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8 Things We Learned from the RBC Canadian Open

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Having all recovered from last week’s dramatic showdown between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, the PGA Tour moved back across the pond for Canada’s flagship tournament, the RBC Canadian Open. The field was surprisingly strong given its unenviable position stuck between The Open and the PGA Championship with two of the top-4 players in the Official World Golf Rankings playing.

Here’s what we learned this week.

Surprisingly Strong Field

Want to make sure you have a strong field? Sponsor the right players. RBC guaranteed itself a decent field just based on the players they sponsor: Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker to name a few, and all made the trek from Troon. Snedeker had a chance to win, but he couldn’t eagle the 72nd hole and finished two back at 10-under.

And Still…

Titleist had an incredible 106 players using their ball at the RBC Canadian Open. Its closest competitor had 16. In a time where manufacturers keep advertising the latest technology in clubs and balls, Titleist has remained the undisputed No. 1 ball among pros. And from the numbers, it doesn’t look like it will be changing any time soon.

Hard and Fast

When you think of Canada, hot, windy, and baked out aren’t necessarily the first words that come to mind. But that is exactly how Glen Abbey played.

Downhill holes were playing ridiculously short, and the pros weren’t prepared for it. On Friday, Ernie Els and Jason Day both drove their balls in the water on the 18th with Day’s drive traveling 404 yards on the par-5. Day still make birdie, however, hitting his next shot on the green and pouring in the putt.

Trackman making its way to a PGA Tour range near you

A lot has been made of Dustin Johnson’s improved wedge play this year. It’s been cite as a main reason why he was able to win the U.S. Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. DJ has started using Trackman on the range prior to rounds to dial in his wedge distances each day. He doesn’t use it for angles, lofts, or any of the other measurements Trackman offers, only distance.

Well, other players are taking notice. While in the CBS booth on Saturday, Brandt Snedeker, Ian Baker Finch and Jim Nantz discussed Johnson’s improved wedge play. Snedeker talked about how he splurged for a Trackman after watching Johnson start to hit his wedges inside his own during practice rounds. With the way Johnson is playing this year, you can expect to see more and more Trackmans proliferating the range. If you have an extra $20,000 laying around, it will probably help your game, too.

Big One?

With Rory McIlroy making more news for his comments than his golf game, Jason Day giving away leads in final rounds and Jordan Spieth struggling with lofty expectations, the Big Three has failed to live up to the hype this year. Having been left out of all the talk, Dustin Johnson has steamrolled his opponents and looks like a good bet to contend at the PGA Championship next week. While he didn’t win this week, he put himself in contention with a chance to chip in on the final hole to tie for the lead.

Despite coming up just short, DJ heads into next week as a prohibitive favorite with some momentum. Maybe the greatest athlete in the history of golf, Johnson now has the golf game to match. And with his confidence and game at an all time high, he may leave the Big Three behind.

Amateur Hour

Jared du Toit and Garrett Rank captured the hearts of Canadian fans as the two home-country amateurs made the cut — and du Toit had a real chance to win. Both come from quite different backgrounds and have quite different futures ahead, though we should see both as professionals.

Rank will be in NHL arenas next year as a referee after being promoted from the minors. Du Toit, a rising senior at Arizona State University and former teammate of Jon Rahm, will likely be headed to one of the pro tours or qualifying school after graduating. He went into Sunday’s round playing in the final group after making a bomb for eagle on the 18th hole Saturday. du Toit had low expectations starting the week, even failing to show up without a caddy. No matter, he handled himself nicely on Sunday finishing tied for ninth with a final-round 71.

The Drought Continues

No Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open since 1954 when Pat Fletcher pulled out the title. Canadians were hopeful last year was the year after David Hearn went into the final round with a two-shot lead. But Jason Day killed those dreams with a closing 68 to beat Hearn by two. This week started with Canadians putting their hopes in Hearn or Graham DeLaet to come through, but neither could live up to their countrymen’s’ expectations. Both missed the cut and the chipping issues for DeLaet continue.

On Thursday, DeLaet almost hit a playing partner’s caddy with what should have been a relatively easy chip on the 9th hole. Then on No. 16, he skulled a ball from a bunker into another bunker before taking another two shots to get it out. Pretty ugly stuff. Let’s hope he can get it fixed before the Olympics next month.

Viva Vegas

After starting the year without full exempt status on the PGA Tour, Jhonattan Vegas followed up his 4th-place finish at the Barbasol Championship with a final-round 64 to win by one over Jon Rahm, Martin Laird and Dustin Johnson.

Following his round, Vegas choked back tears to Peter Kostis saying, “From where I started this year, not having full status on Tour and knowing it was going to be a really tough year … I think it was a great thing for me, because it made me realize how much I love being here and how much hard I had to work to get back here. And then I come out with this great win.”

Vegas has earned a place at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, and gets to look forward to the Masters next year.

Related: See the clubs Vegas used to win

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Seth is an avid golfer playing year round in Florida.

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  1. Ben Peters

    Jul 25, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    It was only a matter of time for Vegas. Congrats to a quality player and even better person.

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Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.

As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.

Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.

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See what GolfWRXers are saying about our photos from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the forums.

 

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Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

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GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.

We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.

We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.

Check out links to all our photos, below.

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See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

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Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open

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GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.

The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.

GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.

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