Heading into the 2023 Canadian Open, you could argue there was a genuine feeling that a Canadian could contend. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 golf season, three Canadians were victorious on the PGA Tour, as Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario won the 2022 Sanderson Farms Classic, Adam Svensson of Surrey, British Columbia won the 2022 RSM Classic, and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario won the 2023 Valero Texas Open.
What happened on Sunday was as an iconic and powerful Canadian sports moment you could possibly find anywhere in Canadian sports history. For one, no Canadian had won a national championship in Canada since 1954. It is not just the fact that Nick Taylor of Winnipeg, Manitoba was victorious on Sunday at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto over Tommy Fleetwood of England. It is how he won which was spectacularly special.
Taylor looked to have missed the cut after a disastrous +3 in round one that put him in 120th place. That was followed by a second round score of -5, a third round course record score of -9 and a third round score of -6. To put the 120th place position into perspective, only Ian Poulter of England had a worse position after round one as he was 123rd when he won the 2018 Houston Open. This was quite simply, an amazing comeback.
Then who could not be mesmerized by Taylor’s iconic winning eagle putt of 72 feet on the fourth hole of the playoff? This was the longest putt he has ever made in his PGA career, was the longest putt made during the entire 2023 Canadian Open, and literally put an entire country into a frenzy. Yes folks, the game of golf can create amazing sports experiences. Sunday was a prime example of how golf can deliver!
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