Sizzling Kiwi beats Burns in Canadian Open playoff
New Zealander Ryan Fox has won for the second time in five weeks on the PGA Tour with another memorable shot in a playoff to beat Sam Burns in the Canadian Open.
Fox won the Myrtle Beach Classic last month by chipping in for birdie to win a three-man playoff. This one on the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley on Sunday took a little longer.
What turned out to be the winning shot this time on the fourth extra hole might be more memorable. Fox smoked a 3-wood that landed softly just left of the pin and settled seven feet away. Burns pulled his 3-wood some 55 feet left of the flag. He ran his eagle putt eight feet by and missed that one.
Fox missed his eagle try before tapping in for birdie.
"That shot I hit on 18 ... probably the best shot I've ever hit."@RyanFoxGolfer sealed the deal with this shot on the fourth playoff hole @RBCCanadianOpen. pic.twitter.com/Nmx4kojXRt
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 8, 2025
"To be honest, Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight for three holes," Fox said.
"But that shot I hit on 18, that 3-wood, was probably the best shot I've ever hit. It would have been nice to make the putt. But hey, I'll take it."
Fox holed a birdie putt from just inside 18 feet on the par-5 18th in regulation for a four-under 66 that allowed him to join Burns at 18-under 262. Burns (62) had finished some two hours earlier with a birdie on the final hole.
They played the 18th four more times and there was nothing compelling about the extra holes.
Fox finally delivered the goods and now has two wins in just over a month, propelling the 38-year-old from No.75 to 32 in the world and getting him into the US Open next week for being among the top 60.
Taiwan's Kevin Yu (66) birdied the last to finish alone in third, one shot out of the playoff. He narrowly missed out on the top 60 to get to Oakmont next week, but joined American duo Cameron Young and Matt McCarty as earning the top three spots for the British Open next month for players not already eligible.
Fox already was in the British Open from his victory in the BMW PGA Championship in 2023, the flagship event on the European tour. Fox now has eight wins worldwide — two on the PGA Tour, four on the European tour and two on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Burns was hopeful of ending more than two years without a victory, his last title coming in the final year of the World Golf Championships-Match Play in 2023.
Young (65) tied for fourth. He made an incredible par on the 17th.
But needing birdie on the par-5 18th to catch Burns, the clubhouse leader at the time, Young flushed a 3-wood into the breeze and into the trees. It took two to get on the green and he made bogey to finish two shots behind.
"I thought in the air I was going to have about a 12-footer to win the tournament, and it ended up somewhere I was going to struggle to make par, let alone make a 4. Pretty upset," Young said.
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Because when we talk about Vladdy being a great Blue Jay, well, who's he up against? Who does he need to be better than? I think stuff like that makes everybody a baseball fan, and it's something that I nerd out about anyway. I'm really interested in the history of the team, where they've come from. I'm happy to be covering the Blue Jays from the fancy Rogers Centre press box and not the Exhibition Stadium press box. It's probably a bit better spread in the one I cover them in. It's been fun to learn about that. Josh Valdez: You mentioned Vlad just now. Do you cover him and this era a decent amount in the book? Or is it more focused on past years? Keegan Matheson: Yeah, it's pretty evenly balanced in terms of time. Now, I start at Exhibition Stadium and how Skydome was built, which I really love writing, but I also include two chapters on Vladdy. The first chapter on Vladdy is about his prospect years, and it's just about his prospect years, because I think that's a big example of something that I had on my mind throughout this whole book. And it's the reason that I included the Shohei Ohtani chapter as well, because, yeah, it's over. He plays for the [Los Angeles] Dodgers, sorry. But I think that was an interesting enough story that I wanted to kind of cut it out and have it exist all by itself just to document it. So like that exists, and I can look back on it. Advertisement Vladdy's prospect years were the same. I don't think I'll ever see anything like Vladdy as a prospect. I really, I don't know if I covered this game 40 more years, I might not see another prospect like Vladdy. And it's one of the only times I can remember where the hitter was controlling what was happening in it at bat. It was unbelievable. 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Now, going into present day, the book was obviously written well ahead of Vlady's extension, maybe that's a chapter we can add if we go to paperback eventually. But my big fear was that he would get traded or something and blow the whole book up. I keep thinking of Tim McMahon, the NBA reporter, whom I really respect. He wrote the Luka [Doncic] book, and boom, Luka gets traded. I lost sleep over something major happening like that, thankfully not. But yeah, two Vlad chapters that were really fun to write, and hopefully it gives me reason to write a third or a fourth or another book someday. Josh Valdez: Has the book changed your perspective on this season or just the present day? Do you feel like you're not as stressed anymore about stuff that could change or outdate the book now that Vlad's contract is locked in? Advertisement Keegan Matheson: Yeah, I do, and that was a big anxiety point for me because things can change very quickly. 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By the next day, that story's not going to matter, but it made much more interested in the bigger stories around this team and the stories that have a little likes to them. And it reaffirmed for me, I guess, that those stories do matter, because when you have a moment like Joe Carter, that lasts forever. When you have a career like Dave Steve did, that lasts forever. Like Roy Halladay, like José Bautista with that one home run. I'll be 70 years old talking about the bat flip. It reminded me that those can come around anytime, even though it's been a rough decade for the Blue Jays, if just one of those moments come around, you forget about everything else. Advertisement Josh Valdez: And what do the Jays have to do, in your opinion, to finally get back to the mountaintop? Keegan Matheson: They need to develop some sort of identity. I keep going back to that 2021 team, which was one of the best lineups we will ever see in Toronto, period. They had Semien having an all-time season. Vladdy was playing MVP-caliber baseball. There's not always going to be Shohei Otani to win it in front of him. He was playing like an MVP, and you had a lineup that was threatening from top to bottom, because it had power. And the Blue Jays have gotten away from that. Right now, they're a team that is stuck in a lot of 2-1, 3-2 games. And when you're playing that type of baseball, you need to be perfect. because one mistake can send it sideways. When you're playing a game like they played in 2021, and I'd argue even like '15 or '16, you can make five mistakes. You can completely screw up, but if someone hits a three-run home run, guess what I'm writing about, the three run home run and a win. So I think they need to get back to more of an identity, and identity is usually based on offense, which hasn't been there lately. So you can not only get out to lead, but chase teams down if they get a lead on you, and I don't see that lately. That's why we've seen three trips to the postseason go 0-2, 0-2, and 0-2. And each one has come with an extra layer of heartbreak. There was the José Berrios decisoin in Minnesota. There was the meltdown against the [Seattle] Mariners at home. Like they haven't just been losses, they've been tough losses. Those stick with you. But in order for them to shake that off, I think they need more life offensively. And since 2021, the reason I bring that up is that it seems like they've pivoted away from that. Like, it kind of spooked them a little bit, but I think that's the way. Because the 2021 team, I really believe this, and I'll tell you a lot of players and coaches really believe this, that if they had have gotten into the postseason that year, they were going on a run. Like, I think they could have been a World Series team, period. And they just, just missed. Advertisement Josh Valdez: Lastly, who's a Blue Jays player, either that's in the book or not, that you feel like is underappreciated in the fan base? Keegan Matheson: Oh, great question. I think of a couple of answers here, but I don't think that Dave Steve gets enough attention or respect from newer Blue Jays fans. And Blue Jays fans who were around in the 70s, 80s, 90s, they will talk your ear off about Dave Steve because they watched him pitch. But I think that anyone around my age, even 40 and under, I don't hear enough about Dave Steve. There's a couple of reasons for that, and one is that Dave Steve has not kept himself present or public-facing, and I write about that in the chapter. That's okay, that's his choice. If I had to deal with reporters for 20 years, I would probably ride off into the sunset and hide in a log cabin myself. Totally his choice, and that's okay. But a lot of former players who we see them more on TV or doing radio appearances, they kind of stay in the public consciousness. But with Steve, talking to his catchers and other players, like I talked to Buck Martinez, talked to Ernie Witt about him, Pat Borders about him, the three men who caught him the most. And Buck Martinez, the first thing out of his mouth, he said "Best right-handed pitcher the Blue Jays ever had." And it's the team that had Roy Halliday for a decade. People talked about Dave Steve in ways that surprised me and ways that were really fascinating to hear. Now, yes, he would blame his infielers for every error, and he had evil eyes. He would stare two laser beams through your chest if he screwed up behind him, absolutely. But I think he was not just a dominant pitcher, but a fascinating character as well. Advertisement A lot of this book was around reading old archival newspaper coverage or archival magazines, Sports Illustrated, other weeklies and monthlies. And it was a big lesson for me that players were a lot more open back in the day. And I understand why, but some interviews and conversation with Steve I would read just really opened my eyes to a guy who was kind of battling with the spotlight, and he knew that spotlight was there because he was great. But greatness and the attention that comes with it is not always comfortable for people. I see someone on the other side of this, like Joe Carter, who is at events, and he has embraced it. He'll talk to every single person like it's the first time he's ever talked about that home run. Not everyone's that way. So hearing old teammates talk about Dave Steve, even old hitters who faced him, I think, made me appreciate just how great he was. He did deserve, and he still deserves a much larger conversation about the Hall of Fame. Whether he's worthy or not is still very much up for debate, but even if he's just closer than he's been, that's still something that deserves to be talked about, because he fell off that ballot, and I don't think that we have the proper conversation about him. Because Steve was a more modern pitcher than the 80s would suggest. Like, he's a guy who you could drop in today, and he'd have success. You know, Buck Martinez said he was throwing a sweeper before it was a sweeper. Like he had that incredible, incredible slider, and he represents the generational divide among Blue Jays fans for me, because fans who were around to watch him pitch will go on and on about Dave Steve, and they really should. But younger fans, I think they're just not exposed to as many Dave Steve highlights. They don't see him on TV, they don't hear as much about him. And that's something I hope can be a little more alive in the minds of the Blue Jays fans, because it's really too bad Steve pitched in the era that, you know, you didn't have three teams getting a free pass into the playoffs with the Wild Card. I wish there were more opportunities for him and those great 80s teams, that would have changed everything. But still, someone who I think deserves, even a guy who's considered one of the greatest Blue Jays of all time, I still think he deserves a much larger place in the Jays' history conversation. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Jose Berrios Had 4 Words After Blue Jays' Win Over Cardinals
Jose Berrios Had 4 Words After Blue Jays' Win Over Cardinals originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Toronto Blue Jays fans finally have plenty to be excited about. After meandering around .500 for most of the season, the club is now 36-30 after their 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, tied for second place in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays. Advertisement Starting pitcher Jose Berrios tossed a four-hit shutout in 6.2 innings vs. St. Louis before the bullpen blew the lead in the eighth. However, center fielder Jonatan Clase hit a 415-foot solo homer to center to tie the game at 4-4 in the ninth, and catcher Alejandro Kirk hit a go-ahead RBI double in the 10th. Closer Jeff Hoffman then secured his 16th save of the season. Berrios sounded off about the win postgame, via Keegan Matheson. Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios (17)© Jeff Curry-Imagn Images "That's a playoff game," the 31-year-old said. He also mentioned that the win reveals the makeup of the clubhouse. Berrios is now 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 14 starts this season. The Minnesota Twins selected Berrios No. 32 overall in the 2012 MLB Draft. They promoted the right-hander to the big leagues in April 2016, and he made the All-Star team in 2018 and 2019. He pitched 12 total playoff innings with Minnesota, totaling five earned runs and 14 strikeouts. Advertisement The Twins then traded Berrios to the Blue Jays in July 2021, and he won the Gold Glove award in 2023. The 6-foot, 205-pounder made one playoff start for Toronto that season, totaling one earned run on three hits in three innings. The Blue Jays are now 8-2 in their last 10 games. Related: Phillies' Rob Thomson Announces J.T. Realmuto News After Blue Jays Game Related: Blue Jays Reporter Opens Up About Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani in New Book This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
