Nick Taylor’s golf ball traveled more than one foot for each year that Canadian golf fans waited to see one of their own win the RBC Canadian Open.
The putt is known as “The Putt” north of the border. Nick Taylor’s 72-foot eagle shot on the fourth green of a sudden death playoff at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club ended a 69 year drought in which a Canadian had not won the national open.
CBS’s Jim Nantz exclaimed on the television call: “Glorious, and free,” said he.
It was Golfweek’s Shot of 2023.
Adam Hadwin shouted “Do it! Do it!” while kneeling on the greenside, holding a champagne bottle, as the golf ball approached the hole.
You DID IT!
Mark Zecchino, a Canadian who calls the action for Sirius/XM PGA Tour Network, lost his mind when he kept repeating: “The drought has ended…History!” History!”
After the longest putt in his PGA Tour history, Taylor threw his putter up into the air, and leapt into the arms of Dave Markle, a caddie who was a teammate of his on Canada’s amateur golf team. Taylor saw Hadwin, a former teammate on Canada’s amateur team who grew up in the same area, Ledgewood Country Club get tackled by security cards as he tried to spray Taylor with champagne. This became an even viral moment that the winning putt.
Mike Weir and Corey Conners, both Canadians, ran to the green in order to congratulate Taylor. The partisans were so loud that CBS’s Amanda Renner couldn’t hear them. They had serenaded Taylor during the day with the “O Canada” National Anthem.
This is for the guys here. Taylor, with tears in her eyes, said: “This is for my family back home.” This is an incredible feeling.
Nick Taylor and his caddie celebrate after Nick Taylor made an eagle-putt on the fourth playoff hole at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ontario on June 11, 2023. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images).
Pat Fletcher, a Canadian born in England, was the last Canadian to win at Point Grey in Vancouver in 1954. Fletcher technically was born in England. Carl Keffer, the only Canadian-born winner, won in 1909 & 1914. Weir was close to winning in 2004, when he lost a playoff against Vijay Singh. Taylor, 35, who is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has won three times on the PGA Tour. He did so despite shooting 75 in Thursday’s opening round.
Taylor stated, “I just hoped to make it through the selection process.”
Andie gave him the much-needed peptalk via phone, while she was at home with their second child, Harper, whom they had just welcomed five weeks prior.
He shot a 67 to narrowly miss the cut on Friday. Taylor shot a course record 9-under-par 63 on the Saturday, moving within three shots of leading into the final round. Taylor’s five birdies in his first ten golf holes helped him to reach 16 under par with eight holes remaining. However, a few hiccups would occur at Nos. Taylor had birdied holes 11 and 16 (with a rebound birdie on 12), so he would need to sink an 11-foot putt to finish in 6-under-66. He walked backwards, raising his fist as the ball entered the hole.
The Canucks honored RBC Canadian Open winner Nick Taylor before tonight’s game against the Sharks.
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Sportsnet (@Sportsnet 24 December 2023
Fleetwood had the chance to be the spoiler, but missed his tee-shot right on the par-5 18th hole, laid up in an awkward lie right in the rough, and two-putted the par for the playoff.
Both players made birdies their first time around. The players parred 18 and par-3 on their second play before returning to 18 for the third time.
Fleetwood’s drive hit a fairway bunker, and Fleetwood opted to lay up. Taylor’s tee-shot found a divot on the fairway. Fleetwood’s third shot was 12 feet. Taylor’s uphill eagle-putt that hit the flagstick dropped and ended the playoff.
Taylor stated that the crowd’s support was “the most incredible thing I have ever experienced in my life.” “To break this curse, if that’s what you call it, I am pretty speechless.”
Jason Logan of em>Score Golf /em>a href=”https://scoregolf.com/features/72-feet-to-history-the impact of nick taylors’ victory will last a lifetime/#::text=It%20led%20to%20a%20total,about%20while%20the%20country%20slept. Jason Logan of Score Golf recounted a scene where Taylor pulled into a McDonald’s right before the Highway 401 exit to buy Chicken McNuggets. As they were about ordering, Taylor’s car’s Bluetooth phone rang. The caller was none other that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
Taylor told Score Golf that he didn’t have his number in his phone, but it popped up on the screen for some reason. I looked at the other guys and thought, “I should take this call.”
Logan noted that Taylor’s moment was comparable to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in the NHL, Joe Carter’s World Series winning home run, and Donovan Bailey’s gold medal at the 100 meter Olympic event. Taylor’s antics were so memorable that the RBC Canadian Open altered its logo in order to honor his memory.
ICONIC. 2024 #RBCCanadianOpen
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RBC Canadian Open December 1, 2020
Adam Woodard, in the of the Golfweek game story about Taylor’s victory, wrote that Taylor will likely never need to purchase a Molson or Labatt at a 19 th hole again in Canada.
Taylor said on the “Subpar Podcast” that he had not been to bars much to test out this theory, but the next week at the U.S. Open in Los Angeles, he went to grab drinks with his old college roommate, and someone recognized him, and bought his round.
He said, “This will start happening.” It’s not that bad.
72 feet to win the national open in a play-off? This shot was unanimously chosen as Golfweek’s Shot Of The Year.
