Oh, Canada.
After 69 years of fine golfers from other countries winning the RBC Canadian Open, it fell to 35-year-old Nick Taylor to do more than make Pat Fletcher something other than the answer to the trivia question: Who was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open?
Taylor earned himself a place in Canadian sports history not just by winning the RBC Canadian Open on the fourth playoff hole against Tommy Fleetwood but by how he did it.
Seventy-two rain-soaked feet.
That’s the length of Taylor’s slam-dunk eagle putt on Oakdale Golf and Country Club’s par-5 18th hole, ending a playoff that felt as if it might last until Monday morning.
It was the culmination of an engaging Sunday afternoon that came down to Fleetwood, an Englishman chasing his first PGA Tour victory, and Taylor, who was carrying the weight of a golf-loving country on his shoulders.
Just to get into the playoff Taylor had to birdie the 17th and 18th holes in regulation and then get some help from Fleetwood, who parred the finishing hole when he chopped his way along the rough line knowing that a birdie would win for him.
When Taylor’s eagle putt hit the flagstick dead center and fell into the cup, a celebration nearly seven decades in the making unfolded. Fans stormed the 18th green, and several of Taylor’s countrymen – Presidents Cup captain Mike Weir, Adam Hadwin, Graham DeLaet and Corey Conners – were among the first to congratulate him.
“I’m speechless,” Taylor said immediately after his third PGA Tour victory. “This is the most incredible feeling I’ve ever had.”
Taylor had a similar putt on the second playoff hole, remembered the read and made the longest putt of his PGA Tour career at just the right moment.
“I can't even describe it,” said Taylor, who shot 6-under-par 66 and finished at 17-under 271. “This is the most incredible feeling. The fans were unbelievable all day. Every green, every tee box I was getting ovations, and to make those last two putts to give myself a chance to do that, I'm speechless.”
The magnitude of the moment was evident in the way his fellow tour players stayed around to watch the finish. Fleetwood had his supporters as well with countrymen Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton and Ireland’s Shane Lowry watching, giving the playoff a Ryder/Presidents Cup feel.
“It’s huge,” Weir said. “It’s huge for our game.”
Taylor, who was born in Winnipeg and raised in British Columbia, was in 120th place after shooting 75 in the first round. A second-round 67 got him into the weekend. When he shot 63 on Saturday, the hopes of a nation rose.
“Nice moment for Nick and the fans here,” Fleetwood said. “So, it's great to be a part of that Sunday and that playoff. I had my chances, really. It wasn't to be this time, but congratulations to him.”
Ron Green Jr.