If you remain in any doubt as to what formula works best at Glen Abbey, which hosts the RBC Canadian Open for the final time, last year's leaderboard should do the trick.
In first place was Jhonattan Vegas, winning here for the second year in succession, this time getting the better of Charley Hoffman in a play-off. Back in fourth was Gary Woodland despite a poor putting week, a comment which also applies to Tony Finau in a share of fifth. Alongside him were Robert Garrigus and Brandon Hagy, the latter ending the year third in driving distance, a position Finau fills 12 months down the line.
I'm not sure there's been a more power-packed top five since the PGA Tour gladly waved goodbye to Doral and while Glen Abbey is considerably shorter than that Florida monstrosity, its predilection for brute force makes sense. The fairways at Glen Abbey are difficult to hit yet the rough is not penal, a rare combination which, when we throw in small greens, means those attacking from closest and with the most loft are at a huge advantage.
Some wind in the forecast threatens to change things a little but it could well be counterbalanced with rain and while the winning score could be affected, I'm not sure it'll change the nature of the course sufficiently to remove that bias towards the big-hitters. Vegas has won here in 12-under and 21-under, the changing conditions doing little to alter the fact that his power gave him an advantage, and before him came Jason Day's 17-under success over Bubba Watson. Any one of the three scores may do it; it's easier to conclude that whatever the number, the man who gets to it will probably hit the ball a long way.
- any two players in the top-five (inc ties)
- any three players in the top-10 (inc ties)
- any three players in the top-five (inc ties)
Glen Abbey is a Jack Nicklaus design, so Lovemark's victory on a similar layout on the Web.com Tour catches the eye, while he's also been 10th at Muirfield Village, seventh at PGA National and sixth in the CareerBuilder Challenge, where he shot 65 on the Nicklaus layout.
Last time out he ranked 10th for strokes-gained tee-to-green and much will depend on the putter, which has largely been cool for some time. However, big-hitters Finau and Woodland defied poor putting to contend here last year and just last week, Troy Merritt demonstrated once more that you can lose ground on the greens and still win a tournament at this level.
Lovemark, whose short-game is otherwise excellent, is exactly the type who could produce something similar if he's playing a course where his waywardness off the tee isn't too harshly punished, and that's certainly the case here at Glen Abbey where the emphasis is on the second shot.
"It was my first event as a pro back in '09, so it's special to me, and I'd love to win here," he said four years ago, and perhaps it's finally time for his breakthrough to arrive.
Keeping with the theme, Tom Lovelady is worth sticking with having tied for second in the Barbasol Championship where he played with the winner in round four.
That experience will do this monster hitter the world of good, as will hanging around with his close friend Justin Thomas, and there's plenty more to come as he learns to harness his explosive power and gets comfortable in contention.
Lovelady really served it up to Merritt on Monday, blasting his way through the par-fives on the back-nine, and was understandably thrilled with his performance.
"I gave it everything I had," he said. "One shot short, but got a lot of momentum moving forward.
"This is the best I've ever driven the ball off the tee. I put a new shaft in play last week, and that really helped and this really helped a bunch.
"Just keep doing what I'm doing."