The PGA Tour heads north of the border for the RBC Canadian Open, returning to TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. This is the second year the event is being played at TPC Toronto, so it will be interesting to see if this year's event gives us a different look at the course than what we got last year in the Ryan Fox-Sam Burns playoff.
Before we jump into Canada, let's talk about what should be the biggest story in golf: Nelly Korda.
Nelly Korda took down the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday at Riviera, making this her fourth career major and continuing her chase of the 2026 Grand Slam. In eight starts this year, Korda has four victories and has finished no worse than T8. As much love as I give Scottie Scheffler in these rankings, Nelly deserves just as much, if not more.
She is playing on a different level than anyone else, male or female, on the planet right now. It's a Tiger-esque level of dominance, and if she does take down the KPMG in a few weeks, then all of us as golf fans are going to have a truly unbelievable story to follow.
Now, back to the men's Tour. As good as the Charles Schwab was for the rankings, the golf gods punished me for my hubris and gave a very poor performance last week at the Memorial, with only Tommy Fleetwood having a real chance on Sunday. Hopefully, this week proves to be a bit more successful, and lets us find some form before the U.S. Open.
Honorable Mentions: Alex Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Kristoffer Reitan, Justin Rose
9. Zach Bauchou
One of the cohort of players this week that are coming off of U.S. Open final qualifying, Zach Bauchou is going to be coming into this week hoping to snag a last-minute qualification with a win this week. The 30-year-old has been a true journeyman on his way to the PGA Tour, spending time on the Korn Ferry Tour and the Asian Tour since turning pro.
He's gotten off to a strong start in his rookie year on Tour, currently on a streak of four straight top-25 finishes. If he's able to bounce back from the exhaustion of Golf's Longest Day, then Bauchou could make a run at glory this weekend.
8. Bud Cauley
Another player coming off of final qualifying, Bud Cauley has been a player that has been lurking around on leaderboards for the last couple of years in his return from his major injury issues, a poster child for resilience. Cauley was the great collegiate talent before guys like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Patrick Rodgers, etc. came along, and finally feels like he is settled enough into a Tour career that we can start believing in victories coming for the 36-year-old.
He has a super strong all-around game; there are no real holes. It's just raising his ceiling that's been the issue. I could see this week giving us that moment of catharsis for someone whose entire career became derailed and has been on the doorstep of finally breaking through.
7. Mac Meissner
Despite a disappointing T46 at the Memorial last week, I have faith that Mac Meissner can find his way back and put together a solid week in Canada. The weather and all of the stopping and starting probably bothered Meissner a bit, and never let him find any sort of momentum or flow state to his game, so hopefully a more normal week will fix things. Meissner's play this year has been much better than what we just saw, and he has been very good recently at bouncing back from disappointing finishes.
6. Alex Noren
The soon-to-be 44-year old Swede gave us a very strong performance with his solo ninth at Muirfield Village this past week, and I have faith that Alex Noren can keep this play up. He now has two top-10 finishes in his last few starts, both coming in strong fields at Cadillac and the Memorial. As long as Noren is still focused on Canada this week and not thinking ahead to Shinnecock too much, then it's possible the Swede finally finds his first career win on the PGA Tour.
5. Eric Cole
In five of his last six starts, Eric Cole has finished in the top-14, including top-10 finishes in four. After a really poor 2025, Cole has come back in 2026 and revitalized his game, with every aspect of his game either tying or reaching career-best levels in terms of strokes gained. Cole's irons and putting are usually the name of his game, but his improved driving has really helped return Eric Cole to semi-prominence among golf sickos like yours truly. Hopefully he can finally track down that maiden victory this week.
4. Matt Fitzpatrick
After a strong start to the season, the argument could be made that Matt Fitzpatrick is not even the best golfer in his family right now. However, TPC Toronto could be the spot for Fitzy to shake off some of his rust before heading to Shinnecock. The Englishman has played well in Canada in the past, but did not play last year in the tournament's first year at TPC Toronto. As long as the putter doesn't betray him this week, then we should see anothr flash from the 2022 U.S. Open champion.
3. Brooks Koepka
I think realistically I just want to keep picking Brooks Koepka in these somewhat weaker fields no matter what, because once it fully clicks for him again, he is going to beat up these events. The T14 at the Byron Nelson was a very good bounce back from a poor PGA Championship performance for the 5-time major champion, and his solid iron play should line up well on a course that rewards solid approach play.
2. Sam Burns
There's something about the end of May, beginning of June timeframe that awakens Sam Burns, because he truly always plays well in this stretch of events. He especially plays well at the Canadian Open, highlighted by his playoff loss to Ryan Fox last year. In four starts in Canada, Burns has finished in the top-10 three times. He's long enough and accurate enough off the tee to never be out of play on any hole, and his putting usually keeps him from making any big numbers. There's truly no reason to think Sam Burns won't contend this week.
1. Wyndham Clark
As much as I am not a fan of Wyndham Clark, I cannot deny that he has rediscovered his form in recent weeks in a big way. Clark's return to prominence has been fueled by a putter switch he made going into Augusta this year, which has yielded five top-25 finishes in the six starts since, including a win at the Byron Nelson. This just feels like the Wyndham Clark that we saw win at LACC a few years ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if this confident run of form leads to another major contention for him next week as well.
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