of the deepest fields and it’s just more difficult to win in those fields I don’t care how what this field size is I mean sometimes I do but the strength of the field matters also and sometimes more than the size of the field so this week a non- major on the PGA tour uh it is Canada’s national championship of course Fleetwood is not carrying that sort of Pride it’s an opportunity to keep it simple and go out there and finally get that Victory on the PGA tour the last player to win in Hamilton golf and country club was Rory mroy a few years ago he is the betting favorite as you would surmise at 4 to one the guy with whom he played and teamed up with to win the zero class of New Orleans is Shane Lowry who’s been playing quite nicely in fact had a strong showing at the PGA as well he’s third in the power rankings this week uh and at plus 2200 is one of the short odds on the board here this week thought he’d be shorter be honest with you and he’s playing well enough to to have earned a shorter reach so I don’t know if there’s been an Irish guy or a guy come through think a Darren Clark back in the day you know massive fan of his before he won the open and then he wins the open and I’m like now people are getting to get another understanding of why this guy is so likable and seems like one after another of these guys from Ireland now I’m H I’m half Irish as my complexion will uh prove so uh maybe there’s something in my but everybody’s half Irish at some point right I think that’s kind of the like what we all deal with and live with and enjoy but man I just got figured out inside the head you know and it’s uh it’s it’s really enjoyable and then when of course Larry’s playing well you know it’s not like he doesn’t have this fire bottom we’ve seen that time and again uh but but he’s just so humble and he’s he’s in his prime and and yeah man because he played so well 5 years ago at Hamilton finished runner up I’ll be at basically the be flight you know co-winner um he is back and he is uh uh and he’s committed this week and I love it and he’s on track to get to the Tour Championship and he’s not letting up so all the reasons to to inject him into all fantasy and at 2200 as we opened uh yeah full unit on that absolutely I was glad to see Alex nor in his high is number four in the power rankings I think he’s had a really strong season 17 straight cuts made for the swed eight straight top 25 finishes and look though he hasn’t won on the PJ tour much like the Fleetwood discussion we were just having this guy’s a proven winner he’s won 10 plus times around the globe and on the DP world tour through the year uh norin is playing at a very high level right now highly experienced guy at the age of 41 and some value at about 25 to1 this week yeah and that’s that’s much shorter also now again different conversation than Fleetwood as you mentioned he’s noring is 41 but it it doesn’t matter age is it’s it’s just a fact at this point with this guy and he’s not slown down if anything he’s enjoying a a second prime if there is such a thing uh he’s got it all figured out not doesn’t have to play in all the toughest events and he’s not uh uh in terms of field W field size and he just continues to to throw up the top 25s and and and top 10 and and he’s doing everything we expect of him and it’s just so rare to see a guy who hasn’t won on a PGA Tour come so close so many times in a row but that’s where that that that success abroad uh it plays into the form now and and why why we why he’s deserved our attention and our faith and our love for everything he’s been able to do for us of late it’s not easy and we can’t take it for granted uh he’d be a we don’t know enough about him because he hasn’t won and even fans of the game don’t know enough about him so it would be great for him not that he needs us to know a lot about him because he’s not out there really pushing himself uh self anodizing or anything like that so he checks all the boxes and then a course that’s that doesn’t reach 7100 yards that’s also a benefit I think that’s maybe where age factors in a little bit more because he’s not a bomber and you don’t have to bomb it this week all the other things play up on this course especially because he he really is in form and and the course suits him so well so I think you were touting M Meisner for a top 40 prop last week at the Charles Schwab challenge I would say he overd delivered finishing with a share of fifth place and look that’s three straight top 15s are three of the last five I should say for the rookie who slips into the power rankings this week at number 14 and hey man at 100 to one that might be worth a little of your consideration for a unit this is a time of year where rookies pj2 rookies tend to disappear and it’s not because they don’t get playing time it’s because the hes get more difficult um and the fields get deeper as we get into the season of the majors so it’s always impressive we don’t know who it’s going to be every year there’s two or three four rookies that emerge it’s just impressive because they come in with some pedigree and then they have all this learning and so much of the learning is is outside the ropes and the travel and and everything’s new and sometimes it can be can be a big for guys that we know enter the tour and Meer had a little bit of pedigree maybe not necessarily as much as like the Cy brothers that type of thing fellow rookies of his but he’s having arguably the better season of the three of them and and many many others uh who are rookies that are 29 currently in the PJ tour this is another opportunity for Meisner to to just dig in uh that’s rare I you know I’ve been liking him for a while that’s why the top 40 prop and he paid that off so now it’s time to elevate him into the power rankings and see see what he does with that but the fit makes sense too SW I mean this is the type of thing where you know an outright I don’t know what the odds are at the moment but it’s really attractive uh and there aren’t many rookies that would generate that at this time of year so there’s there’s a an elevated level of my interest in this guy right now looking to be the uh second straight winner named Davis on the PJ tour after Davis Briley last week Davis Thompson is in the field he’s got Rob Bolton’s attention we have not had a firsttime winner at the RBC Canadian open in about 15 years uh what do you like about Davis Thompson at plus 5500 as your outright sleeper this week gotta love the Davis segue nicely done always deliver Davis Thompson is a similar situation I’ll be at to PJ toour sophomore more pedigree than mner and many others uh but he’s starting to figure it out climbs into the top 100 of official gold official World Golf Ranking easy for me to say the momentum that these guys are generating right now and at a time when you know we have Signature Events two remaining they’re trying to climb into those they’re not in him yet he’s figuring it out you I typically give these guys of a certain pedigree like Thompson three years and if they happen to win within the first two sometimes I’m not necessarily a fan of that even though they might feel like it it it it makes sense he’s he’s entering two was a year and a half in but he he seems to be knowing enough about him and and following his career seems to be ready for and this is a spot this week and he’s only 55 to one to win really respectful uh a little bit though like last week I was hesitant to put a non- winner in the uh this slot for sleepers Swan just because it’s been so long since one broke through in this tournament but it does seem like it’ll happen more often and it just hasn’t there’s never a prop for you know Best non- winner that this just doesn’t exist so you have to reach out into the regular outright to to go find him he’s the type of guy where you’re looking at in advance and then you’ll realize oh of course he won rather than oh that’s a surprise it wouldn’t be a surprise at all so there are 20 players on the pj2 this season who have posted at least four top 10 finishes one of them is Kevin U which may surprise people because you’ve got to dig pretty deep in the FedEx Cup standings before you find him number 81 because it’s been a little inconsistent has missed his share of cuts as well so it’s been sort of a hot and cold season form him which is why you’re getting really nice value for a top 10 prop this week at plus 600 with Kevin U went to him uh at least once before maybe twice uh in Sleepers and it feels a little bit like cheating because he does present so well on paper uh and then you look in like you just mentioned 81st in the FedEx Cup easily the lowest of the 20 uh with four top 10 or more we’re in that season where there’s there’s four of the six courses in this stretch that are either new or unfamiliar and that tends to to benefit the the ball Strikers and that’s what he is most uh that’s his that’s his calling cards per se so uh his form across the season has been obviously fine uh he’s but he’s only 81st in the FedEx Cup so he’s not even in the playoffs field yet it’s an odd thing but because the greens are relatively unfamiliar Martin the Martin eberts uh or or is it a bear I should apologize I’m not positive the architect who restored Hamilton uh replaced the old uh Bentgrass greens that were blended with POA annual with all Bentgrass greens right now for the tournament so those are new to the 35 who had played here in 2019 uh you did not so that evens out the field for him a little bit and then allows his strength to go to work and that that plays up in down the field I did caution uh readers in the golf by The Insider this week swanie that although that’s that’s a predominant thought and narrative when it comes to the prognostication and preparing on how to invest the greens are 20% larger at 6,000 square ft now so that gives everybody a fair shot to contend without any uh uh favor skill set in advance yet you for six to one for top 10 sleeper that’s a good fit busy stretch of Big Time golf over the next few weeks got a couple of siggies uh sandwiched around the US Open I will see you again next Wednesday as we reconvene in advance of the Memorial tournament mirfield Village good to see you big fella bring my appetite for one of those Milkshakes that sounds pretty good pal talk to you then
