Saturday was unlike the first two days of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.
There was plentiful sunshine. The scores were low. Numerous players made their move at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto, hoping to play their way into contention on moving day.
The leaderboard is loaded heading to Sunday. There’s Rory McIlroy, who’s searching for his third straight RBC Canadian Open victory. There are players going for their first victories on Tour. Then there’s the Canada angle.
The last time a Canadian won the RBC was Pat Fletcher in 1954. There are a pair in striking distance with 18 holes to go. However, it’s a former PGA Tour Canada player on top by two.
RBC Canadian Open: Photos
Going to be a fun Sunday, eh?
Here’s what you missed from the third round of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.
Crowded at the top, but Rory is lurking
Rory McIlroy played only nine holes, the back nine, at Oakdale Golf and Country Club before teeing off Thursday in his opening round. He did the same thing last year at St. George’s.
Maybe there’s a secret to his success in Canada.
McIlroy, who has won the last two RBC Canadian Opens in 2019 and 2022, is again within striking distance for his third consecutive victory north of the border. McIlroy shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Saturday, moving to 12 under and in a four-way tie for second, two shots behind C.T. Pan, who sits at 14 under.
“I got off to a great start,” McIlroy said. “3-under through that first nine holes I felt was a really good effort. Kept it going through the first part of the back nine. Then the putter went a little cold on me over those last five holes. But, yeah, overall, it’s great to put myself in with a shot tomorrow. There’s a lot of people up there around the lead, so it’s going to be a fun day.”
If McIlroy were to win Sunday, he would be the first to win three Tour events in a row since Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic from 2009-11. A hat trick in Canada, some would say.
Last week, McIlroy held the solo lead at the Memorial Tournament before a final-round 75.
Pan, who finished fourth in his last start at the AT&T Byron Nelson, missed the cut in his previous three starts before that. He has dealt with a wrist injury for nearly five months before finding his stride at the Byron Nelson.
He birdied his two final holes to garner a two-shot advantage, Pan’s first 54-hole lead on Tour.
“It’s always cool to see my name on the top of the leaderboard,” Pan said. “Not just leaderboards, just to be in contention. That’s all I want to do before the tournament started. Finished birdie, birdie. That put me in a good spot. But I still got a lot of work to do.”
The 2019 RBC Heritage champion will have plenty of chasers, though, come Sunday.
Justin Rose birdied six of his final seven holes to move to 12 under and into the tie for second. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this season. Then there’s Mark Hubbard, Tommy Fleetwood, Harry Higgs and Andrew Novak, all at 12 under and searching for their first Tour victories.
That’s right, a six-way tie for second.
“I’m not going to change anything,” Hubbard said. “I’ve been playing so good, I just got to keep relying on my putter and hopefully I make it a little easier on myself tomorrow.”
Canadians Nick Taylor, Corey Conners looking for history
Nick Taylor’s knees tensed up.
The 35-year-old Canadian was begging for his golf ball to go just a bit more to the left. It did, sneaking its way into the cup. Taylor pumped his right fist, and the crowd encircling the 18th green went berzerk.
Taylor gave the Canadian fans plenty to cheer for Saturday, posting a course-record 9-under 63 to move to 11 under for the tournament. He made the cut one above the number. By the time his birdie putt on the par-5 18th dropped, he had a two-shot lead.
“I drove it really nice yesterday. Did that again today. Just started making putts,” Taylor said. “I feel like I’ve been putting really nice this year. So driving it well, keeping it out of the rough as much as I can and making putts is always a good recipe around here.”
Taylor went off so early, he finished his found nearly an hour before 36-hole leader Carl Yuan teed off. That meant an afternoon of watching the rest of the field battle Oakdale Golf and Country Club while knowing he’ll have a late tee time come Sunday.
This week, the front nine has played nearly two shots harder than the back, but don’t tell Taylor that. He went out in 5-under 31, including birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9. He added four more on the back nine, including consecutive circles at Nos. 13 and 14.
Taylor’s last win came more than three years ago at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Come Sunday, he’ll be aiming for history.
“The crowd will be on my side maybe,” Taylor said, “so that will be a nice difference. I’m going to try to win a golf tournament, and adding the extra pressure, if you want to call it, of being a Canadian and winning the RBC Canadian Open would be on top of that.
“I think I’m ready for the moment, so we’ll see.”
In addition to Taylor, Corey Conners is at 10 under after a 2-under 70 and four back of Pan heading into the final round. Conners won the Valero Texas Open earlier this year and was in contention three weeks ago at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Although he didn’t go as low as Taylor on Saturday, they’re in a similar spot after 54 holes.
Step it in, Harry
Harry Higgs is one of the more open personalities on the PGA Tour.
He’s not afraid to share his emotions with the media, and he’s well known for what he did at the WM Phoenix Open 16th hole last year with Joel Dahmen.
Harry wasn’t taking off his shirt this time 😅
Incredible energy for @HarryHiggs1991 at The Rink @RBCCanadianOpen. pic.twitter.com/WJq0e8yxm3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 10, 2023
Although he didn’t take his shirt off at The Rink, he did step in a putt on the 18th hole for birdie that moved him into the tie for second.
However, Higgs said Friday he felt as if he was on the verge of putting all the pieces together, and it’s showing in his play. Higgs made birdies on six of his final 10 holes and is only two shots off the lead seeking his first Tour victory.
What’s put him in position for just that?
“My attitude,” Higgs said. “All of my golf clubs for the most part, but my attitude was really good. Because I still hit some poor shots today where, in the past, I could have kind of started to freak out, maybe on that hole not saved a score I should have saved. And then it would have led and bled further into the round.
“But I was really able to just kind of shake it off, get back to kind of the cues that I’m working on and pour in a few putts, make a few birdies and get myself in a good spot for tomorrow.”
The rink living up to hype
If there’s a sport Canada is synonymous with, it’s not golf. It’s hockey.
However, there’s a big hockey presence at Oakdale Golf and Country Club’s 14th hole, where ‘The Rink’ came to life Saturday. There are hockey boards built around the tee box, with deep rows of fans screaming and clamoring as players enter the tee and prepare to hit their shots.
As Canadian players step to the tee, the clamor gets even louder, as fans bang the boards and, at one point, sang O Canada, the Canadian national anthem.
“(The fans) have been phenomenal,” Taylor said. “I felt like it grew as the day went on. The Rink was already fired up, which was really fun.”
As McIlroy was putting on the 13th green and as he hit a birdie putt, the fans on the tee box ahead were slamming the boards and chanting his name.
It’s no 16th at the WM Phoenix Open, but The Rink has added plenty of excitement and flair to Canada’s national open.
“The Canadians have been, it’s they have been great this week so far and hopefully they will carry on,” Fleetwood said.
Added McIlroy: “It’s a lot of fun. It’s really loud. But it’s really cool. The one thing (my caddie) Harry (Diamond) said to me walking up 14, he said, ‘Thank God that the people in Phoenix aren’t this close to the tee box as they are here.’ So there’s just the right amount of people for how close they are. But, yeah, it’s a lot of fun, it creates a great atmosphere and fun to be a part of.”
A commissioner update
When CBS came on the air at 5:30 p.m. ET, Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman discussed the merger involving the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund for 10 minutes.
Toward the end of the conversation, Nantz mentioned he invited PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to come inside the TV tower on the 18th hole to discuss more of the details. Monahan declined, however, noting he was sensitive to the RBC Canadian Open’s limited broadcast window on Saturday and how the LIV Golf League’s launch hung over the event last year.
Nantz said Monahan would be in the booth for an interview in the near future.
