Bolton: Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark headline RBC Canadian Open picks

All right, here we go! Segment 3 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf launches with this week’s RBC Canadian Open. So, before a few words of advice on how to wade in, a primer is appropriate.

The order north of the border is the first of 12 stops in the final phase of the 2026 fantasy season. It’s one of six for which the winner receives 500 FedExCup points (or 50 FedExCup bonus points in our universe). The other six are distributed as follows: two majors, one Signature Event and three FedExCup Playoffs events. You can review the fantasy schedule .

Since the current format of the fantasy game was introduced years ago, it’s always been smart to begin your planning with who you want to be available at the TOUR Championship. Only 30 qualify, so you don’t want to rush into burning a start that could prove pivotal. I could tell stories, so I will in a moment.

However, that is no longer entirely the case since the FedExCup points distribution was revised in January. Each of the tournaments in the playoffs will yield 75 FedExCup bonus points to their winners, not 200 like previous seasons. (The TOUR Championship doesn’t distribute actual FedExCup points to the real golfers, but PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf uses the same dispersion for all three legs for uniformity.)

The change aligns the bonuses in all three playoff events with the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. (As the last Signature Event, the Travelers Championship will reward its winner with 70 FedExCup bonus points.) So, instead of end-loading your starts for the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, gamers who exhibited the most patience in the past now have more flexibility. That should translate into more aggressive strategies, especially at the Travelers, where applying pressure in that no-cut competition could offer some separation that has more real-time value with what now are similarly rewarded Playoffs events.

Meanwhile, because both majors are contested on courses woven into rotations determined by the USGA and The R&A, respectively – the U.S. Open was last held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 2018, while Royal Birkdale hasn’t staged The Open since 2017 – because fantasy scoring for both likely will be below average, and because the Travelers and all three Playoffs events will not have a cut, deprioritize the majors in your long-range calculus. Instead, target next-tier talent and non-members to help with your roster management over time. There always are exceptions, but we’ll attack those in the weeks when those decisions are presented.

Now, as we assess the options at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course, there’s one player who demands a plan – Tommy Fleetwood. He’s No. 3 in my Power Rankings, but he’s also the reigning FedExCup champion. No, the defending champion of the TOUR Championship, or any FedExCup Playoffs event for that matter, isn’t automatically eligible to compete in the next edition of the same tournament, but he’s 10th in the FedExCup, so he’s on the short list of options for whom you’re going to want to reserve one start for East Lake. He also presents extremely well in majors, so if you bite this week, plan on eliminating one of the majors from his future possibilities, not the TOUR Championship.

While it’s a good idea to approach every decision for every golfer in Segment 3 similarly, it’d be too constrictive in the aggregate. To settle into a mindset that serves both strategy and freedom, allow yourself the grace to be OK getting beaten by a short list of golfers at the finish line in the event that it happens.

One of my stories involves the outcome in 2023. I had burned my third start on Viktor Hovland at the BMW Championship that he won, but I couldn’t continue to ride his momentum at the TOUR Championship that he also won. It cost me the title. It wasn’t the result that I wanted, but I didn’t have Hovland among my targets to win the FedExCup when the last segment started, which means that I was OK losing because of him. Lo and behold ...

You can’t keep all of the plates spinning at once, but your best shot at winning your league championship is with a consistent and methodical approach week after week. Continue to check in regularly and connect with me anytime you want on .

Captain

Wyndham Clark ... With the heater he’s on, he’s the quick pick. Also an easy No. 1 in my Power Rankings. He hung up three terrific rounds at TPC Toronto a year ago (for a T59), but because he’s gone on extended torrid runs of form in his career, it’s evidence that he knows himself well enough to just continue doing what he’s doing right now. That’s the kind of peace of mind that I want and need as I begin Segment 3 with a two-point lead in my little league.

Other considerations

• Sam Burns ... The easy No. 2 in my Power Rankings. T4 last week, P2 here last year. He’s a five-time PGA TOUR winner, but it’s been three years now since his last, and that was the Match Play, so he loses what was close to a coin flip with Clark. That said, if you’re chasing, his mojo is perfect for you right now.

• Tommy Fleetwood ... If you start the Brit, then you might as well designate him as your captain. You’ll note below that I’m stowing him in case of an emergency, so I’ve opted for the hedge. I have some scar tissue due to past usages, so I won’t mind losing a start if necessary.

Rounding out the roster

Loaded with momentum and a few guys for whom I don’t see needing three starts in Segment 3, so it’s a sensible smattering. Note that I’m swerving around Matt Fitzpatrick. He’s third in the FedExCup and not firing on all cylinders right now, so he’ll be useful later.

My starters

• Wyndham Clark (C)
• Eric Cole
• Alex Fitzpatrick
• Kristoffer Reitan

My bench

• Sam Burns (1)
• Tommy Fleetwood (2)

Careful

For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants avoiding, and it might be represented in my Power Rankings which is not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I single out who demands pause and why.

• Collin Morikawa ... It’s understandable why he’s at 32% among saved rosters at last check, and he will pay off again, but his life both inside and outside the ropes has been a lot in the last couple of months. From the expected birth of his first child to the lingering back issue (that he’s deftly managed at times), it’s wiser to leave him alone until things settle. At fifth in the FedExCup, he’ll be there for the remainder, physical fitness willing.

• Robert MacIntyre ... Finished T36 in his title defense here last year, but he didn’t win at TPC Toronto in 2024. His victory occurred at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Pinging at 18.7%, but he has zero top 40s among only three paydays in his most recent six starts. It’d be natural to think that he’s a bit homesick, as it was two years ago when his dad was his caddie for his PGA TOUR breakthrough, so perhaps that contributes to this slump in some way.
• Viktor Hovland ... Sits 71st in the FedExCup and without traction upon arrival for his tournament debut, but last among those with double digits in ownership percentage at 11.
• Corey Conners ... It wasn’t long ago when Canadian golfers were surging. Given their relatively shallow representation on the PGA TOUR, it makes sense that it was unsustainable as a group, but consider that he hasn’t had a top 10 all year and he’s still the country’s top-rated talent in the Official World Golf Ranking at 54th. PGA TOUR rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju is pacing his countrymen in points collected this year, and he’s fourth-highest at 110th. However, Conners is at 22.4% in ownership distribution for his national open, while the lefty is at just 3.3%.

Returning to competition

• Stephan Jaeger ... Given his penchant to score and recent burst of nice form, he would have been on the preliminary short list for the Power Rankings if not for a balky back that derailed his week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he withdrew during his second round. But as is often the case during the week of Final Qualifying for the U.S. Open, we were treated to a pair of sub-70s in Georgia free of charge. It wasn’t enough to gain entry into the field at Shinnecock Hills, but don’t let it disrupt your reach in DFS.

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