Until the end of the year, the SI Golf team will look back on 10 memorable tournaments from 2022.
More tournaments we will remember: The beginnings of LIV Golf in London | PGA Championship | The Masters | Augusta Women’s National Championship | Herringbone Championship
The event: RBC Canadian Open
Site: St. George’s Golf and Country Club, Toronto
Appointment: June 9-12
Result: Rory McIlroy wins by two strokes over Tony Finau
Why we will remember: Even if the 2022 PGA Tour season had gone off as usual, the RBC Canadian Open would still have been a pretty big deal.
The 2019 event was great, with Rory McIlroy playing for the first time and shooting a final round 61 to circle the course at 22 under par 258, the lowest 72-hole score in the long history of the Canadian National Open.
But the 2020 event was one of more than a dozen Tour stops canceled due to COVID-19, and the 2021 edition was also lost – even though most of the rest of the golf world had returned. to normal – due to continued difficulties in international travel. .
So Canadian golf fans hadn’t played the PGA Tour for three years when their Open finally returned in 2022. It was going to be a celebration no matter what, then in the final round at St. George’s it became much more.
LIV Golf’s inaugural event took place the same week as the RBC Canadian Open, and the Saudi-backed start-up caught the world’s attention as a big-money contender on the PGA Tour. Charl Schwartzel won the event away from London, which ended on Saturday, leaving the stage for the PGA Tour on Sunday. And the Tour has been a reminder of why it’s still the best show in golf.
Huge galleries were treated to a final group from McIlroy, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas, and McIlroy birdied on 8 of his first 12 holes en route to a final round 62 and a two-shot victory, successfully defending his three-year title. . Finau and Thomas each shot 64.
“Three of the best players in the world are going head to head down the line, trying to win in front of these crowds and this atmosphere…it doesn’t get much better than this,” McIlroy said, and everyone could read between the lines.
“Gamer. Introvert. Problem solver. Creator. Thinker. Lifelong food evangelist. Alcohol advocate.”