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Canadian Nick Taylor became the first local player to win the RBC Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954 on Sunday. He did so by taking the victory in a hard-fought play-off duel against Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
Taylor and Fleetwood tied for first place at 17-under 271 and faced off in a sudden death round that was no less tight. Four extra holes (the longest play off in the last 40 years at the Canadian Open) had to be played for the Canadian to take home a sensational victory, which included an eagle on the last hole.
Nick Taylor managed to carry his ball in two strokes to the 18th green (par 5), which hosted three of the four play-off rounds. He then holed a 72-foot putt that gave him the victory, literally with his last shot at the Canadian Open.
It had been an excellent tournament for Taylor, who was able to recover from a +3 on the first day. He recorded a -5 on the second and an extraordinary -9 in the third round, which put him squarely in contention for the title.
In the fourth round he was able to shoot a -6 to force a playoff in which he eventually took the crown.
This is Taylor's third victory on the PGA Tour, which he has been a part of since 2015.
Meanwhile, Tommy Fleetwood was a worthy rival who showed great stability in his game, stringing together rounds of -2, -2, -8, -5 at the Canadian Open. He could even have taken the victory on the very first hole of the play-off, as he had a 36-foot putt for eagle, but was unable to make it.
Meanwhile, the defending champion of the Canadian Open, Rory McIlroy, could not maintain his upward trend and, after scoring Even in the fourth round, fell to T9. The other extreme was Eric Cole, who shot the best fourth round of the field (-9) and climbed 18 places to T6.
Canadian Open final leaderboard
Here is the final leaderboard for the 2023 Canadian Open:
P1 Nick Taylor: -17
P2 Tommy Fleetwood -17
T3 Tyrrell Hatton -16
T3 Aaron Rai -16
T3 C.T. Pan -16
T6 Eric Cole -14
T6 Mark Hubbard -14
8 Justin Rose -13
T9 Brandon Wu -12
T9 Andrew Novak -12
T9 Rory McIlroy -12
T12 Adam Hadwin -11
T12 Harrison Endycott -11
T12 Doug Ghim -11
T12 Jonathan Byrd -11
T12 Harry Higgs -11
17 Nate Lashley -10
T18 Will Gordon -9
T18 Carl Yuan -9
T20 Matt Kuchar -8
T20 Sam Bennett -8
T20 Lucas Glover -8
T20 Matt Fitzpatrick -8
T20 Corey Conners -8
T25 Chez Reavie -7
T25 Alex Smalley -7
T25 Ryan Moore -7
T25 Justin Lower -7
T25 Dylan Wu -7
T25 Ludvig Aberg -7
T25 Lee Hodges -7
T25 Ted Potter, Jr. -7
T25 S.H. Kim -7
T34 Harry Hall -6
T34 Roger Sloan -6
T34 Cody Gribble -6
T38 Brendon Todd -5
T38 Patton Kizzire -5
T38 Sahith Theegala -5
T38 S.Y. Noh -5
T38 MJ Daffue -5
T38 Greyson Sigg -5
T43 Michael Kim -4
T43 Ryan Gerard -4
T43 Callum Tarren -4
T43 Peter Malnati -4
T43 Carson Young -4
T43 Shane Lowry -4
T43 Chesson Hadley -4
T50 Austin Smotherman -3
T50 Garrick Higgo -3
T52 Brent Grant -2
T52 Mike Weir -2
T52 Jason Dufner -2
T52 Cameron Percy -2
T52 Brian Gay -2
T57 Andrew Landry -1
T57 Scott Piercy -1
T57 Cameron Young -1
T57 Adam Long -1
T57 Stuart Macdonald -1
T57 James Hahn -1
T57 Peter Kuest -1
T57 Sung Kang -1
T65 Richy Werenski E
T65 Scott Brown E
T65 Taylor Pendrith E
T68 Trevor Cone +1
T68 Akshay Bhatia +1
T68 Wil Bateman +1
T68 Brice Garnett +1
T72 Henrik Norlander +2
T72 Vince Whaley +2
T72 Martin Trainer +2
