Conners, Hughes eager to push through distractions, end drought at Canadian Open

TORONTO – It’s been nearly 70 years since a Canadian last won the RBC Canadian Open. Longer still, if you count the last time a Canadian-born golfer managed to pull off the feat.

But with three separate Canadian winners for the first time ever on the PGA Tour this season, and with plenty more positive Canadian golf stories popping up every week, why couldn’t this week be the one where the drought is broken?

Everyone knows the RBC Canadian Open organizers could use a break.

“I mean, RBC has been one of the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour over the last 10 years,” said two-time defending champion Rory McIlroy. "This year, they're supporting a designated event at Hilton Head. They're sponsoring their national open. They're pouring tens of millions of dollars into the PGA Tour that the players obviously benefit from.

“I feel bad because being such a great partner and having this stuff sort of dropped on you two years in a row is very unfair.”

The two-years-in-a-row point McIlroy is referring to is this time last year, when LIV played its first tournament. This year, on Tuesday of tournament week, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia announced they would be forming an alliance and an as-yet-unnamed new entity – turning the attention away from this event once again.

“I feel bad for RBC and the Canadian Open,” McIlroy said.

But the show must go on.

Despite the ongoing distractions of what’s happening in the world of golf, there will be a PGA Tour event played this week at Oakdale Golf and Country Club – the 37th host club of the RBC Canadian Open in its 117-year history. The front nine will play about 400 yards longer than the back nine and the build-out for fans is about 30 per cent larger than last year at St. George’s – which was about 30 per cent larger than the previous tournament in Hamilton, Ont. This week had all the trappings of another excellent kick-off to summer, until the event’s organizers got kicked in the face.

“Doesn’t seem fair. That’s probably the best way to put it,” Mackenzie Hughes said, alluding as well to the two years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “But just really unfortunate timing, I think.

“They have gotten the bad end of that stick the last couple years. It's a shame because … it should be about the history of this tournament and the great players here. But golf has never been in a place like this before and it's, there's been so many things in the last three, four years that have just disrupted the working order of golf.”

At this point in the week, however, it’s nearly golf time.

McIlroy is back, looking to become the first golfer in tournament history to three-peat. Justin Rose, who nearly shot 59 in the final round last year, is here too. Matt Fitzpatrick is hoping the same formula from a year ago works for him again this year – he finished tied for 10th at the RBC Canadian Open, then went on to win the U.S. Open the next week. Top names are driving interest, while the 21 Canadians are hoping to drive plenty of cheers.

Mike Weir will compete in his 30th RBC Canadian Open, just two shy of the all-time record. Ben Silverman, a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour season this season and en route to re-earning his PGA Tour card, is back. All of the guys who tee it up week-in and week-out on tour are hoping to make history. The list goes all the way to Drew Nesbitt, one of the final qualifiers who hails from Barrie, Ont. He’s got a great comeback story as he golfed for six months last year and worked as a carpenter until he realized he wasn’t quite done yet.

Corey Conners, however, is likely the big favourite amongst the homegrown talent.

Conners was in the penultimate pairing at the PGA Championship on Sunday before eventually falling down the leaderboard in the final round. His usual world-class ball-striking remains as such, and he is the top-ranked Canadian in both the season-long FedEx Cup standings and the Official World Golf Ranking. Although his record at the RBC Canadian Open isn’t sparkling, it’s getting better and better.

“I'm definitely getting more comfortable with the added attention,” said Conners, who finished sixth last year and earned low-Canadian honours. “It's not every week that most fans know who I am, walking around. So, this is a special week for that. But definitely embracing that and (being) more comfortable with the added things that this event brings.

“Just thrilled to be here again and it's going to be fun.”

It’s going. It’s happening. The noise is quieted, once golf balls are in the air. Someone’s going to win this tournament – and this week's gallery is likely hoping it’s a Canadian.

“It would really be a dream come true. Growing up as a junior golfer in Listowel, Ont., I dreamt of winning the Canadian Open,” Conners said. “It would certainly mean a lot to me personally. But I think playing for golf fans all across Canada, I know that it would be pretty sweet for them as well.”