Opinion | This is the sweet spot for Canadian golf fans. So many contenders week after week

Nick Taylor called it a brotherhood.

He had just completed his Sunday round at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished second to Scottie Scheffler after playing with him and Jon Rahm in the final group. There to greet him greenside were a trio of his fellow Canadians: Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes. It is not uncommon for pals of a potential tournament champion to be on hand for a celebration, but in this case there was the added component of national pride.

“We’re all close friends, we play a lot of practice rounds together,” Taylor said. “To show their support, to kind of show up, is great. It would have been nice if I was holding the trophy with them there, too. But no, it’s awesome. It’s definitely a Canadian brotherhood out here.”

While there is a fraternal feeling on tour for those four — plus Taylor Pendrith, Adam Svensson, Michael Gligic and even Roger Sloan, who is plying his trade on the Korn Ferry Tour after three years in the big leagues — the cumulative success of the Canadian men in recent years represents something more for those in this country who tune in to PGA Tour events every week.

Expectancy.

We now expect a Canadian to be in contention. We are not surprised when a Canadian wins. And best of all, we are not sure which one it will be.

As much as Mike Weir’s run from 1999 to 2004 was the high-water mark for a Canadian male, there wasn’t a quantity of Canadians playing at golf’s highest level then to match him. Yes, Ian Leggatt won in 2002 and Stephen Ames, a native of Trinidad, did so four times under the Maple Leaf from 2004 to 2009, but our focus was almost always on Weir, all the time.

But after Weir’s last tour win in 2007, and after Ames won at Disney in 2008 and 2009, there was a long absence of Canadians in the winner’s circle.

David Hearn twice lost in a playoff, and finished two shots out of another one at the 2015 RBC Canadian Open. On the LPGA Tour, Lorie Kane’s best years were behind her and Brooke Henderson hadn’t yet arrived. If not for back issues, Graham DeLaet may very well have broken into the winner’s circle, and he excelled for the International team in the 2013 Presidents Cup.

It wasn’t until Taylor’s win at the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship that the drought ended. Then Hughes won in 2016, Hadwin in 2017, Conners in 2019, Taylor again in 2020, Hughes and Svensson last fall and, most recently, Conners in April, his second triumph at the Valero Texas Open. Three weeks later, Taylor and Hadwin nearly teamed for a victory in New Orleans, finishing second in the Zurich Classic.

It’s not that a Canadian is in the mix every week, but the frequency keeps increasing. There’s power in numbers, yes. But also, these guys are darn good and playing in the deepest era in PGA Tour history. In addition, we have the fine play of Aaron Cockerill on the DP World Tour. He lost in a playoff a few weeks back and has four top-five finishes in the last 12 months overseas.

“I remember being a Weir fan back in the day and there wasn’t a lot of red and white on leaderboards, especially if he wasn’t playing,” said Hughes. “He obviously carried that around for a while — being that guy, representing Canada for a long time. And obviously there were other guys in there as well. Stephen Ames won the Players Championship, which was cool, and Hearn came up and DeLaet was there after that, but there just wasn’t a consistent, steady presence out there. Now every week, I feel like I’m getting ready to hit the congrats text to someone. Whether it be Nick or Adam, Corey, Taylor, Svenny, you name it. Ben Silverman winning on the Korn Ferry Tour. What’s out here now is amazing.”

It is indeed. And combined with the tremendous success Henderson has enjoyed on the LPGA Tour since her first full professional season in 2015, it’s made this the best time to be a Canadian golf fan.

Bits and Bites

Cockerill, who tied for 16th last week on the DP World Tour for his fourth straight top-25 finish, is now ranked 236th in the world. Three weeks ago, he was 380th … So far this season, Cockerill ranks 32nd in driving accuracy. Last year, he ranked 119th in that stat. Combining a better tee game with his always excellent putting — second in putts per green in regulation last season; 16th this season — has been the magic elixir for the Manitoban … Ames, fresh off his second PGA Tour Champions win of the season last week, is trending at a nice time with the senior circuit set to play two majors this month. This week it’s the Regions Tradition in Alabama, and in two weeks time it’s the Senior PGA Championship at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Texas. That will be the first look at the Gil Hanse-designed Fields Ranch East Course, which is set to host several majors across multiple tours over the coming years … Nice weather this week for golf. Not so nice to be on a magazine deadline … Big congrats to friend and colleague Rick Young, who received the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award at the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony last week. Nobody is a bigger advocate for the game than Rick.

Obscure thought of the week

I feel bad for cashiers in this era of price-matching. It’s like they’re constantly being second-guessed.

Jason Logan is the editor of SCOREGolf magazine, which is co-owned by Torstar, the Star’s parent company. He is based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf

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