It was the longest putt Taylor has made in his nine-year PGA Tour career.

“For that to go in is unbelievable,” an emotional Taylor said immediately after, with the home gallery still in hysterics. “I don’t know what to say.”

On Tuesday, news unexpectedly broke that the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had announced intentions to create a new for-profit venture, a surprising turn of events after tour commissioner Jay Monahan had vowed for more than a year that the tour wouldn’t do business with the group that had pilfered some of its biggest names to help create the LIV Golf League.

On Sunday, Taylor was holding the RBC Canadian Open hardware just outside Toronto, after capturing his third tour title, with the adoring fans serenading the new champion. Canadian PGA Tour pros Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin and Mike Weir waited anxiously with the masses, hanging on every moment during the four playoff holes. They were not going to miss history.

WALK-OFF WINNER FROM 72 FEET! ?@NTaylorGolf59 wins @RBCCanadianOpen with the longest putt of his career! ? pic.twitter.com/lJtiIM43vN

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2023

“This is for all the guys who are here, this is for my family at home,” Taylor said. “This is the most incredible feeling ever.”

The drama capped a crazy four days for the British Columbia native. Taylor shot 75 on Thursday and was tied for 120th place. Rounds of 67-63 got him into contention on Sunday, where he actually held a three-shot lead for a moment in the middle of the round. But Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Aaron Rai and C.T. Pan, among others began making birdies, and it was clear that Taylor was not going to run away with his national open.

After a bogey on the 16th hole, Taylor birdied the last two holes to top Hatton by one for the clubhouse lead at 17 under, making a 12-footer on the final hole. But Fleetwood, a European Ryder Cup stalwart searching for his first PGA Tour victory in 119 starts, stormed back and birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to tie Taylor. Fleetwood played a nervy 18th hole in regulation and made par, sending the tournament into a playoff.

Of course, the playoff turned downright nutty. It started raining and continued the entire time.

Both men were short right of the green in two shots on 18 the first time but both got up and down for birdie, Taylor with a chip shot to five feet and Fleetwood by draining a 20-footer. The second time both men, again playing the 18th hole, made par after nervy approach shots. Then they marched to the par-3 ninth hole and hit tee shots to similar distances, around 15 feet, but both two putted for par.

Finally, on the fourth playoff hole, back on the par-5 18th, Fleetwood faced 12 feet for birdie and Taylor was 72 feet away for eagle, having reached the green in two. With the whole country holding its collective breaths, Taylor made the putt for eagle, sending the adoring gallery, Taylor and his caddie Dave Markle, into a celebration that’ll likely last well into the Canadian night.

“It’s huge for our game,” Weir said.

With victory on Sunday, Taylor is the first Canadian to win the national Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954. Minas Panagiotakis

Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open, doing so in 1954. Since records began being kept in earnest in 1983, only one player has been T-120 or worse in a PGA Tour event after the first round and gone on to win—Ian Poulter at the 2018 Houston Open. He opened with 73 then shot 64-65-67 and topped Beau Hossler in a playoff.

“It was the most incredible atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of and it’s not even close,” Taylor said. “I think even walking the first tee today, walking to the first green, there’s ovations on every single tee and green. 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 blacked out when that ball went [on the fourth playoff hole] with Dave. So I’m curious to watch what we did. I don’t even remember what we did. But that was an incredible moment.”

Historical significance aside, the victory was just another piece of a golf résumé that continues to impress. Taylor won both the Canadian Junior (2006) and Canadian Amateur (2007) in consecutive years as a youth and was a standout in college at the University of Washington, being named Player of the Year twice in what was then called the Pac-10 Conference. He was a three-time All-American and won the Ben Hogan Award in 2010 as college golf’s best player.

As a professional, the Canadian Open win is his third on tour, following the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2014 and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2020. He’s the fourth Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this year, following Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Svensson and Conners and he’s up to a career-high 44th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He had missed his previous two cuts.

For Fleetwood, he’ll continue searching for that first tour title after yet another near miss. After opening with consecutive rounds of 70, a third-round 64 vaulted the Englishman directly into contention. The final-round 67 was good enough to get into the playoff this time, but he may have a couple sleepless nights thinking about how lacklustre he played the 18th hole in regulation.

All Tommy Fleetwood could do was smile after Nick Taylor’s dramatic putt dropped, leaving the Englishman still in search of his first career PGA Tour title. Vaughn Ridley

“Nice moment for Nick and the fans here,” said Fleetwood, with Hatton, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry watching the playoff to show support. “It’s great to be a part of that Sunday and that playoff. I had my chances, really. It wasn’t to be this time.”

Hatton birdied the last four holes to shoot an eight-under 64, which included a double bogey on the eighth hole. He was a shot out of the playoff. Rai (67) and Pan (70) were tied for third place with Hatton. Eric Cole made nine birdies to shoot 63 and jumped 18 positions on the leaderboard to tie for sixth place with Mark Hubbard.

It was another Sunday disappointment for Rory McIlroy. The World No. 3 entered the final round two shots off the lead and with a chance to win for the second consecutive week. Last week at the Memorial Tournament he shot a final-round 75 to tumble from contention. In Canada, he made consecutive bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6 to quickly drop out of contention again and ultimately shot 72 to tie for ninth place.

McIlroy was the two-time defending champion in Canada and a victory by him would’ve been significant for the game heading into the U.S. Open next week at Los Angeles Country Club. But it’s difficult to be disappointed with the way this prestigious tournament ended. A golf-crazed nation was rewarded with the victory that it had so desperately wanted for seven decades.

And Nick Taylor will never have to buy a beer in his beloved Canada ever again.

The post Nick Taylor can’t believe he just became a national hero, but he’ll take it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Hadwin, who was born in Moose Jaw, was one of many Canadian tour pros out watching the epic playoff between Tommy Fleetwood and Canada’s own Nick Taylor. On the fourth hole of sudden death, the par-5 18th, Taylor finally ended it with a ridiculously long eagle conversion, sending the Canadian crowd into a frenzy at Oakdale Golf & Country Club.

Taylor’s victory was the first by a Canadian in the Canadian Open since 1954, so you’ll have to forgive our friends up North for going as batsh-t crazy as they did. Among the chaos was Hadwin, who ran out onto the green spraying champagne in Taylor’s direction in celebration. Apparently, security had no idea that Hadwin was a fellow tour pro, a fellow Canuck and a friend to Taylor, with one guard mistaking him for a law-breaking fan and FLATTENING him Terry Tate office linebacker style:

Security is TOIGHT at the Canadian Open ? pic.twitter.com/6cS38bQiYk

— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) June 11, 2023

Usually it’s only Hadwin’s own wife, Jessica, who is clocking him from his blindside like that (on Twitter, that is). 

All kidding aside, my goodness, what a scene. Hopefully, Hadwin is OK, so he (and we) can laugh it off. Because it’s one of the funnier situations we’ve ever witnessed. Only in golf could a legit PGA Tour pro look so unathletic in plain clothes that he gets mixed up for a fan who got under the ropes and started to cause a scene. What an absolutely ridiculous sport.

UPDATE: We have an alternate angle of Hadwin getting driven into the ground by a security guard, and it shows him hanging on to that champagne bottle for dear life:

Adam Hadwin getting tackled by security (they thought he was a fan).

pic.twitter.com/869HS8uG5l

— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) June 12, 2023

Cripes, Hadwin is lucky he didn’t get hurt. That would have been poor timing with the U.S. Open at LACC on tap this week. Good news is, it appears all is well. Here’s what Hadwin tweeted long after the celebration began:

Words cannot describe the magnitude of what you just accomplished. So proud of you @ntaylorgolf59!

— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023

And yes, Jessica did eventually weigh in, revealing that her husband pulled the most Canadian move of all time after getting run over:

Sorry to leave y’all hanging, had to get the toddler ready for bed. I’m thrilled to report that @ahadwingolf is still among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologized to the security guard for being tackled.

— Jessica Hadwin (@jessicahadwin) June 12, 2023

The word “sorrey!” was uttered at least 100 times during this entire exchange. Peak Canada. Taylor, who had a front-row seat, also explained his view of the situation. 

“Corner of my eye I saw he got a nice tackle there,” he said. “I hope he’s all right. He was upright when I saw him later. So I hope he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning with any broken ribs or anything.”

UPDATE: The “hits,” if you will, just keep on coming. Check out this cinema slow-mo version of the tackle heard round the (golf) world.

What happens when you chirp @jessicahadwin on Twitter…

(Sorry @ahadwingolf) pic.twitter.com/1Vs6YqM70Q

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 12, 2023

The post Watch Adam Hadwin get FLATTENED by a security guard while trying to celebrate fellow Canadian Nick Taylor’s epic win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It was the outcome everyone in the rain-soaked gallery at Oakdale Golf & Country Club wanted to see on Sunday, Canada’s own Nick Taylor walking away the winner at the RBC Canadian Open, becoming the first native in 69 years to win his country’s national title. But it’s the way Taylor did it, taking down Tommy Fleetwood on the fourth playoff hole, that secured the 35-year-old from British Columbia a forever place among the great moments in Canadian sports history.

Let’s set the scene: Taylor, who made birdies on his last two holes in regulation, had hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole just onto the green, but left himself a 72-foot eagle. In his nine full seasons on the PGA Tour, Taylor had never holed a putt that long, so expecting him to do it with everything on the line was probably a bit much.

But then … well this happened:

WALK-OFF WINNER FROM 72 FEET! ?@NTaylorGolf59 wins @RBCCanadianOpen with the longest putt of his career! ? pic.twitter.com/lJtiIM43vN

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 11, 2023

“I’m speechless. This is for all the guys here. This is for my family home … it’s … I’m very speechless. This is the most incredible feeling ever.”

Fleetwood, whose missed putts on the 72nd hole and the second and third playoff holes would have secured his first career victory on the PGA Tour, could only stop and congratulate Taylor before the Canadian was lost in a sea of humanity that spilled on to the putting green.

So what was running through Taylor’s mind when he stood over the putt? Here’s what he told CBS’ Amanda Renner:

“I had a similar line in the second playoff hole. I knew it was going to be slow with how much rain we’ve had. I wanted to get it as close as I can because Tommy, I thought he was going to make it {he had a 12-footer for birdie]. For that to go in it’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to say.”

Here’s another incredible view of the winning putt:

.@ntaylorgolf59 ? from Abbotsford, British Columbia ??(72 ft 6 in.) for the win pic.twitter.com/fBVMnIQqe5

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 12, 2023

The post Watch Nick Taylor become a Canadian golf legend by holing the longest putt of his PGA Tour career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.