After beginning the tournament in 120th place, Taylor shot to victory
The RBC Canadian Open is one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour’s calendar, attracting professional golfers from all over the world. Going into this year’s event at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, lots of eyes were on the golfers due to last week’s stunning announcement that the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Tour were merging, instead of continuing litigation against each other.
Former world number one and two-time Canadian Open winner Rory McIlroy was the betting favourite going into Thursday, followed closely by a few more stars in Matthew Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, Justin Rose. Canadian Corey Conners also received attention, shooting a 5-under 67 on Thursday to tie for the lead after day one.
A few more Canadians looked like they had an outside shot to at least make it to the weekend – but not Nick Taylor. The Abbotsford, B.C. native shot a 3-over 75 on Thursday, placing him tied for 120th in the 156-player field. Taylor then rebounded nicely on Friday with a 5-under 67, just barely sneaking in the cut, but it was Saturday when he started to make his move. Taylor said his wife “gave him a kick in the butt” after a slow start to the event, which helped him push away the negativity and change his thinking on the course.
Taylor began his 3rd round with five birdies on the front nine, another on 10, and on 13. He then fired up the majority Canadian crowd with yet another birdie on the par-3 14th, equipped with hockey boards around the green and dubbed “The Rink”.
The two-time winner on the PGA Tour managed to avoid any bogeys and arrived at the final hole just a birdie away from breaking the all-time course record that had been tied only the day before by Tyrrell Hatton. Although Taylor’s approach shot found a greenside bunker, he went up-and-down and sunk an 8-foot putt to secure the record. The 9-under 63 left Taylor within striking distance of the lead.
Taylor and Connors entered Sunday attempting to break a 69-year drought. The last Canadian to win the prestigious event on home soil was Pat Fletcher, back in 1954. Taylor was also looking to defy the odds: since proper records began being kept in 1983, just one player had been T-120 or worse in a PGA Tour event after Round 1 and gone on to win the event.
The Abbotsford native just kept nailing birdies and shot to the top of the leaderboard, finishing Sunday’s front nine with a 4-under 32. He started to run into a bit of adversity on the back nine, however. Although it was sandwiched between two more birdies, he shot his first bogey in 32 holes on the par-3 11th and added another on the 16th. He briefly gave up the lead but finished the round with back-to-back birdies to put him alone in first heading into the clubhouse.
That lead didn’t last for long, however, as British Ryder Cup stalwart Tommy Fleetwood stormed back into contention with birdies on 16 and 17, and a par on 18. The two would play a set of sudden-death playoff holes (in the order 18th, 18th, 9th, 18th) to determine who walked away with the $1.6 million dollar prize.
Like clockwork, light rain began to fall in Toronto as the two were carted to the 18th tee block. The par-5 18th is not a normal PGA Tour hole, coming in at just 496 yards – reachable in two shots for even the worst of the participants. But neither Taylor nor Fleetwood seemed to seize the opportunity to put the game away. Their approaches missed the green the first time around, and although the two managed to both get away with saving birdies, the next time playing the hole was even worse. They settled for par on the hole that was far-and-away the easiest on the course, playing half a stroke easier than par for the weekend.
The two moved onto the 9th hole, a 193-yard par-3, as thousands of spectators ran across the 18th fairway behind them to get a chance to witness history. Both men hit their tee shots to a similar spot on the large green and tapped in for par. It was back to the 18th for the two professionals and also the mass of spectators who had followed.
Taylor hit his drive down the right side of the narrow fairway, and after a couple of bounces and a roll, fell into a divot a fraction of an inch into the first cut. It was a brief moment of concern for Canadians, but that quickly subsided when Fleetwood smashed his ball into a fairway bunker. Fleetwood then layed up out of the sand with an iron, opening the door for Taylor, who did not disappoint the Canadian faithful who had stuck around through hours of waiting and playoff holes. He placed his wood shot nicely onto the green, and though he was facing a 72-foot eagle putt, he was on the green before the Brit. Fleetwood then turned the pressure up a notch and set up a 10-foot birdie putt for himself. It was beginning to look like we’d need yet another playoff hole.
Taylor’s caddy David Markle declined to even take the Canada flagstick out for his friend. No one had made a putt that long the entire tournament. Taylor had not made a putt that long ever in his entire career. But the putt just kept rolling, astounding every soaked person in attendance, every pair of eyes locked to the television from their couches at home, and every golf fan calming their nerves in their local sports bars
Nick Taylor has finally brought the National Championship home after 69 years. The relatively unknown 35-year-old also leaps into 6th place in the FedEx Cup standings with the victory. More importantly, he has joined names like Sidney Crosby, Joe Carter, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul Henderson in the ranks of great Canadian sporting moments.
And as teased in the replay of the madness after the putt, here is fellow Canadian and PGA Tour member Adam Hadwin being hit-sticked by security while attempting to give Taylor a champagne shower.
