RBC Canadian Open Update

Good Afternoon. Welcome to Shanks. The golf newsletter that tosses you a cold beer at the turn, and says “let’s shotgun these.”

Also, happy 6/9 day to all who celebrate. Nice.

Here's what we've got for ya today:

• Update: RBC Canadian Open

• Need More Golf Leagues?

• An Interesting Twitter Thread

• Golf Data

• Golf Shots Heard Round The World (Merger Edition)

• Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Update: Memorial Tournament

Did you know, that despite all of the big money drama, there is actual golf being played right now?

For a brief moment, we can focus on that one thing we all enjoy - the game of golf.

Let’s talk about our Top 20 Pick (+210 Wednesday), the rookie making his first PGAT start, Ludvig Aberg.

If you want any benchmark for how well the college kids strike the golf ball these days, here were his five drives on the front nine yesterday:

308 fairway
345 fairway
319 fairway
343 fairway
304 fairway

He finished the first round -3 and T17. Lookin good kid!

What about everyone else?

Corey Conners, who lead at The PGA Championship until about halfway through Saturday, played a great round. He is tied for first with a handful of other players. Conners, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rory are now the three betting favorites headed into the weekend.

Canadians show out in force for this event and they really want to see a Canadian win it…

As Canada has intentionally ruined the air quality around my home, most likely at the request of Trudeau, I cannot bring myself to cheer for them this week.

Shanks Picks Update:

We don’t look like total morons after the first round of play, which is nice.

Winner Justin Rose: Rosie was -5 at one point during the round, but ended the day -3. Two shy of the leaders.

Top Five: Shane Lowry. This was our worst pick of the bunch, but not because he played awful. It was just a roller coaster round with a smattering of bogeys and birdies. He was even after the first round, but just started round two with back to back birdies. Currently -2 as I write.

Top Ten: Sam Bennett had a solid first round and is also -2.

Top Twenty: We already covered Ludvig up above.

Long Shot: Akshay Bhattia! -3 in the first round is keeping our long shot dream alive. You can’t win it on a Thursday, but you can always lose it. Great start.

Need More Golf Leagues?

As if the PGA Tour and LIV weren’t enough to make you struggle to wrap your golf ball sized brain around, lookie here, we got another league in our midst.

Introducing, the TGL or The Golf League founded and operated by TMRW Sports. Not a whole bunch is known about TGL but it is in fact backed by anti-LIVers, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. If you check out the website, you’ll find some info like:

“TGL is an innovative golf league in partnership with the PGA TOUR fusing advanced tech and live action in primetime. The league will launch with six teams each consisting of 3 PGA TOUR players. The custom-built arena will combine a data-rich virtual course with a state-of-the-art short game complex. TGL will offer a high-tech, high-energy fan experience with fans sitting greenside. The inaugural TGL season kicks off January 2024 with a 15-match regular season, followed by playoffs and championship match.”

The reason we bring this up is because on June 8, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and Serena and Venus Williams were announced as the first official backers for a team franchise in the TGL. Ohanian and his tennis Hall of Fame wife Serena believe the TGL and their “Los Angeles Golf Club” team could also attract younger fans.

Golf Shots Heard Round The World

Regulators Could Block Merger: For a few different reasons, this merger is far from done.

Terms Of The Deal: Sports Illustrated got the details from Jimmy Dunne.

Babylon Bee: Ten new rules coming to LIV PGA merger.

The Disease of More: One of the best pieces written so far on the state of golf.

This Thread

Interesting angle here…

Golf Data

Soak this in…via Data Golf.

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

This is a little more blast from the past than anything else, mostly becyase I think this website is from 1998 and there’s no prices anywhere, but still I want one of these insanely sick Bar Cars.

I’m pretty sure my clubs aren’t fitting anywhere on this, so naturally I’d have to hire someone to drive around and follow me from tee box to rough to sand trap to green for all 18 holes. But something tells me I’m not finishing the back 9 with a Jack Daniels Bar Car following my every bad swing but I’m sure going to have a helluva good time!

That's all folks! Have a great weekend of golf.