The First Look: RBC Canadian Open

Jhonattan Vegas (+250 for a Top 20) … Yes, Vegas in Vegas. With the requisite acknowledgment of that cute (but tired) connection out of the way, what shouldn’t be cast aside is his fit for The Summit Club. His driver and irons are his moneymakers, and they yielded over $2 million in 2020-21 with a trio of runner-up finishes among eight top 25s. The Venezuelan concluded the regular season with three top 20s and a T16 at the Olympics. Also rested since the entire month of September and first two weekends of October. Kevin Streelman (+250 for a Top 20) … The 42-year-old arrives having cashed in six consecutive starts, the first two of which top 20s. He has six top 20s in his last 12, three of which in majors. That’s what veteran moxie and taut ball-striking can do even as he embarks on his age-43 season. Completed 2020-21 ranked inside the top 35 on TOUR in total driving, greens hit, proximity, Strokes Gained: Approach and adjusted scoring. Alex Noren (+185 for a Top 20) … Now as an established fifth-year member of the PGA TOUR, the 39-year-old Swede presents as a threat just about every time he appears and despite having yet to connect for a victory in 112 career starts on the circuit. That’s because he’s a 10-time winner on the European Tour where he finished T12 at the Dunhill Links two weeks ago. Prior to it, he completed the Playoffs by going T4-T9 to land at a career-best 33rd in the FedExCup. For the season, he recorded 12 top 25s in 25 starts, largely on the strength of his patented putter (13th in Strokes Gained: Putting). Emiliano Grillo (+225 for a Top 20) … Although he’s fallen off the pace in recent months, the 29-year-old from Argentina always makes sense on unfamiliar greens. His tee-to-green precision slotted him 17th in total driving and third in greens in regulation last season. He also co-led the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole. Best of all, a midseason improvement with his putter swung the needle into positive territory in Strokes Gained: Putting for a couple of months into the summer. Joohyung (Tom) Kim (+800 for a Top 20) … If you haven’t been introduced to the talent from South Korea, you’ve been missing out. At just 19 years of age, he’s 151st in the Official World Golf Ranking and fourth from his homeland. Only Sungjae Im (21st), Si Woo Kim (46th) and K.H. Lee (59th) slot higher. Nicknamed after Thomas The Tank Engine, Kim is a two-time winner on the KPGA where he’s currently second in Genesis Points (with seven top fives in the last six months) and first in both scoring average and birdie average. He’s also 13th in fairways hit, fifth in greens in regulation and 22nd in putts per GIR. In five starts on the PGA TOUR in 2020-21, he cashed four times, including a solo 64th in THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and a personal-best T15 in Puerto Rico when he still was 18. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. For live odds, visit betmgm.

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NAPA, Calif. – Tony Romo didn’t come close to making the cut in his first three PGA TOUR starts, twice at the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship and once at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Still, as was the case when he quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys, he was undeterred by a little adversity. “Same thing I did in football,� Romo said after birdies on his last two holes for a 2-under 70 at Silverado, his best round on TOUR by four shots. “You just start from the beginning. You’re not very good, not very good, and then all of a sudden you make the leap somewhere and all of a sudden you can be more efficient and you can do things a little bit better.� With the afternoon wave still out on the course, Romo was tied for 24th place and squarely in contention to make his first cut. He made 122 feet of putts and beat his playing partners Beau Hossler (74) and Michael Gellerman (76) with ease. Related: Leaderboard “He played well, so that was fun to watch, and he’s a good guy,� said Gellerman, who calls himself a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. That’s the team that will play the Chicago Bears in Chicago on Sunday, a game Romo is scheduled to call for CBS, his day job. If he makes the cut, he has said he will stay at Silverado to finish out the tournament. Few observers gave Romo much of a chance to make the cut. When he shot 79-80 at the Corales last season, he missed the cut by a wide margin and beat only one pro who did not withdraw. He shot 77-82 there the year before. His best result came at the AT&T Byron Nelson on his home course, but scores of 76-74 weren’t even close to good enough to play into the weekend. “It’s embarrassing to stink,� Romo said after his five-birdie, three-birdie round at Silverado on Thursday. “I stunk a lot, so just trying to continue to improve and get better.� His highly public failures told him what he wasn’t good at, especially putting, but he worked hard with instructor Chris O’Connell on every aspect of his game. He’d seen that hard work pay off in his scores at home in Dallas, but executing in a TOUR event is another matter. “Just the scoring back home and in practice sessions have shown that I’ve done things a little better,� Romo said. “So that makes you excited to come out and test your game. I think it’s rewarding on a tough golf course to come out here and do that.�

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