TORONTO | The RBC Canadian Open deserved better.
Let’s start with a disclaimer: Yes, Royal Bank of Canada is a massive corporate entity that spends millions on golf as a marketing vehicle. That’s been true for 15 years since the bank stepped up and rescued the floundering tournament, which was on life support with no sponsor at the time. Without RBC, there’s a strong possibility the tournament would not exist. Yes, RBC is a corporation, and businesses don’t get their feelings hurt. But it is hard to argue that the bank, which has pumped tens of millions into Canadian golf in recent years, hasn’t been a huge boon to golf in this country.
With that in mind, it feels as if RBC and the Canadian Open surely deserved to catch a break.
Instead, they got hit from the wake of the launch of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, the breakaway Saudi-backed golf tour.
After two years of COVID-19-related stop-start cancellations, the RBC Canadian Open finally moved forward this year. And in the weeks leading into the event, everything looked to be finally lining up. COVID restrictions largely disappeared as the virus receded. The venue, St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto’s west end, was a great setup ahead of this week’s U.S. Open, drawing players tuning up for The Country Club near Boston. The field was strong – five of the top 10 in the world, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and defending champion Rory McIlroy, the eventual winner. The concert series, which draws the casual sports fan and was highlighted by pop group Maroon 5, lured spectators to a tournament last played in 2019. The Canadian Open might not have the moves of Jagger, but it did have the steady driving backbeat of Charlie Watts. Ticket sales were pumping in a way not seen since Tiger Woods turned up more than 20 years ago, with big marketing promotions decked out with the face of Dustin Johnson encouraging people that, yes, this year, as the tagline suggested, “summer’s open.” Finally.
On Sunday, they were rewarded with a marquee final grouping of top-20 stars Tony Finau, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, with red-hot Sam Burns in the penultimate group ... That’s four times as many Official World Golf Ranking top-20 players in the Canadian Open’s top three as LIV has on its entire roster.
Then came LIV Golf, and in a few hours after the nascent tour announced its initial field of players, RBC and the Canadian Open were sent scrambling. Of course, RBC and the Canadian Open should have been preparing to celebrate. After all, they had what could be argued was their best field since RBC took over as sponsor in 2008, as well as hot ticket sales and a great venue.
The first hit came from Johnson. In February, Johnson stressed that he wouldn’t depart for LIV, was committed to the PGA Tour and therefore would be in Canada in June. Then came the news, in the week ahead of the tournament, that Johnson would quit the PGA Tour once LIV backed up an armoured car with a mountain of cash, reportedly as much as $180 million. As one of the game’s most visible stars, Johnson had his mug plastered on a lot of marketing for the RBC Canadian Open. The tournament hastily pulled down the banner with Johnson’s face near the first tee at St. George’s, but the damage was much deeper than some advertising.
It was all made worse by the fact RBC took a chance on Johnson in early 2018 when it signed a deal with the occasionally troubled major champion. He brought visibility and firepower to the “Team RBC” approach – a group of sponsored players – and, in turn generated more attention and better fields at the Canadian Open. Johnson would win the tournament the year he signed his deal, making RBC’s investment in the big hitter seem astute.
Of course, once the LIV news was out, RBC axed its deal with Johnson. But in doing so, the bank already had been drawn into the turmoil caused by the Saudi-sponsored golf league. Instead of promoting their impending tournament, Golf Canada and RBC were left to deal with the fallout as another sponsored player, Graeme McDowell, also jumped ship, while others, Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson, couldn’t get into Canada because of questions about their vaccination status.
What should have been a celebration of the return of the tournament after two years, was instead lost in a series of articles about the damage caused by LIV Golf that had its unveiling in the U.K. last week, running opposite the first three days of the RBC Canadian Open.
Strangely, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wasn’t visible in Canada, even though he was in Toronto early in the week for meetings and a Golf Canada event. Still, when suspending the traitorous tour pros who went to LIV, he plugged RBC. It was the least he could do.
“This week, the RBC Canadian Open is a shining example of what you have created with the PGA Tour: a star-studded field, a committed sponsor, sold-out hospitality offerings, record crowds and a global broadcast distribution,” Monahan said in an email to players that was released by the tour.
The good news is that Monahan was largely right about the crowds. The throngs that descended on St. George’s didn’t seem to care what was in the headlines about some breakaway golf tour. They came to drink beer and pound on the boards of “The Rink,” a faux hockey setup on the 16th hole that has captured the imagination – and alcohol tolerance – of the casual sports fan. They came to sing “O Canada,” as aging Canadian golf hero Mike Weir missed the cut by one stroke Friday despite draining a 5½-foot birdie putt on his final hole. And the 25,000-plus who were at the course on Saturday surely didn’t give two twists of a beer cap that Charl Schwartzel was winning $4.75 million on YouTube at a tournament being played on the other side of the Atlantic. They came to shout at JT, roar at Rory, and generally try to put two lost summers of COVID behind them.
On Sunday, they were rewarded with a marquee final grouping of top-20 stars Tony Finau, McIlroy and Thomas, with red-hot Sam Burns in the penultimate group for what shaped up to be a shootout. That’s four times as many Official World Golf Ranking top-20 players in the Canadian Open’s top three as LIV has on its entire roster.
Where does this leave the RBC Canadian Open? Next year, the tournament will head up the road to Oakdale Golf and Country Club, a 27-hole ultra-private club with a massive clubhouse. It extends the commitment of RBC and Golf Canada to take the tournament to classic, old-school courses. But who will play there? That can’t be answered in the current climate.
Freed of marketing commitments to Johnson, McDowell and the like, RBC could be aggressive with the next gen of rising stars; already the bank has been linked to a deal with world No. 9 Burns. Officially there are no appearance fees on the PGA Tour, but not shockingly, Team RBC members have, until this year, always turned up to play in Canada. A new, young crop of sponsored players surely would benefit the Canadian Open.
Regardless, with a potential title-sponsorship renewal pending, and significant uncertainty in the market, there are questions facing RBC and Golf Canada. Both organizations deserved better, and for the foreseeable future they will have to navigate circumstances that are largely outside their control.
TOP: Rory McIlroy: “Certainly this is the best atmosphere of any golf tournament going on this week.”
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