Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Memorial Tournament (Patrick Cantlay)
THIS WEEK: RBC Canadian Open, June 6-9
Hamilton Golf & Country Club, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Par 70, 6,967 yards)
Purse: $7.6 million (Winner: $1.368 million)
Defending champion: Dustin Johnson
FedEx Cup leader: Matt Kuchar
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
NOTES: World No. 1 Brooks Koepka will make his first start since winning the PGA Championship. … The last Canadian to win the country’s national championship was Pat Fletcher in 1954. Twelve Canadians are in the field. … The event moves from July to June for the first time since 1989. … Scott Piercy (263 in 2012) holds the tournament scoring record at Hamilton G&CC, which first hosted the event 100 years ago. … World No. 4 Rory McIlroy and No. 6 Justin Thomas are making their tournament debuts. … Johnson seeks to become the seventh player to successfully defend an RBC Canadian Open title.
BEST BETS: Johnson (11/2 by Sportsbook.ag) is known for his distance, but it’s his improved iron play that has transformed D.J. into a consistent weekly threat. He should have plenty of short irons in his hands this week with Hamilton playing under 7,000 yards. … Koepka (6/1) is a four-time major winner, but wants to build his non-major resume as he enters with a modest six career PGA Tour victories. … Shane Lowry (40/1) is a momentum pick based on a T3 at the PBC Heritage and a T8 at the PGA Championship in his past two starts. The Irishman also won earlier this year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. … Corey Conners (80/1) is a longshot to break the 65-year Canadian drought in the event, but the Ontario native is a feel-good story as a longshot bet who has two top-fives this season to go with his first PGA Tour victory at the Valero Texas Open.
NEXT WEEK: U.S. Open, Pebble Beach, Calif.

LPGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: U.S. Women’s Open (Jeongeun Lee6)
THIS WEEK: ShopRite LPGA Classic, June 7-9
Seaview Hotel and Golf Club, Bay Course, Galloway, N.J. (Par 71, 6,217 yards)
Purse: $1.75 million (Winner: $252,500)
Defending champion: Annie Park
Race to the CME Globe leader: Jin Young Ko
Television: Friday, noon-2:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 3-5 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
NOTES: This event was first held in 1986 and returned to the schedule in 2010 following a three-year hiatus. … Park shot a final-round 8-under 63 to beat Sakura Yokomine by one stroke for her first LPGA Tour victory last year. … Canadian Brooke Henderson has six top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season, tied for the Tour lead. … Lexi Thompson is making her first start in the event since 2015. … This is the third of 12 consecutive weekends with an LPGA Tour event, culminating in the Ladies Scottish Open in August.
NEXT WEEK: Meijer LPGA Classic, Grand Rapids, Mich.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Principal Charity Classic (Kevin Sutherland)
THIS WEEK: Mastercard Japan Championship, Narita-shi, Chiba, Japan, June 7-9
Narita Golf Club-Accordia Golf (Par 72, 7,140 yards)
Purse: $2.5 million (Winner: $400,000)
Defending champion: Colin Montgomerie (2017)
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Scott McCarron
Television: Thursday, 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday 12:30-3 a.m. (All times Golf Channel)
NOTES: Montgomerie’s victory punctuated the first official PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament in Japan. … Scott Parel is coming off a playoff loss last week and posted a T10 in the event two years ago. … Jerry Kelly has gone 40 holes without a bogey and has four T5s in his past five starts. … Kobe, Japan, native Ken Tanigawa won the Senior PGA Championship two weeks ago and is second on the Charles Schwab Cup money list.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: American Family Insurance Championship, Madison, Wis., June 21-23
–Derek Harper (@DerekAHarper), Field Level Media