If you think the John Deere Classic has the unenviable position of preceding a trip across the Atlantic Ocean for the British Open, imagine being the organizer for the RBC Canadian Open.

Players are jet-lagged, tired and have to deal with another foreign country, one in which it can’t decide if its constituents should speak English or French. This year’s edition will take place at Royal Montreal Golf Club in French-drenched Quebec for the first time in 13 years, a return to the oldest golf club in North America, founded in 1873. It’s a tournament that welcomes in several big time names, but a Canadian hasn’t won since 1954. Last time the event was here, Scott Verplank won by three strokes in 2001 by shooting a 14-under par 199 over three days, which was shortened by a day due to inclement weather.

Royal Montreal is a short par-70 and should be dominated by the chalk. In fact, it’s easy to pick out the front runners, since most of them have endorsement deals with sponsor RBC. If not for that important detail, there would probably be a shot for some unknown to do some damage, earn a paycheck and walk out with FedEx Cup points, a Masters invitations and a trip to Hawaii next year for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. That’s a lot of motivation, regardless of attractiveness on the PGA Tour schedule.

So who are the elite guys and who are some of the other fantasy players to be on the lookoot (Oh, Canada.) for this week? Let’s break it down in this week’s maple-syrup drenched edition of Risk, Reward, Ruin.

RISK

Did you know that Canadian currency actually has on it a beaver, a moose and hockey players? You can’t make this stuff up. Okay, we Americans do use eagles, but imagine if we also put hamburgers, Ford F150s and football players on ours? I’m just messing around. I suppose it’s one aspect of what makes Canada unique. Its golf courses are too, and golf is widely popular in the far north, albeit for a shorter period of time to play due to temperature. As I mentioned earlier, it’s been 60 years since a Canadian won and that is no doubt a huge point of local interest. There are several nationals worth noting this week that could vie for a title and several more that fail to get me excited in the least. Here are five riskier selections this week.

Graham DeLaet

I may as well lead off with the best player on Tour yet to win a tournament. But in a year where so many first-time winners keep appearing, I imagine there will be many that use DeLaet this week. Really, I don’t blame you. This is one where the Canadian should challenge or otherwise reevaluate the high praise we’ve been heaping on him. This is a shot-maker’s course and DeLaet has the ability to hit it tight. He needs to make birdie putts in bunches to break through. Since a T7 at the Byron Nelson — DeLaet’s sixth top-10 of the year— he’s missed the cut twice and put up T14 and T51 results. Nothing to write home to Saskatchewan about. He’s also missed the cut in the Canadian Open three times in five tries. Risky, but who else would you mix in to four slots for Yahoo B?

David Hearn

Another Canadian, you’d remember Hearn from:

• Last year’s playoff loss to Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson at the John Deere Classic.
• His T6 at The Players this year.

That’s about it for the pro with 10 top-10s in five full seasons on Tour. Hearn’s best finish is a T20 in Canada, but on a short course he should thrive. He’s 29th in driving accuracy, 51st in GIR, and 28th in Strokes Gained-Putting. If he can clean up the misses around the green, he can be in the thick of things for his first win, which would hail him a national hero and change his whole future in the world of golf.

Hunter Mahan

Does anybody remember last year when Mahan was the 36-hole leader but withdrew one hour before his third-round tee time because his wife went into labor? He was either sharply praised for caring about his family or not caring enough about winning. Well, I don’t think he’s forgotten.

Mahan shot 67-64 to open up a two-stroke lead and winning wasn’t a forgone conclusion. Being at the birth of your firstborn, I’m sure it was a much better bit of weight to hold dearly. While the second half of his year hasn’t resulted in much success, the RBC-sponsored Mahan has shown glimpses of putting things together. He’s finished T4, T5 and T17 in Canadian Opens before and, with a solid stat line for driving accuracy, GIR and Strokes Gained-Putting, will be sticking around for the weekend this year.

Stewart Cink

In 18 starts this season, Cink has just three missed cuts and has made 11 cuts in a row. The downside is his results are pedestrian, with only a T14 at The Masters in that stretch appearing worthy of acclaim. He had three good rounds at the John Deere Classic but inexplicably posted a 74 in round three to drop him down the leaderboard. You have to go all the way back to 2006 to find the last time he played a Canadian Open. He shot 69-69-68-66 to earn a T11. He also has a T4 in ’04 and could be a sneaky pick in Yahoo B if you’re looking for a sleeper.

Russell Knox

Knox did well on another tight RBC track, fining T9 in Harbour Town at the Heritage. His lone Canadian Open start was a T56 in ’12, where he got off to a 68-66 start before fading with rounds of 73-71. The Scot is still looking for his first Tour win and nearly got it this year, losing in a playoff at The Honda Classic. He played well recently at the Scottish Open and Tour-wise ranks 22nd in driving accuracy and 15th in GIR. Much like DeLaet, he needs his putter to get hot to have a chance. Do that and he’ll be near the top in a weaker field.

REWARD

I mentioned Mahan as being RBC sponsored. You can also include Matt Kuchar in that list, who doesn’t get a nod in this column except to say he’s solid and finished second last year. You know what he is, even if he’s been average lately. The same can be said about Luke Donald, also an RBC guy. I love former champion Brandt Snedeker this week as well. The cream of the crop is obvious, but the five I like the best have impeccable form of late and that is my No. 2 criteria, especially since the Canadian Open venue moves around.

Graeme McDowell

RBC-sponsored McDowell is really loving national opens lately. With a T28 at the U.S. Open, T6 in the Irish Open, win in the Open de France and a T9 at the British Open, McDowell is entering hot. On Tour, he has six top-10s to speak of and would love to pick up another sponsor win, as he did last year at the RBC Heritage. Ranking 17th in driving accuracy, 61st in GIR and first in Strokes Gained-Putting, McDowell, who has only played the Canadian Open twice before, should find this golf course suits him quite well at the perfect time to return stateside in advance of the PGA Championship.

Dustin Johnson  

Johnson is my pick to win this week after nearly winning last year, following rounds of 75-67-63-70 at Glen Abbey. He can play short irons when others are using longer clubs and that means close putts. And since he’s a solid putter and no one can overpower him to pull away, one low round could vault him past his competitors. Johnson will probably also have a bit of Canadian support given he’s engaged to Paulina Gretzky, daughter of national hockey hero Wayne Gretzky. Johnson probably carries the mantra of best player in the world to not win a major, but as he’s proven with a T4 at the U.S. Open and a T12 at the British Open, he’s a big-time player. There’s no reason he won’t shine this week.

Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk is 43-years old? You really don’t believe it because he’s arguably the most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour. Ranked 10th in the world, Furyk now has six top-10s this season after a solo fourth at the British Open. Yes, he’s an RBC guy too looking to cash in after two solo seconds this season. Furyk was also T7 at the RBC Heritage and T9 at last year’s Canadian Open. He’s won twice in this event, in back-to-back years of 2006-07. Statistically, he’s ninth in driving accuracy and 49th in GIR. Never mind his lower ranking in putting, he knows how to scramble (first) and knows how to score (10th).

Charl Schwartzel

One of the most frequent patrons of the Canadian Open without need of RBC dollars is former Masters champion Schwartzel. Coming in off a T7 at the British Open, Schwartzel is really starting to string good tournaments together consistently. On the PGA Tour, he has four top-10s and eight top-25s. On the European Tour, he has a win at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, plus three other top-10s. He played Harbour Town to the tune of a T12 and his Canadian Open results have been T28, T42 and T9 in his first three tries. Statistically, he could be better, but his Euro numbers display a marked improvement over his PGA stats.

Charley Hoffman

You get value by picking Hoffman, since he probably has starts left to use. The downside is he’s slotted for Yahoo C where you have to decide who’s the odd man out in conjunction with McDowell and Schwartzel. With 12 consecutive-made cuts and just one in 19 starts this year, Hoffman will net you points, given his low-shooting propensity. He has five top-10s this season and put his best finish up this year two starts ago with a T3 at the Quicken Loans National.

Hoffman finished T6 at last year’s RBC Heritage, then ended T16 at the Canadian Open. He was hurt by a final-round 74, which disrupted the run of 69-69-67 he’d put together. Hoffman also has a T4 in ’10, so if he can put himself in position off the tee, his GIR percentage (10th) and Strokes Gained-Putting (37th) should carry him near the top.

RUIN

This is one of those weeks where fairly clearly you should know who goes in your lineup and who doesn’t. Seung Yul Noh won’t hurt you. Scott Piercy has value as a returning champion. Carl Pettersson has won in Canada before and at the RBC Heritage. You can’t seem to go wrong with Georgia Bulldogs this year, making Erik Compton, Kevin Kisner and Hudson Swafford all intriguing. Oliver Goss is a fine young player as the U.S. Amateur runner-up. But don’t get hung up on Canadians. It really doesn’t pay off for the most part.

Brad Fritsch

I’ll give this Canadian a little bit of credit for a T13 at the John Deere Classic in his last start, plus a T10 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January. However, Fritsch has missed 8 of 14 cuts on the season and doesn’t yet seem to have figured out his home soil. He’s played the Canadian Open six times and his missed the cut in four, withdrawn from one and finished T71 in his best year of 2011. He ranks 115th on Tour in driving accuracy, 117th in GIR and 146th in Strokes Gained-Putting. You’ve got to be good in at least one of those categories to make a mark on Tour.

Mike Weir

Mike Weir is perhaps the most successful Canadian golfer on Tour, most of that is based on his Masters win in 2003 and a slew of other good results earlier in his career. Weir does have a solo second in May at the Byron Nelson but since has missed his last three cuts. That brings him to 14 MCs on the year in 21 starts and just the one good result to speak of.

Weir’s Canadian Open history mirrors the descent of his career as a whole. Weir losted in a playoff in ’04 and was T5 in ’08, but his last four tries have been a T49, MC, WD and MC. He still putts fairly well but is struggling to reach greens soon enough for them to be birdie opportunities.

Stephen Ames

Another Canadian, Ames enters off a T52 at The Greenbrier Classic where he shot 69-68-71-70, but on the season he has missed 10 cuts in 16 tries and has just one top-25. Ames finished T8 in ’09 and T7 in ’05, but he’s also made the weekend just four times in his last 10 tries at the Canadian Open. He can put it in the fairway, but will be hitting long irons in and everything in his game breaks down from that point.

John Daly

Yeah, he’s in yet another field. I won’t hide my disdain for Daly because I think he’s a joke and makes a mockery of those who actually want to be on Tour and play well. But I’ll include him in this discussion since he’s one of the few who actually played Royal Montreal in 2001. He finished solo fourth that year, shooting 10-under over three days. Don’t be fooled by results from 13 years ago. He’s made just $76k on Tour this year despite sponsors handing out exemptions like they’re samples at Costco. If you want to hitch your wagon to the 895th ranked player in the world, be my guest. 

Derek Ernst

Look at Yahoo A. There are really just three good names to pick. Aside from that, you’re reaching. Ernst is in that group. There’s a number next to his name: 14. As in 14 missed cuts in 21 starts this year. It hasn’t been pretty either with zero top-25s this season. His best finish was, perhaps ironically, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, since his playoff win at the Wells Fargo Championship last year not only got him to Hawaii but pushed his earnings to a point where he got slotted in Group A. By the way, Ernst missed the cut last year, shooting 82-79. Yikes. Really, his win stands in stark contrast to every other tournament he’s played in his two years on Tour. He’ll hit fairways, but the rest of Ernst’s game needs a lot of work.

Down 70 points in the segment and up 100 overall in my group with nine weeks to go, I’m going all chalk this week. If you’d like to further discuss fantasy strategy or sleepers for the RBC Canadian Open, you can comment below or find me on Twitter @bricmiller. Best of luck on your week and as always thanks for reading!

This week’s picks

Yahoo!

Group A: B. Snedeker (S), M. Kuchar

Group B: D. Johnson (S), H. Mahan (S), J. Furyk, G. DeLaet

Group C: G. McDowell (S), C. Schwartzel

(Last week: 208 points; Summer segment: 601; Summer rank: 31,251; Season points: 4,367; Full Season rank: 2,628 – 97th percentile)

PGATour.com

G. McDowell, H. Mahan, C. Hoffman, J. Furyk

(Last week: 450 points; Season: 7,278; Rank: 3,725)

Golf Channel

RBC Canadian Open

Group 1: D. Johnson

Group 2: H. Mahan

Group 3: J. Vegas

Group 4: J. Wagner

(Last week: $1,053,965; Season: $13,856,640; Mulligan: $106,522; Rank: 8,115 of 40,780)