Robert MacIntyre, with father Dougie at his side as his caddie, held on to win the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.
Four strokes ahead entering the final round at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, MacIntyre shot a 2-under 68 to beat playing partner Ben Griffin by a stroke. On the par-4 18th, the 27-year-old Scottish left-hander two-putted for par from 12 feet, holing out from 1 1/2 feet.
“Goose bumps. It’s incredible,” MacIntyre said. “It’s a dream of mine to play golf for a living. It’s been a dream of mine to win on the PGA Tour. … I just can’t believe I done it with my dad on the bag. The guy’s taught me the way I play golf.”
MacIntyre finished at 16-under 264 for the breakthrough victory in his 45th career PGA Tour start. The former McNeese State player was a member of Europe’s winning 2023 Ryder Cup team and has two European tour victories, the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown and 2022 Italian Open.
“I was in a dog fight there,” MacIntyre said. “Obviously, Ben made it difficult coming in the stretch. He played well. It’s just incredible to do this with my dad on the bag and have my girlfriend here and I’m sure there’s a party going on back home in Oban.”
Griffin had a 65. He parred the 18th after birdieing the previous three holes.
“I fought hard,” Griffin said. “It felt like there was a lid on the cup for most of the day for me. I hit so many pretty good putts, I wouldn’t say like striped putts, but pretty good putts and just kept burning edges. A couple bad putts, but stayed patient.”
Victor Perez of France was third at 14 under after his second straight 64.
Two-time Canadian Open champion Rory McIlroy also shot 64 to tie for fourth with Tom Kim (64) at 13 under. McIlroy won in 2019 the last time the tournament was in Hamilton and again in 2022 at St. George’s in Toronto.
“Three really good rounds of golf, one not so good one,” McIlroy said. “Felt a little out of sorts on Friday. Did a good range session and sort of rectified it.”
Corey Conners was the top Canadian, shooting a 65 to reach 12 under.
“Definitely something to be proud of,” Conners said. “Yeah, obviously disappointing to not win the big trophy, but, yeah, it’s a cool honor.
Fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, tied for second entering the day, was another shot back after a 70.
The final 10 holes were tough on Hughes, with three bogeys dropping him back down as MacIntyre found his rhythm and surged to his first PGA Tour victory.
“Pretty gutted,” said Hughes, pausing to collect himself. “Yeah, I wanted this one pretty badly.
“I don’t know. This one will sting for awhile. I obviously got off to the start I needed to get off to but I just didn’t.”
Billed from Dundas, Ont., just eight kilometres away from the course in Ancaster, Ont., — both towns were amalgamated into the city of Hamilton in 2000 and 2001 respectively — Hughes allowed that the pressure of the final round did weigh on him.
“Today I felt sort of the enormity of a few of the putts I had and a few of the shots,” he said. “Kind of felt like I was running out of holes at times and that I needed to make something happen.
“In this game you can’t really force things or feel like you need to start pressing, it’s kind of a hard game to be pressing.”
There was a small silver lining for Hughes. His performance earned him a spot in the upcoming British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland.
“It’s a great, I guess, bonus after not getting what you want, but kind of hard to think about that at the moment,” said Hughes. “It’s always great to get a major start under your belt and to play at Troon.
“I’ve played there before, so it’s a really fun golf course and looking forward to getting there in July.”
Taylor Pendrith (69) of Richmond Hill, Ont., tied for 21st at 7 under. He is projected to move three spots up to 30th on the FedEx Cup standings, making him the highest ranked Canadian on the PGA Tour.
“A good step in the right direction,” said Pendrith, who went to Kent State University with Hughes and Conners. “I felt like I did a lot of good things, I putted awesome today, saved me a lot.”
Ben Silverman (68) of Thornhill, Ont., tied for 35th, Adam Svensson (70) of Surrey, B.C., tied for 51st. Myles Creighton (70) of Digby, N.S., tied for 57th. Edmonton’s Will Bateman (74) tied for 62nd, and David Hearn (76) of Brantford, Ont., finished 69th in his 20th Canadian Open appearance.
Last year at Oakdale in Toronto, Nick Taylor made a 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth hole of a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood to become the first Canadian to win the event since 1954.
John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
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