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Storylines for the RBC Canadian Open: Will a Canadian win on home soil?
Nick Taylor. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Storylines for the RBC Canadian Open: Will a Canadian win on home soil?

The 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is just one week away, but we still have one more PGA Tour tune-up before the third major championship of the year. Let's check out the three juiciest storylines for the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto.

Big guns taking the week off

You'd think the best players in the world would want to tee it up the week before the U.S. Open to stay loose, but many of the top contenders at Shinnecock aren't in the field at TPC Toronto. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele have all opted to skip the RBC Canadian Open this year. 

Despite the lack of star power in the field, there are still some big names at the top of the odds board. Tommy Fleetwood (+1200), Matt Fitzpatrick (+1300), Sam Burns (+1500) and Collin Morikawa (+2200) are the top four favorites to win the RBC Canadian Open, per FanDuel. 

Sam Burns looks to avenge playoff loss

Burns hasn't won a PGA Tour event since the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The closest he's come to a victory since then was at TPC Toronto last year. The 29-year-old shot an 8-under 62 in the final round and had multiple chances to win late on Sunday, but he eventually lost to Ryan Fox on the fourth hole of a playoff. 

Burns, who's coming off a T4 finish at the Memorial Tournament in which he gained a season-high 7.56 true strokes on approach, is in a great position to avenge his loss from last season. He's gained strokes on approach in seven of his last eight starts and ranks fourth on Tour this season in strokes gained from putting. That combination of strong iron play and hot putting is exactly what you need to conquer TPC Toronto.

Will a Canadian win on home soil?

The RBC Canadian Open is one of the longest-running stops on the PGA Tour schedule and a beloved tournament for Canadians everywhere, but countrymen haven't been very successful at their home event. Only one Canadian player — Nick Taylor in 2023 — has won the RBC Canadian Open since 1954.

Taylor (+4000) is the most likely Canadian to win on home soil this year based on the betting odds, while Taylor Pendrith (+5500), Corey Conners (+6000), Sudarshan Yellamaraju (+7000) and Mackenzie Hughes (+10000) are longer shots with a chance. 

Jack Dougherty

Jack Dougherty has been writing professionally since 2015, contributing to publications such as GoPSUSports. com, Centre Daily Times, Associated Press, and Sportscasting. com

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