Nick Taylor became the first Canadian in 69 years to win the Canadian open and according to him, he doesn’t remember the moment it happened.
“I blacked out when that ball went in with Dave. So I’m curious to watch that, what we did,” he said.
Taylor made history in Canadian sports when his uphill, left-to-right-breaking putt — the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career — hit the flagstick and dropped on the fourth hole of a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood for the RBC Canadian Open title.
“It’s a tournament that we’ve circled on our calendar since probably junior golf,” Taylor said. “To kind of break that curse, if you want to call it, is — I’m pretty speechless. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite some time what happened today.”
Fellow Canadian players Mike Weir, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin were there to congratulate him while his close friend, Hadwin, created a scene when he got tackled down by security while spraying champagne on Nick Taylor.
Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver.
Taylor curled in an 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish at 17-under 271 at Oakdale, walking backwards with his fist raised as the ball dropped into the cup as galleries cheered.
“It was the most incredible atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of and it’s not even close. I think even walking the first tee today, walking to the first green, there’s ovations on every single tee and green,” Taylor said.
Fleetwood, a two-time Ryder Cup player from England and a six-time winner on the European tour, remains winless on the PGA Tour.
“When Tommy would miss and they would cheer, I kind of felt bad for him. But I knew just how pumped they were and they were trying to put every ounce of energy into it to help me pull it through.”
“I played great today, even though I missed some chances, if you like, on those playoff holes,” Fleetwood said after the game. “Yeah, it was close. I just have to take the positives from it and start practicing tomorrow. I got a major next week. So can’t dwell on it too much.”
Nick Taylor is the fourth Canadian to win on tour this season, joining Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson.