Finau on a roll and in comfort zone at open Glen Abbey

Tournament starts midday Thursday
Sky Sports Golf from 8pm Thursday

Palmer’s top tip
Tony Finau 30-1
The appetite of Matt Kuchar for the RBC Canadian Open has to be questionable after the dejection of his Royal Birkdale near-miss.

Kuchar is no bigger than 11-1 for victory in Canada, a price which makes no appeal given the circumstances of his Open Championship. He was one shot ahead through 13 holes of the final round and playing superbly in his bid for a Major breakthrough at the age of 39. Then Jordan Spieth turned into Superman and provided Kuchar with a defeat he described as “crushing”.

If RBC were not one of Kuchar’s main sponsors, he would almost certainly be spending this week with his feet up, and it will surely be difficult for him to apply himself. Jason Day managed to win this title after missing an Open playoff by a shot in 2015, but Day is a much younger man who knew he had many more Major opportunities ahead of him. This is a much more bitter pill for Kuchar to swallow.

Expect a flat Kuchar to be upstaged by Tony Finau at Glen Abbey GC. Finau tied for 27th at Birkdale, a continuation of a solid year in which he has missed only three cuts in 18 starts. Four excellent performances – fourth place at Torrey Pines, fifth in the Valspar, third in the Texas Open and seventh in the Greenbrier – have been interspersed with top-40s in every other event in which he has qualified for the weekend.

Finau competed on the Canadian Tour in 2013 as a building block to US Tour stardom, and the powerhouse should be supremely comfortable at Glen Abbey. As with most Jack Nicklaus designs, there is room off the tee, which Finau always appreciates, and he carded the best Sunday round (65) of the 2015 tournament there, sharing 22nd spot.

Next best
Dustin Johnson 7-1
World number one Dustin Johnson showed his best form only in short spurts at Birkdale – a third-round 64 the highlight – but a tight, par-70 with only two par-fives is not ideal terrain. Glen Abbey is much more suitable, a fact underlined by his second-place finishes in his last two starts there.

Johnson’s runner-up spots in Canada have both come after four rounds in the Open, so fatigue from his trek across the Atlantic is not a significant concern. He took a month off between the US Open and Open, so remains eager for competition, and the DJ who was so dominant before the Masters should make plenty of noise again this week. He will soon marry into a Canadian family and is keen to impress.

Other selections
Patrick Rodgers 66-1
Robby Shelton 100-1
Complete your staking plan with two young maidens who should make a breakthrough soon enough. Patrick Rodgers was runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in the John Deere Classic last time out, losing by a shot, and he also finished second to Rory McIlroy in the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.

Rodgers, who matched the college victory total of Tiger Woods and was amateur world number one, recently reverted to his old driver swing. He is using a power-fade again, recovering comfort and control off the tee, and Glen Abbey sets up nicely for him. Rodgers closed with an encouraging 67 there last year.

Robby Shelton is four years younger than Rodgers and has less US Tour experience, but he was third in the 2015 Barbasol Championship as an amateur. In the last couple of months, he has been competing on the Canadian Tour, winning the GolfBC Championship, then finishing runner-up in the Players Cup. He closed with a 64 in the Barbasol on Sunday and this 21-year-old, who beat Spieth in the 2010 US Junior Amateur, seems destined for a glorious future.

Others to note
Patrick Cantlay
The 25-year-old Californian has been making up for lost time after an injury-interrupted start to his career, excelling on the US Tour this season. A maiden victory seems inevitable at some stage, but this is his Glen Abbey debut.

Ollie Schniederjans
The 24-year-old has, like Cantlay, done enough this year to indicate a US Tour breakthrough will come sooner rather than later. Needs to smarten up on the greens.

Danny Lee
The New Zealander has been suffering some injury niggles, prompting a retirement from the John Deere Classic. Serious title threat if fully fit.

Adam Hadwin
The 29-year-old has taken over as Canadian No. 1 and will seek to become the first Canadian champion since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Shaky recent form would make it a shock.

Graham DeLaet
The 35-year-old Canadian is another of the main home hopes. Was tenth in the Memorial last month and 20th in the Greenbrier last time out.

Kevin Chappell
The Texas Open champion is one of the best players in the field, but Glen Abbey form figures of 68-MC do not marry well with missed cuts in his two latest starts.

Staking plan
T Finau
2.5pts each-way 30-1 BoyleSports
D Johnson
4pts 7-1 general
P Rodgers
1pt each-way 66-1 Coral
R Shelton
0.5pt each-way 100-1 Coral

Course Glen Abbey Golf Club, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Prize money $6m ($1.062m to the winner)

Length 7,253 yards Par 72 Field 156

Course records – 72 holes 266 Tiger Woods (2000); 18 holes 62 Leonard Thompson (1981), Andy Bean (1983),
Greg Norman (1986), John Merrick (2013)

Course winners taking part Vijay Singh, Chez Reavie,
Jhonattan Vegas

When to bet By midday tomorrow

Where to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 8pm tomorrow

Time difference Canada is five hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week – Barbasol Championship 1 G Murray (66-1),
2 C Collins (300-1), T3 B Gay (90-1), S Stallings (35-1),
T Ridings (250-1)

Course overview Glen Abbey was the regular port of call for the Canadian Open for the best part of two decades from 1977, but the tournament has moved around a lot more in the new millennium. Since Tiger Woods won the 2000 edition at Glen Abbey with a record-breaking 22-under-par total, only six further renewals have been staged there (2004, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016). Jack Nicklaus designed the course in 1976, his typical blueprint (generous fairways, more challenging approaches and greens) on show. Mark Calcavecchia set a new US Tour record for consecutive birdies in the 2009 Canadian Open at Glen Abbey, making nine in a row from the 12th to the second (started his round on the tenth) on the Friday. A creek runs through ‘the valley holes’ of 11-15, demanding sound strategy, but the course as a whole lends itself to a winning score in the high teens under par. The par-fives (fifth, 13th, 16th and 18th) are obvious pick-up holes.

Story of last year Jhonattan Vegas overcame a five-shot final round deficit, closing with a 64 to edge Dustin Johnson, Martin Laird and Jon Rahm.

Weather forecast A mixture of sunshine and showers. Breezy on Friday, but relatively calm for the other three rounds.
Type of player suited to challenge The last seven Glen Abbey champions have been an eclectic mix of playing styles. There is no obvious type, although the wide fairways allow big-hitters to set themselves up well on the fours and fives.

Key attribute Power