Taylor Wins Canadian Open in Dramatic Fashion | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the world of golf, Canada hosted the PGA Tour for its national open (the RBC Canadian Open), and the LPGA played the Shoprite LPGA Classic.

RBC Canadian Open - Tournament History

The RBC Canadian Open is the third oldest tournament on the PGA Tour only behind The Open and the U.S. Open, essentially making it the oldest non-major on tour. First played in 1904, the Canadian Open is hosted in Canada each year but has been held at 37 different venues. This year another new venue hosted the event for the first time: Oakdale Country Club in Toronto, Ontario. This event has seen many champions which include the biggest names in golf history, except for one. Jack Nicklaus was never able to win the Canadian Open in his career, finishing runner up on seven separate occasions. The only two players to ever win the “triple crown” of golf (winning all three national opens in the same season) are Tiger Woods (2000) and Lee Trevino (1979). This year, Rory McIlroy was seeking to become the first player in the tournament’s history to win three consecutive titles. 

The Big Swing 

This week, the big swing fittingly goes to the Canadian Nick Taylor. It had been 69 years since a Canadian last won the event, and this year seemed like a good opportunity to break that streak with several Canadian golfers in the field who have been playing great golf. Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, and Adam Svensson highlighted the field for Canada and all were hoping to keep the trophy in their home country. To do it, they would have to beat players like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, and Cam Young who were all in the field. On Thursday it was Conners who seemingly carried the torch for Canada as he posted a 5-under 67 to grab a share of the lead early. Taylor, on the other hand, struggled, and posted a 3-over par 75 and found himself eight shots back and just hoping to make the cut on Friday. Taylor di find his rhythm the next day, shooting 67 to post 2-under through 36 and make the cut. Meanwhile, 2-time defending champion Rory McIlroy had shot rounds of 71 and 67 and was firmly in the mix. Hatton also continued his solid play with rounds of 72 and 64 in the opening two rounds.

On moving day, Taylor really made his move, carding a bogey-free 63, making 9 birdies and 9 pars to surge up the leaderboard and put himself in contentino entering the final round. Early on Sunday, the two players making big moves were Hatton and Eric Cole. Cole entered the final round at 5-under par and posted a final round 63 to get all the way up to a tie for sixth at day's end. Hatton was only six back and he posted an 8-under 64 and ended up finishing just one shot out of a playoff. As the final pairing of C.T. Pan and Tommy Fleetwood teed off, they remained the only two players within striking distance of Taylor, who had shot 66 to finish at -17 for the week, draining a sliding 10-footer on the 18th to send the Canadian crowd to pandemonium. 

Fleetwood was able to make a par to remain tied and enter a playoff. However, Pan, needing an eagle, could not get his chip shot to fall. It was Fleetwood vs Taylor for the title.

While the crowd heavily favored Taylor, but Fleetwood was unphased having played in multiple Ryder Cups on American soil in his career. Believe it or not, Fleetwood was still looking for his first win in the United States, and Taylor was looking for his first win since the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2020. After tying the first three holes, Taylor was finally able to get a ball on the putting surface in two at the par-5 18th -- but he remained some 70 feet from the hole. With Fleetwood about 10 feet away for birdie, Taylor knew he had to lag it close to apply the pressure. However, the stars aligned for Taylor as his eagle putt found the center of the cup and dropped for eagle and the win. After making the longest putt of his career, Taylor claimed his third PGA Tour title and became the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since 1954.

Winner’s Bag - Nick Taylor 

Team Titleist gets back on the board this week after Canadian Nick Taylor claimed the RBC Canadian Open in dramatic fashion, canning a 70-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole to defeat Tommy Fleetwood and send the Canadian crowd into a frenzy. Off the tee, Taylor plays the Titleist TSi3 (10 degrees). Taylor also plays a 3-wood from the TSi line in the Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees). Taylor’s 5-wood is an older TaylorMade model in the SIM2 Max (18 degrees). Taylor also plays a 21 degree Titleist TSR2 hybrid (21 degrees). The middle of the bag features a Titleist T200 4-iron, along with a set of Titleist T100 irons (5-9 iron). Taylor also plays a trio of Titleist Vokey wedges that includes two SM8s (46 and 54 degrees) and a WedgeWorks lob wedge (58 degrees). On the greens, Taylor rolls a TaylorMade Spider Tour putter. 

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week on the LPGA Tour, the best players gathered at Stockton Seaview Golf Club in Abescon, New Jersey. The field consisted of Atthaya Thitikul, Brooke Henderson, Aditi Ashok, Nanna Madsen, and Ashleigh Buhai. Opening up the tournament it was Dani Holmqvist who took control early after an opening round 64. Jenny Shin and Yan Liu also started hot as each shot opening round 65’s. Ashleigh Buhai opened the week with a steady 69. Buhai has been playing some of the best golf of her career. At age 34, Buhai is definitely a veteran on the LPGA Tour, but it took her over 200 starts before she got her first career win last season at the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open. Since then, she has also added two other worldwide wins. 

On Saturday, South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim followed up her opening round 67 with a second round 65. China’s Yan Liu was also playing well after opening with rounds of 65 and 70. Some other players who were in the mix heading into the final round included Nanna Madsen, leader Dani Holmqvist, and Atthaya Thitikul. Thitikul, who was a part of the Thai team that won the International Crown a few weeks back continued her excellent play and opened the week with rounds of 68 and 67. 

In the final round, it was the veteran Ashleigh Buhai who started out hot and made birdies on 5 of the first 8 holes and soared to the top of the leaderboard. The overnight leader Dani Holmqvist got off to a bumpy start as she bogeyed holes 2, 4, and 6 while making birdies on holes 3, 5, and 9. All in all it was an even par front nine, but she would be playing catchup on the back nine. After bogey’s at 13 and 14, Holmqvist had seemingly played herself out of contention. With just one bogey at the 11th, Buhai was able to make a couple more birdies at the 13th and the 18th to take the clubhouse lead. Hyo Joo Kim was the player who threatened the mark set by Buhai, but she needed an eagle at the last hole to force a playoff. When Kim’s eagle chip just missed the hole, it was Buhai who stood alone at the top. This was Buhai’s first win of the season, but her 4th worldwide win in the past 10 months.