St. George’s Golf and Country Club agrees to host 2021 RBC Canadian Open
TORONTO – Golf Canada and title sponsor RBC have confirmed that the membership of St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto has agreed to host the 2021 RBC Canadian Open, with nearby Islington Golf Club housing the official practice facility for the tournament.
The two facilities were scheduled to host the 2020 RBC Canadian Open this week (June 8-14), prior to the event being cancelled because of international travel and government restrictions related to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The 2021 RBC Canadian Open will be held June 7-13.
“Together with our partners at RBC and the PGA TOUR, we are very pleased with the overwhelming support by the members of St. George’s Golf and Country Club to host the RBC Canadian Open in 2021,” said Golf Canada CEO, Laurence Applebaum. “The cancelation of our 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic was disappointing and there is now a great enthusiasm as we pivot our full efforts alongside our partners and team of volunteers to making 2021 a great success. I want to thank the membership and the board of directors at both St. George’s and Islington for continuing in this journey towards what will be a truly special edition of the RBC Canadian Open.”
“We are thrilled to host the 2021 RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf and Country Club,” said Mary DePaoli, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, RBC. “As one of the top five golf courses in Canada, and one of the top 30 in the world, St. George’s is not only an incredible golf course but a world-class venue. Building off of last year’s momentum, we look forward to working together with our partners at Golf Canada and the PGA TOUR to make next year’s event one to remember.”
St. George’s Golf and Country Club has previously hosted the RBC Canadian Open on five occasions, dating as far back as 1933 and most recently in 2010.
Part of the FedExCup and conducted by Golf Canada for more than a century, the RBC Canadian Open provides an opportunity for Canada’s top talents to compete against the world’s best golfers while also leaving a significant impact in the event’s host community.
The RBC Canadian Open is proud to support the Golf Canada Foundation as the event’s official charity partner. Established in 1904, Canada’s national open golf championship is the third-oldest national open golf championship worldwide next to the British Open and the U.S. Open. The RBC Canadian Open is proudly sponsored by RBC, Audi, Acushnet, Steam Whistle, Hilton, Levelwear, Coca-Cola and the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada.
PGA TOUR announces debut of PGA TOUR University
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR announced today a new program designed to strengthen and elevate the path to the PGA TOUR through the Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Series – China. PGA TOUR University will reward elite collegiate play with varying levels of playing access to Tours operated under the PGA TOUR umbrella, while upholding the principles and virtues of collegiate athletics.
Players eligible for the PGA TOUR University Ranking List will be NCAA Division I golfers who complete a minimum of four years in college.
“With the level of immediate success from the top collegiate players in the last decade, our team has done extensive research over time and developed a plan to provide a pathway for those players as they begin their journeys into the professional ranks,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “By focusing our efforts on players who have completed a minimum of four years, PGA TOUR University will not deter from the college game while ensuring its graduates benefit from their maturity and experience.”
The top 15 finishers from the final Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List at the conclusion of each NCAA collegiate spring season (defined by the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship) will be awarded exempt status to the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Series – China, based on their respective finish.
The top five finishers from the final Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List will receive Korn Ferry Tour membership and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning the week following the conclusion of the NCAA Division I Men’s National Championship through the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour regular season. The top five finishers will also be exempt into the Final Stage of that year’s Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.
Finishers Nos. 6-15 will secure membership on one of the International Tours for the current season and a spot in the Second Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (if necessary). At that point, these players will have their choice of which International Tour their exempt status applies to.
The eligibility for each respective Tour will begin the week following the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship. The 2021 NCAA Men’s Championship is scheduled to be held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 28 – June 2.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for these players to begin their professional careers on a path to the PGA TOUR. Just as importantly, we are able to continue building on the great momentum the Korn Ferry Tour and our International Tours have enjoyed in recent years by strengthening the field of competition with the addition of these collegiate stars,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.
“We have always been proud of the talent level on our International Tours and have enjoyed observing the success players have had as they’ve moved on to both the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR after competing in Latin America, Canada and China,” said Rob Ohno, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President, International Tours. “Now with the addition of these accomplished college golfers entering the professional ranks, we are grateful that many of them will choose the International Tours as their desired path. As they start their careers, we will warmly welcome those who choose to pursue their dreams on any of our Tours.”
The PGA TOUR will partner with the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), which is administered by The R&A and the USGA, to create the PGA TOUR University Ranking List. The WAGR system ranks the top amateurs on the basis of their average performance in counting events on a rolling cycle over the previous 104 weeks. The list will be filtered to include those players and results meeting the PGA TOUR University eligibility criteria.
Events which will count towards the Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List include NCAA Division I Men’s Golf events and official PGA TOUR events, including the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.
The first Official PGA TOUR University Ranking List will be unveiled this summer leading into the start of the 2020-21 Division I season, with the Ranking List updated each week during the season.
PGA TOUR University will partner with GOLF Channel to provide extensive coverage of NCAA Division I golf to complement the Ranking List and showcase the race to the top 15. GOLF Channel is the television home for college golf, televising six college golf championships, including the men’s NCAA Championships since 2014.
For more information on PGA TOUR University, including a Frequently Asked Questions page, please visit PGATOUR.com/University.
Woods, Manning win a TV charity match as good as real thing
Tom Brady delivered the shot of the match that made it easy to forget the rest of his swings. Tiger Woods didn’t miss a fairway and earned a small measure of revenge against Phil Mickelson.
The PGA Tour is set to return in just over two weeks, and it has a tough act to follow.
In the second and final charity match that brought live golf to TV, this exhibition was as entertaining as the real thing.
Woods lagged a long birdie putt close enough that his partner, Peyton Manning, didn’t have to putt. That secured a 1-up victory over Mickelson and Brady in “The Match: Champions for Charity.”
The goal was to raise $10 million or more for COVID-19 relief funds, and online donations sent money climbing toward about twice that much.
This made-for-TV exhibition would have been worth pay-per-view, the model Woods and Mickelson used for a $9 million winner-take-all match in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018 that Mickelson won in a playoff under lights. It felt forced, lacked banter and turned out to free because of technical issues.
Throw in two NFL greats in Brady and Manning, and this allowed viewers to ride along for 18 holes at Medalist Golf Club among four of the biggest stars in sports.
Justin Thomas pitched in as an on-course reporter, bringing a mixture of humour and insight with the right amount of words.
Woods and Manning took the lead on the third hole and never trailed, building a 3-up lead in fourballs on the front nine, with Manning making two birdies (one was a net par).
Brady, whose six Super Bowl titles are more than any NFL quarterback in history, took a beating on social media and in the broadcast booth from Charles Barkley, who twice offered $50,000 of his own money toward charity if Brady just hit the green on a par 3. He missed so far right it would be comparable to a pass that landed three rows into the stands.
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton weighed in on Twitter, noting Brady signing as a free agent with Tampa Bay by saying he liked the “Florida” Brady much better.
Brooks Koepka offered $100,000 if Brady could just make a par.
I’ll donate 100k through the @bkcharityfund if @TomBrady makes a par on the front 9 #TheMatch #TNT
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) May 24, 2020
One shot shut everyone up.
Never mind that Brady had to take a penalty drop before getting back to the fairway on the par-5 seventh. With his fourth shot, with Barkley needling him relentlessly, Brady’s shot landed beyond the pin and spun back into the cup.
“Shut your mouth, Chuck,” said Brady, whose microphone piece dangled off the back of his pants.
Woods still thought he won the hole with a 25-foot eagle putt that instead spun hard off the back of the lip. All that, and they ended up halving the hole.
Never doubt @TomBrady.
Charles Barkley learned the hard way … pic.twitter.com/muZ0xkt5xJ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 24, 2020
Donations for COVID-19 relief funds kept piling up, and the entertainment didn’t stop even as the rain returned. It caused a 45-minute delay at the start, and as Woods said on the practice range, “I don’t normally play in conditions like this.”
Mickelson brought out his “Tiger Slayer” putter that he used to shoot 64 at Pebble Beach in 2012, the last time they were in the final group on the PGA Tour. Woods shot 75 that day. It didn’t help Lefty with a few critical birdie putts to square the match, though he rolled in a 15-foot par putt to stay 1 down with two to play.
The back nine was modified alternate shot – all players hit tee shots, and it was alternate shot from there. It was key for the quarterbacks to find the fairway for the pros to hit shots into the green, and Brady came through until the 18th.
Woods was playing for the first time since Feb. 16 when he finished last at Riviera in Los Angeles. He chose not to play the next four weeks with his back not feeling just right, and then the pandemic shut down golf and sports worldwide.
Woods looked sharp for the most part, with his game and his words. Mickelson on the fifth hole asked Woods to mark his ball from some 80 yards away.
“You want me to mark with a U.S. Open medal?” said Woods, a three-time champion of the only major Mickelson hasn’t won.
“Do you have one? I have some silver ones,” Mickelson said, referring to his record six runner-up finishes.
Mickelson boasted about taking Woods down on his home course at Medalist, and now their TV matches are tied at 1, even with each getting a little help. Mickelson says he was a little nervous on the front nine until he found his groove, driving the green on the par-4 11th with Brady making a 20-footer for eagle that began their rally.
“Phil said he was nervous. I know Tom and I were comparing notes,” Manning said. “To be behind the ropes in these guys’ worlds, to be in the arena with them, it was really a special experience. I was not comfortable the entire time. Knowing $20 million was raised and helping people going through tough times, it was an honour to be invited.
“It’s something I’ll always remember.”
USGA finalizes 2020 championship schedule, eliminates qualifying
The COVID-19 pandemic, which already has postponed the U.S. Open at Winged Foot from June to September, has forced the USGA to do away with qualifying for the first time since 1924.
Open qualifying is the hallmark of golf’s second-oldest championship. The USGA often points out that typically half of the 156-man field has to go through either 36-hole qualifying or 18-hole and 36-hole qualifying.
It even invested in a marketing campaign that was rolled out in February titled, “From Many, One,” to illustrate that more than 9,000 people apply to play in the U.S. Open, eventually yielding to one winner.
The USGA did not announce Monday how other players would become exempt.
Among those who have yet to qualify is Phil Mickelson, a runner-up six times in the only major he hasn’t won.
Mickelson said in February he would not ask the USGA for an exemption, and that if he didn’t qualify or become exempt, he wouldn’t play. Winged Foot is where Mickelson made double bogey on the final hole in 2006 to lose by one.
The field presumably will be smaller because of the later date, though the USGA did not mention the field size in its April 6 announcement that the U.S. Open was moving to Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot, in Mamaroneck, New York.
“As you can imagine, this was an incredibly difficult decision, as qualifying is a cornerstone of USGA championships,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of championships for the USGA. “We take great pride in the fact that many thousands typically enter to pursue their dream of qualifying for the U.S. Open and we deeply regret that they will not have that opportunity this year.”
Bodenhamer said no qualifying provides “the best path forward” to holding the U.S. Open.
The USGA said there would not be qualifying for three other championships it will hold this year – the U.S. Women’s Open (moved to December in Houston) and the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur, both still scheduled for August.
The U.S. Open, which dates to 1895, had so many players wanting to compete in the years after World War I that it introduced qualifying in 1924. Then, it went to two stages of qualifying in 1959 – 18-hole local qualifying and 36-hole sectional qualifying.
Ken Venturi in 1964 and Orville Moody in 1969 are the only U.S. Open champions who got through both stages. Lucas Glover in 2009 was the last U.S. Open champion to go through 36-hole qualifying.
The USGA had 108 local qualifiers planned in 45 states and one in Canada, followed by 12 sectional qualifiers _ nine in the U.S., one each in Canada, England and Japan.
When the U.S. Open was postponed, 50 players were exempt through various categories, such as past champions the last 10 years or top 10 from last year’s U.S. Open, major champions from the last five years and the top 30 players who reached the Tour Championship last year.
The pandemic shut down golf on March 13, two months before the top 60 in the world ranking would have been exempt for the U.S. Open. The world ranking has been frozen since the shutdown. It was unclear when it would resume because while the PGA Tour is to resume on June 11, circuits in Europe, Japan and Asia have not said when they would return.
The USGA, meanwhile, has lost 10 championships to the coronavirus. It said Monday that four more were cancelled – the U.S. Mid-Amateur and Women’s Mid-Amateur, and the U.S. Senior Amateur and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.
Tour plans constant testing, limiting access for golf return
Players, caddies and key personnel will be tested once a week at tournaments and have their temperatures taken every day as part of a PGA Tour plan to limit the risk of the new coronavirus when golf resumes next month in Texas.
The plan offers a glimpse into significant changes for golf’s return, from the elimination of pro-ams to designated hotels to the availability of charter planes that get players and their caddies from one tournament to the next.
The first trial is scheduled for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth on June 11-14.
The key components are testing, social distancing on and off the golf course and creating what the tour referred to as a “bubble” of essential people that will be tested at tournaments.
“We’re not going to play if we can’t do it in a safe and healthy environmental for all our constituents,” said Tyler Dennis, the tour’s chief of operations.
He also said the tour will not go forward with its testing if it takes away from resources in the city where it plays.
Players and caddies will be sent pre-travel tests, and they will be given the RT-PCR test for COVID-19 when they arrive at tournaments. The test, authorized last month by the Food and Drug Administration, involves a nasal swab. Results typically take a couple of days, and the tour is hopeful of using local labs for a quicker turnaround.
Anyone who tests positive will have to withdraw from the tournament and self-isolate for 10 days, provided there are no further symptoms and they get two negative tests 24 hours apart.
The tour said it would give players and caddies a stipend to pay for the self-isolation. Andy Levinson, the senior vice-president for tournament administration, said the tour would pay for all testing material.
Beyond testing, the tour is recommending players stay in a designated hotel and practice social distancing as if they were still at home by avoiding eating at restaurants or meeting at bars.
On the golf course, players are to handle their own clubs and let their caddies rake bunkers and remove the pins, wiping down both after they’re done with them.
Another change: No shaking hands after the round.
Along with no fans for at least the first four tournaments, the tour is not allowing family members and only limited support staff, such as trainers and instructors. All would be subject to the same level of testing – a health questionnaire and thermal screening every day.
Levinson estimates key personnel – players, caddies, officials, clubhouse staff – amounts to 400 people.
For the charter flights, all passengers must take a viral test 24 hours before leaving, and then be tested again when they arrive at the next event.
The tour said about 25 players remain overseas and recommended they arrive at least two weeks ahead of the tournament to meet the federal 14-day quarantine requirement.
A player hotel will be designated, although players would be allowed to stay in RVs if they have them, rental homes the tour approves and their own homes if they live in the area.
Four tournaments without fans will be Colonial, the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. The tour said it will decide after that whether it’s safe for a limited number of fans.
Woods, Mickelson, QBs to donate $10 million to virus relief
HOBE SOUND, Fla. – The next match involving Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson involves a $10 million donation for COVID-19 relief efforts, along with plenty of bragging rights in a star-powered foursome May 24 at Medalist Golf Club.
Turner Sports announced more details Thursday for “The Match: Champions for Charity,” a televised match between Woods and Peyton Manning against Mickelson and Tom Brady.
Medalist is where Woods plays when he’s at home. Manning and Brady said they have played there before – Manning running out of golf balls before reaching the 18th, Brady posting a 106.
The format will be better ball for the front nine and modified alternate shot on the back nine, meaning both players hit tee shots and they take turns from there.
You know I had to come in hot with a little trash talk, but as usual, he got the better of me ?
Looking forward to getting back to golf and teaming with @TomBrady against @TigerWoods and Peyton.
Even more excited to raise money for those in need during these difficult times. pic.twitter.com/jp1ten4UqH
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 7, 2020
It will be simulcast on May 24 at 3 p.m. EDT on TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN, along with pre-match coverage available on the Bleacher Report app.
WarnerMedia and the four players will collectively make a charitable donation of $10 million to benefit various relief efforts locally and nationally. Turner said the match includes a partnership with the “All In Challenge,” an initiative that provides food for those in need.
Mickelson beat Woods in a playoff under the lights in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018. This time, they are bringing in two of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks to add to the entertainment.
The announcement came with a video interview by TNT’s Ernie Johnson of the four players, in which Brady said he wanted Woods as a partner until Manning’s father called to switch the teams.
The match will be held one week after live golf returns to television for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the PGA Tour and other tours around the world. Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson will play a charity match against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff at Seminole Golf Club, one of Florida’s most famous courses that will have a televised event for the first time.
2020 RBC Canadian Open cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
– Golf Canada and RBC will now pivot all efforts towards planning for a celebrated return of the RBC Canadian Open in 2021 –
TORONTO – With continued public health concerns as well as international travel and government restrictions due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the PGA TOUR, in consultation with Golf Canada and RBC, has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 RBC Canadian Open.
The event was scheduled for June 8-14 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club with Islington Golf Club as the official practice facility. The cancellation of the 2020 RBC Canadian Open also includes the RBCxMusic Concert Series which was scheduled to take place June 12-13 at Richview Collegiate Institute, featuring headline performances by The Chainsmokers and Keith Urban.
“The RBC Canadian Open has always been a rallying point for Canadian golf and while we share in the crushing disappointment with our fans, players, volunteers and many event partners, our primary responsibility is the safety of our people and our communities,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “It is now our full intention to push forward together with RBC, the PGA TOUR, the City of Toronto and our host clubs with the goal to bring the 2021 RBC Canadian Open to St. George’s Golf and Country Club with Islington Golf Club as the official practice facility.”
“Our foremost consideration is the health and safety of everyone in our community, including the players, spectators, our staff and volunteers, the media and the thousands of supporters who contribute to the success of our event,” said Mary DePaoli, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, RBC. “The international travel restrictions, required quarantine measures and government mandates were critical factors that contributed to the decision to cancel our event this year. We have no doubt that the incredible momentum we’ve built together with our partners will make the 2021 RBC Canadian Open a world-class experience.”
Golf Canada and RBC would like to thank golf fans across the nation for their understanding and in particular, our many corporate partners, ticket and hospitality purchasers, as well as the countless volunteers for their continued support through this unprecedented time.
Golf Canada, the PGA TOUR and RBC have continued to monitor the guidelines provided by federal, provincial and municipal government health authorities in order to prevent the spread of the virus within our communities. With this decision, Golf Canada and RBC will now turn their focus towards the 2021 RBC Canadian Open.
Dating back to its inception in 1904, the cancellation of the 2020 RBC Canadian Open marks only the seventh time that Canada’s National Open Championship has not been conducted, including wartime cancellations from 1915-18 as well as 1943-44.
All corporate hospitality buyers will be contacted by their Golf Canada sales representative over the coming days to plan forward for 2021 and individual ticket purchases made via Ticketmaster will be automatically refunded within the next 30 days. The same refund policy applies for RBC clients who purchased RBCxMusic Tickets.
For more information, visit www.rbccanadianopen.com.
Corey Conners making the most of time at home during social distancing
Like most people, Corey Conners is finding new and different ways to fill his time while observing physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That means playing as the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL 20 on his brand new XBox, reading books, cooking with his wife Mallory, exercising and cleaning. Conners even put on the cowboy boots he won at last year’s Valero Texas Open and walked around the house for some “positive energy.”
“It’s been great to spend time with my wife at home, we don’t really get to spend extended periods of time at home so we’ve enjoyed it,” said Conners on a conference call on Wednesday, with his cowboy boots beside him. “I don’t really have a plan at this point for getting back out into competitive mode and practising.
“I think I’ll wait another other week or two, since it’s been great for my body and mind to start a refresh and reset.”
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) April 1, 2020
Conners, from Listowel, Ont., and his wife considered returning home to Canada after the PGA Tour cancelled the rest of The Players Championship on March 12 but ultimately decided to stay at their home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
That day the PGA Tour also cancelled the Valspar Championship, the Dell Match Play, and the Texas Open in San Antonio where Conners had hoped to defend his crown.
As disappointing as that was for Conners, the postponement of some other dates he had circled on his calendar have hit harder.
He had qualified to play the Masters for the third time in his career but the major has been postponed to an unknown date, likely in October. He was also likely going to represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, but the Games have been pushed back to 2021.
“That was a big goal of mine the past couple of years, trying to give myself a chance to be on that team,” Conners said of playing at the Olympics. “I played well enough that I was in a good position to make the team but, you know, things happen out of my control, so it’s still motivating me.”
The RBC Canadian Open, currently scheduled to be played June 11 at Toronto’s St. George’s Golf and Country Club, is also in danger of being cancelled. Toronto Mayor John Tory announced on Tuesday that the city was cancelling its permits for all public gatherings up until June 30.
Although the edict didn’t apply to sporting events held on private property – like the Canadian Open – it did bring an end to the planned concert series held on the Friday and Saturday night of the tournament when the Chainsmokers and Keith Urban were to play on the property of a nearby school.
Golf Canada issued a release after Tory’s announcement saying it respected the city’s decision and would have an announcement on the fate of the Canadian Open within the week.
“I’m really looking forward to getting there, if we can play, but we’ll have to see,” said Conners. “I’d be really disappointed if it gets delayed but obviously it’s not an easy decision and there’s very valid reasons for things getting cancelled or postponed.
“I’ve been looking forward to it all year really, and it’s so much fun to play in front of the Canadian fans. The support’s incredible at their RBC Canadian Open, so if it gets played, I’ll be very happy to get in the mix but if not, we’ll wait until next year.”
In the mean time, Conners is content to putter around the house and keep reading books like “Pound The Stone” by Josh Medcalf and playing Forza Racing and “chell” (NHL 20) but he admits not yet ready to play online against other gamers.
“But I’m going to get pretty antsy shortly, I think, and want to get back out there,” Conners said. “I’ll love to see what the PGA Tour decides, when we’re able to start playing tournaments again, then kind of make a plan from there.”
RBC Canadian Open Statement re: City of Toronto Decision to pull all city permits as a COVID-19 precaution
Today, the City of Toronto made the decision to cancel all permits and access to City services for events through June 30 due to ongoing developments with COVID-19.
We appreciate the factors that led to this decision, in particular that all city resources are being directed to support our communities during this unprecedented health crisis. The health and safety of everyone who supports the RBC Canadian Open – and our community as a whole – will always come first, and we respect the City’s decision.
Together with the PGA TOUR, we are assessing this recent development along with other challenges posed by COVID-19 to determine the best course of action for the RBC Canadian Open. We will make further announcements in the coming week.
A relaxed McIlroy looks to continue winning ways as golf’s top player
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – It’s been quite the stretch of golf for Rory McIlroy since last year’s RBC Canadian Open.
McIlroy, who is the defending champion at The Players Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass, rode the momentum from his win in Florida to Hamilton and onwards to topping the FedEx Cup standings for the second time.
He went on to win Player of the Year honours on the PGA Tour.
Although McIlroy hasn’t seen much of Canada – he went to Toronto for four days after playing the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2015 to see his friend Nail Horan (yes, the lead singer of uber-popular boy band One Direction) play a concert and he said he would love to see Vancouver one day – he certainly made a big impact a year ago.
The 30-year-old blitzed the field at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, finishing with a 9-under 61 Sunday. He topped Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson, who tied for second, by seven shots. It was a crowning of sorts for the young Ulsterman, as, for a week, he was the King of Canada.
Right back at ya, @McIlroyRory!
Cheers, champ ? pic.twitter.com/WIotjSqxvm
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 10, 2019
McIlroy has been the king of the golf world for a little longer than just a week, however.
As of this week at The Players, McIlroy has been on top of the world golf rankings for a clean 100 weeks in his career.
“I’m very proud to think that I’ve spent two years of my career at the top of the World Rankings. It’s a pretty nice feeling,” said McIlroy on Tuesday at Sawgrass.
Although he admitted reaching No. 1 this time around was anti-climatic – he essentially got to the top spot via a mathematical formula and not by a particular accomplishment – he said he still managed to find time to celebrate the milestone with his caddie and best friend, Harry Diamond, who took over McIlroy’s bag in 2017.
“We’ve been on that journey together from sort of injuries and not playing my best all the way back to the top of the world,” said McIlroy. “So it was important for me to sit down and have a few drinks with him and be like, you know, ‘we’ve done this, this was our journey and we did it, two guys that grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland, playing golf together,’ and that we’ve done this is something that was really cool.”
Indeed, McIlroy has had much to celebrate over the last 12 months, including his victory at the RBC Canadian Open.
In an interview in January, McIlroy said, for the first time in his life, he’s feeling very settled. He turned 30 in 2019 and has a new home base in South Florida with his wife, Erica. He took a holiday over Christmastime for the first time in forever, he said. He’s trying to travel less. He’s enjoying the little things in life like a good book and a nice bottle of wine.
After winning the FedEx Cup last year, he gave himself the opportunity to think back to the year-that-was and recognize his accomplishments.
“This year it was very nice to enjoy downtime. I played a lot (in 2019) and I played well and I wanted to enjoy some time and reflect on a good year I feel very settled, very balanced, it’s been nice to spend time at home and do that as well.”
McIlroy comes into this week at The Players playing some magical golf. So far this season McIlroy has finished T3-1-T3-T5-5-T5.
Still, McIlroy is not one to be complacent.
“I think the only way to not win is to concentrate on the results,” he said. “So if I can just concentrate on what I’m doing and what I’m doing well, what I maybe need to improve on a little bit, just break the game down into different sections but really just try to make it as simple as possible, if I can do a few different things in my golf game just a little bit better, those thirds and fifths will hopefully turn into wins.”
No one has ever defended their Players Championship title, but if anyone could make it happen – and considering how well he’s playing coming into the week – it would be McIlroy.
“If there’s been no one to defend, it would be a nice time to start and have someone do that,” said McIlroy. “A lot of similarities between this year and last year in terms of how I’ve played the first few events of the year, given myself some chances, haven’t quite been able to capitalize, and obviously it would be wonderful to replicate what happened last year.”