Nick Taylor of Canada. File Pic
Toronto, Canada, June 12: Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan fell one shot shy of joining a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday to finish in a tie for third as he continued his return from a lengthy wrist injury.
Meanwhile, Nick Taylor became the first Canadian in 69 years to win his national open as he holed a magical 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole to beat Tommy Fleetwood, who stays without a win on the PGA TOUR.
Like Pan, England’s Tyrrell Hatton (64) and Aaron Rai (69) finished one shot out of the playoff.
The 31-year-old Pan, who led by two, closed with a 2-under 70 at Oakdale Golf and Country Club but missed getting into a play-off that saw Taylor and Fleetwood battle it out for four more holes.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion, fell short in his bid for a three-peat with a closing 72 leaving him in tied ninth at the US$9 million PGA TOUR event.
Pan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallist, was disappointed to miss out on a second career PGA TOUR win. , although the high finish ensured a second successive top five result following a solo fourth at the recent AT&T Byron Nelson. He went out in 38 and despite a strong finish where he birdied four of the closing five holes, the Asian star came up short at the end.
With local fans cheering him on, Taylor holed a difficult 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish at 17-under 271. He carded 6-under 66 in the final round.
Fleetwood, already 17-under, needed a birdie on the reachable par 5 to win in regulation. He missed his tee shot right and had an awkward lie in the right rough. He did manage two-putt for par and went into a playoff in rainy conditions.
The players traded birdies on their first time playing No. 18 in the playoff. They both parred 18 and the par-3 ninth before heading back to 18. Taylor reached the green in two while Fleetwood laid up after his drive found a fairway bunker. Fleetwood gave himself an opportunity for birdie but didn’t need to putt after Taylor’s uphill eagle putt from the front of the green hit the flagstick and dropped.
The last player from Canada to win their national open was Pat Fletcher in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver.
China’s Carl Yuan, the 36-hole leader, finished tied 18th after a closing 70 for his best finish this season while Korea’s S.H. Kim came in joint 25th with a 71.
