Jim Furyk would be the golf odds favorite for this week’s Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Course, but the two-time defending champion is taking some time off after finishing T-34 at the British Open. Here’s a look at the top players who you should consider in your offshore sportsbook.Golf Betting – Thursday, July 23, 6:00 AM ET
Camilo Villegas is the highest-ranked golfer competing in the 100th edition of the Canadian Open, and he was T-53 here in 2008. However, he’s coming off a solid T-13 at the British Open, and the Abbey is a golf course which rewards good iron play, which is right up Villegas’ alley: he’s 17th in greens-in-regulation this season.
Sean O’Hair will also challenge for the lead, as he finished T-3 here and he’ll be looking to recover from a terrible 65th-place result at the British Open. O’Hair is fifth on the Tour in greens-in-regulation and seventh in birdies, and Chaz Reavie’s -17 was good enough to win last year, so if the course is going low, look for O’Hair to be a handicapping software favorite
Anthony Kim is another player who pounces when a course is set up for birdies, as he is ranked eighth in the Tour in that category. Kim will be aiming to bounce back from a missed cut at the British Open, and this type of golf course suits his game just fine as proven by his T-8 at the Abbey in 2008. He would do well to improve on his driving accuracy, where he is 187th on the Tour.
Retief Goosen was T-5 at the British Open, and he now has five straight top-30 finishes, including three in the top 15. Goosen has already won once this year at the Transitions Championship, and after his great play in Scotland, he could be worth a shot.
Finally, you can’t talk about the Canadian Open without Mike Weir, who finished T-5 here last year and is looking to become the first Canadian since Pat Fletcher in 2004 to keep the trophy in the north. Weir had a great chance to do this in 2004, but a late collapse cost him the title, which went to Vijay Singh. He missed the cut at Turnberry, but given that he’ll be the crowd favorite (and we saw what happened in the Presidents Cup when he beat Tiger Woods), he’s definitely one of the top sports picks of the weekend.
