With the professional hockey and basketball seasons winding down, golf season is now in full swing as we head into Canadian Open week.
This year’s annual event will be held at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley from June 5-8, one week before the U.S. Open, the third major of the season. The recently renovated North Course will play a challenging 7,445 yards, with the 585-yard par-5 18th hole serving as the signature hole on the par-70 track.
Rory McIlroy, No. 2 in the World Golf Rankings, is the outright favourite to win the event with around +425 odds depending on the online sportsbook. Ludvig Aberg, No. 6 in the World, and Shane Lowry, No. 16 in the WGR, will also be competing in the field this week.
Rory McIlroy to win the Canadian Open
Defending champion Robert MacIntyre, who we correctly identified as a player to back at ridiculously long 80-1 odds in our preview last year, will also be back to defend his title, albeit at much shorter +2500 odds this time around.
There will also be a strong contingent of Canadian players in the field, including 2023 Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor.
All odds mentioned in this article are courtesy of bet365.
Notable Canadians in the field
Corey Conners (+1600): Conners has the third-shortest odds in the field, and for good reason. He has five top-10 finishes and 10 top-25 results in 14 events this season, missing the cut just once. He’s also played very well in the two majors this season, posting a T8 result at the Masters and a T19 at the PGA Championship. Conners finished sixth at the Canadian Open last year but has never won the annual event on home soil.
Taylor Pendrith (+2000): Pendrith is also in the midst of a fine season, posting six top-25 results and four top-10 finishes in 15 events. He finished T5 at the PGA Championship and T12 at last week’s Memorial Tournament, so he’s swinging it well heading into the Canadian Open. Pendrith is sixth on Tour in strokes gained off the tee and sixth in greens in regulation this season.
Nick Taylor (+3500): After missing the cut at the PGA Championship, Taylor rebounded with a fourth-place finish at the Memorial last week. He’s posted three top-10 finishes and seven top-25 results in 15 events this season, so he must be feeling good about his chances of becoming a repeat champion at the Canadian Open this week. The Winnipeg native has been excellent at hitting greens this season, ranking 12th on Tour in greens in regulation percentage and 25th in proximity to the pin with his approach shots.
Mackenzie Hughes (+3500): It’s a little surprising to see Hughes with relatively short odds at this event given his recent play. He’s missed the cut in three of his last five events and he’s coming off a T39 result at the Memorial. However, he did finish have an impressive result at the Myrtle Beach Classic during that stretch, finishing T2 after losing in a playoff.
Boosted 3-leg Canada parlay: Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes Top-20 Finish
Outright odds (Top 15)
| Golfer | Odds (bet365) |
| Rory McIlroy | +425 |
| Ludvig Aberg | +1400 |
| Corey Conners (CAN) | +1600 |
| Shane Lowry | +2000 |
| Taylor Pendrith (CAN) | +2000 |
| Robert MacIntyre | +2500 |
| Sungjae Im | +2800 |
| Sam Burns | +3000 |
| Harry Hall | +3300 |
| Nick Taylor (CAN) | +3500 |
| Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) | +3500 |
| Keith Mitchell | +3500 |
| Luke Clanton | +3500 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | +4000 |
| Alex Noren | +4500 |
Three golfers to back
Sam Burns (+3000): We’re getting some nice value on Burns, a five-time PGA Tour winner, at this price. He’s playing well heading into this event, finishing no worse than 30th over his last five events, including three top-15 results. He’s third in total strokes gained over his 12 events, and he’s had some success in Canada, finishing T4 in 2022 and T10 in 2024 at this event. We like his chances this week given the limited field.
Justin Rose (+7000): Why not take a flyer on the 44-year-old veteran this week? He’s one of the best putters on Tour, as evidenced by his 12th-ranked putting average and 17th-ranked one-putt percentage, and he’s already had some success this season with a T3 at Pebble Beach and a second-place finish at the Masters after losing in a playoff to McIlroy. He also had a T8 at the Arnold Palmer in March. With a lack of talent in the overall field, back Rose to be a mainstay on the leaderboard this week in Canada.
Nicolai Hojgaard (+8000): Consider Hojgaard as a deep sleeper entering this tournament. He’s largely struggled since March but is showing signs of turning things around after a T41 showing at the PGA Championship, where he put together three solid rounds aside from a 77 in the third round that sent him spiraling down the leaderboard. Statistically, Hojgaard is having a solid season, ranking 17th in strokes gained approach to green, 15th in driving distance, 12th in greens in regulation, and 26th in birdie average. He’s still seeking his first PGA Tour win, but he boasts four wins on his resume in Europe.