PGA Tour Golf, Canadian Open

Sa Sep 11 – 3:30 pm EST (ESPN)
Su Sep 12 – 3:00 pm EST (ESPN)

This week’s event returns to the Jack Nicklaus designed Glen Abbey for thefirst time since 2000, and has attracted a decent field due to it’sproximity to next week’s Ryder Cup, with no less than seven US team membersusing the event as warm-up. The field is headed by the relentless Vijay Singh, who could have been excused for having a week off now that he hasfinally wrestled the No.1 spot off Tiger Woods.

Singhdoes not have the best Canadian Open record, however, so for the winner atvalue odds it could pay to take a look at Justin Leonard. The Texan’s record here of three top-six finishes, including a joint third at ‘the Glen’ back in 1999, merits him the utmost respect, while his overall levelof play has improved recently (joint second at the PGA Champs) after anindifferent season. Daniel Chopra is in the form of his life at the moment(4th at the Deutsche Bank last week), and 66/1 looks a fair price for theSwede who has shown gradual improvement since graduating from theNationwide Tour in May. His ability to win on the main Tour has not yetbeen tested, but he is certainly capable of squeezing into our five placesat least!

The final pick goes to long hitter Hank Kuehne, again at 66/1,whose game appears to have turned the corner after a poor start to theseason. His 6th place in the Deutsche Bank was very encouraging, his 3rdtop-20 finish in his last five starts. Finally, it is worth mentioning thefine performance of David Duval last week (13th after just making the cut),who has set his target on a win before the season is out, although he mayneed another outing or two before he can be seriously backed.