TORONTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New Zealand’s Ryan Fox had a dynamic putt to extend the RBC Canadian Open and later used an awesome rip from the fairway to help secure a victory.

Fox birdied the fourth playoff hole to win a showdown with Sam Burns and capture the tournament Sunday north of the border.

Fox notched a 4-under-par 66 in the final round, forcing the playoff with a birdie putt from about 17 feet on the last hole of regulation, on the way to his second career victory. Both triumphs have come across his last four tournaments.

Burns shot 62 to set the clubhouse lead and then waited a couple of hours in an attempt to notch his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years.

Burns and Fox finished at 18-under 262 at the North Course of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.

The duo played the par-5 18th repeatedly in the playoff until a winner was determined. They each recorded pars the first three times through.

“Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight there for three holes,” Fox said. “It was some pretty average golf from both of us, some average putting.”

Fox drilled his second shot to the green on what became the last playoff hole, while Burns had an approach shot roll off the green.

“That shot I hit on 18 with the 3-wood was probably the best shot I ever hit,” Fox said. “It would have been nice to make (the eagle putt), but hey, I’ll take it.”

Fox’s tee shot on the first playoff hole was in a bunker off the fairway, but Burns’ potential winning putt from inside 6 feet was off the mark. Fox left a 12-footer to win short on the second playoff hole; Burns left his approach shot short on the third playoff hole, but recovered.

Fox had a bogey-free round, rallying with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to pull within a stroke. He played the 18th by lofting his second shot less than 175 yards down the fairway — clearly aiming to tie and trying to be in good position with his approach — and it worked out.

“I hit some great shots down the stretch in regulation,” Fox said. “Probably got a little lucky on that putt on 18 in regulation, snuck in the left door.”

Taiwan’s Kevin Yu posted 66 for third place at 17 under.

Cameron Young (65) and Matt McCarty (67) tied for fourth at 16 under. The trio of Andrew Putnam (67), South Korea’s Byeong Hun An (66) and Italy’s Matteo Manassero (69) tied for sixth at 15 under.

Burns had nine birdies and one bogey. The birdies included five consecutive holes to begin the back nine, and he tacked on one more on the final hole.

“I knew I needed to make birdie there to have a chance,” Burns said during his layoff prior to the playoff. “I knew that was important to make that one.”

With the last pairing just a few holes into the final round, a dozen golfers were within two shots of the lead.

Fox and Manassero began the day sharing a one-shot lead.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, with an early tee time, stormed to the lead with an eagle on the par-5 first hole (a 4-foot putt) followed with three consecutive birdies. He was undone by playing the last 10 holes in 2 over, ending the round with 67 and the tournament at 13 under.

Yu gained the lead briefly with an eagle on the par-4 second hole on a shot from 91 yards out. He got going again with birdies on three of the last five holes, including the 18th.

“I’m glad I finished great with three birdies in the last few holes,” Yu said. “… Proud of how we fought today, and hopefully coming back next year will have better results.”

Young, who began the round with an eagle, said he thought he was in ideal position until his only bogey came on the last hole when his second shot went awry.

“I couldn’t have hit two better shots on the last hole,” Young said. “I don’t hit 3-wood that far, and it’s blowing straight into the wind, and it decided to bounce all the way to the back woods. I thought in the air I was going to have about a 12-footer to win the tournament, and it ended up somewhere I was going to struggle to make par, let alone make a 4. Pretty upset.”

Second-round leader Cameron Champ was back on track with a 67, putting him at 14 under.

–Field Level Media

The post Fox Burns-Up in PGA Tour Playoff appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

TORONTO – Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, British Columbia defeated England’s Tommy Fleetwood in a four-hole playoff Sunday to become the first Canadian to win the RBC Canadian Open since 1954 (69 years).

Taylor won the playoff with a 72-foot, 6-inch putt for eagle (longer than any putt in his career) and is the first Tour player to win a playoff with an eagle since Hideki Matsuyama at the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii.

The post Canada’s Taylor Takes His National Open appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

TORONTO – Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title at the RBC Canadian Open, carding a final-round (62) to win by two strokes over Tony Finau.

With his 21st career win, McIlroy moved into a tie for 31st on the all-time PGA Tour wins list and became the sixth player this season with multiple victories and fourth to successfully defend a title.

Justin Rose made bogey at No. 18 to card a 10-under (60), tying his career-low score and lowest score on Tour this season.

Corey Conners (solo-6th) took honors with the Rivermead Cup as the low Canadian professional.

Keith Mitchell and Wyndham Clark (both T-7) earned spots in The Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series.

54-hole co-leader Tony Finau carded a final-round (64) to finish solo-second, earning his 10th career runner-up on Tour and 50th Top-10. … Finau has three Top-fives in his last five starts (T-2/Mexico Open at Vidanta, T-4/Charles Schwab Challenge, 2nd/RBC Canadian Open), but he fell to 0-for-5 with the 54-hole lead/co-lead.

Justin Thomas (solo-3rd) tied his career-high birdie streak with six in a row at Nos. 6-11 and moved to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings while World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler finished T-18.

RBC Canadian | Final Leaderboard

Rory McIlroy 66-68-65-62—261 (-19)

Tony Finau 66-71-62-64—263 (-17)

Justin Thomas 69-69-63-64—265 (-15)

Justin Rose 69-70-67-60—266 (-14)

Sam Burns 67-69-65-65—266 (-14)

The post McIlroy Defends RBC Canadian Title appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

TORONTO – The RBC Canadian Open leaderboard features the stars of stars in the game of golf. Take that LIV!

Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns and a hot Wyndham Clark are within two strokes going into the final round of the tournament, sure to be rain-soaked and exciting.

Today’s final grouping (Finau, McIlroy, Thomas) has 37 PGA Tour wins, three FedEx Cup titles, six majors, and an average OWGR of 10.7 on their collective resumes.

Defending champion and two-time FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy holds a share of the lead entering the final round, and with a victory, he would move into a tie for 31st on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with 21

Tony Finau tied his career-low score (62) Saturday to move into a tie for the lead.

Justin Thomas recorded his 19th score of (63) or better since joining the Tour, the most of any player in that span while World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler carded a 1-over (71) and fell to T-29.

Nick Taylor is T-15 at 5-under (205), the best of any Canadian in the field.

All tee times and overall play are being adjusted to avoid thundershowers in the forecast.

RBC Canadian | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Tony Finau 66-71-62—199 (-11)

Rory McIlroy 66-68-65—199 (-11)

Justin Thomas 69-69-63—201 (-9)

Sam Burns 67-69-65—201 (-9)

Wyndham Clark 63-70-68—201 (-9)

Alex Smalley 67-67-67—201 (-9)

Full Leaderboard (link)

RBC Canadian | Tournament Facts

COURSE: St. George’s Golf and Country Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

YARDS/PAR: 7,014 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT: Stanley Thompson

PRIZE Money – Purse/Winner’s Share: $8,7000,000/$1,566,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @RBCCanadianOpen

TV COVERAGE: Sunday coverage is set for 1:00pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and 3:00 to 6:00pm (ET) on CBS, weather permitting

PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage will be featured on ESPN-Plus today with Main Feed, Featured Hole and Featured Groups from 10:30am to 7:00pm (ET).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live coverage of the RBC Canadian on Sunday with airtime at 1:00pm to 6:00pm (or completion of event). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

The post RBC Canadian: Star Studded Leaderboard appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

TORONTO – Wyndham Clark, seeking his first career PGA Tour title in his 107th start, executed a key “up and down” to save par from a green-side bunker at No. 18 to maintain his one-stroke lead headed into the weekend.

Following his 6-under (64) in round one, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick played his last five holes in 4-over and shot (70). He and four others trail Clark by only a stroke.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy sits T-2 in bid to successfully defend a PGA Tour title for the first time while World No. 1 and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler will begin round three just three strokes back at 4-under (136).

At 2-under (138), Nick Taylor and Aaron Cockerill lead the contingent of 19 Canadians in the field as the RBC Canadian Open is being played for the first time since 2019 after two cancellations due to COVID-19.

The cut was 70 players at 1-over (141) from a field of 153 professionals and three amateurs.

RBC Canadian | Leaderboard After 36 Holes

Wyndham Clark 63-70—133 (-7)

Alex Smalley 67-67—134 (-6)

Keith Mitchell 67-67—134 (-6)

Rory McIlroy 66-68—134 (-6)

Matt Fitzpatrick 64-70—134 (-6)

Jim Knous 67-67—134 (-6)

The post Clark Leads at RBC Canadian Open appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.