Canadian Open Predictions: Two tips at Hamilton Golf and Country Club

The PGA Tour heads to Ontario this week for the Canadian Open, with 500 FedEx Cup points up for grabs.

This tournament was first played way back in 1904 and this will be the seventh time that the event has been hosted in Hamilton.

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day have won this event over the last 10 years and a strong field will tee it up this week.

The tournament takes place from May 30th to June 2nd at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, with the par-70 measuring in at 7,079 yards.

UK golf fans will be able to watch the tournament on Sky Sports Golf, with the coverage set to start at 5.00pm BST on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy has won this tournament on two occasions, with his first Canadian Open success coming at this course in 2019.

Not only did the Northern Irishman win by seven shots that year, but he also recorded the tournament’s lowest four round score, with just 258 strokes taken.

McIlroy is not the only player to rack up two recent wins in this tournament, with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.

Prior to 2019, the last time the event had been hosted in Hamilton was 2012, when Scott Piercy took the title on 17-under-par.

Shane Lowry heads to Canada this week having moved into the FedEx Cup top-10 standings after a consistent run of results.

The Irishman has not missed a cut in any of his last 10 tournaments and has six top-25 finishes to his name, including the T6 finish at the PGA Championship.

Lowry, who won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans event alongside McIlroy, finished runner-up to his good friend at this event in 2019.

On that occasion, the Ryder Cup star finished seven shots behind his fellow Irishman after rounds of 64-68-66-67.

Lowry had a week off last week and will arrive in Hamilton refreshed and ready to mount another challenge for the title.

Victory for Nick Taylor at Oakdale last year ended the long wait – 69 years – for a home winner and that might open the floodgates.

One man who will feel he can add another Canadian success this week is Taylor Pendrith, who is currently just outside the top-30 of the FedEx Cup standings.

The 32-year-old missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but prior to that he had been in excellent form. He won the CJ Cup and followed that up with a T10 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Pendrith will have big support from the crowds this week, especially considering the world number 61 was born in Richmond Hill in the province of Ontario.

It’s also worth noting that the Canadian is inside the top-10 for driving distance and 12th in the PGA Tour putting stats.