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CBC
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Why 2-time winner Rory McIlroy keeps coming back to the RBC Canadian Open
Social Sharing For years, the character tension surrounding Rory McIlroy emerged four times per season. As his major drought stretched on and on, and his quest for the career Grand Slam grew less and less likely with each Masters loss, McIlroy's mental battles always came into focus — whether it was a new approach, a gutting collapse or an untimely injury. Then, in April, he finally did it. McIlroy won the Masters, becoming just the sixth player ever to achieve the career Grand Slam. You could see what it meant throughout his roller-coaster final round, and especially as he collapsed on the 18th green after the winning putt dropped. In the minutes, hours and weeks that followed, it was pure jubilation. But when the second major of the season rolled around — the PGA Championship in May — McIlroy struggled, barely made the cut and refused to talk to media on any of the four days amid news that his driver had been deemed non-conforming. Soon after, he skipped The Memorial — a signature event hosted by Jack Nicklaus that he hadn't missed since 2017. And so when he stepped to the podium for his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, ahead of the RBC Canadian Open, there were plenty of questions. Namely — why was he here? WATCH | Recapping McIlroy's Masters win with Myles Dichter of Basement Golf: Rory McIlroy wins the Masters, recap with Myles Dichter of Basement Golf 2 months ago Duration 9:25 "It means a lot. I haven't, I guess, hidden my aspirations for national opens and where I would like them to be, what their standing is in the professional game of golf. So this has meant a lot," McIlroy said. Since 2019, McIlroy has made a habit of playing the Canadian Open, even as it's bounced around a bit on the schedule. Further cementing his commitment to national opens, McIlroy also recently said he would play in the Australian Open — an off-season event that typically does not draw the best fields — for the next two seasons as well as the Indian Open in October. In Canada, his results — win, win, T9, T4 — speak for themselves, but there's also the added bonus of U.S. Open prep. The third major of the season begins next Thursday at Oakmont Country Club in Philadelphia. "Before playing in this event, 2016, 2017, 2018, I missed three cuts in a row at the U.S. Open, and since playing the Canadian Open the week before, I've had six top 10s in a row. So there's something to that," he said. "But then obviously playing in front of the Canadian fans and everything that goes along with that and the enthusiasm, you guys only get to see this sort of golf once a year, so I think once it does come along, it's really appreciated." National opens a 'massive part of the game' Defending champion Robert MacIntyre used the Canadian Open as a springboard last year, going on to win his own national open in Scotland a few weeks later. MacIntyre called national opens "huge" when he met with media on Tuesday. "There's a lot of Canadian players here this week obviously wanting to win the Canadian Open. Everyone's wanting to win this week, but it just adds an extra incentive for the Canadian guys because it's the Canadian Open, and I think the crowd also builds on that," MacIntyre said. "National opens are a massive part of the game. I just wish that we'd done more to promote a lot more national opens." In Canada, McIlroy's continued presence has provided promotional pull of its own. Take one glance at the field and you'll see plenty of familiar names, including former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa. Also in the field are a slew of McIlroy's fellow European Ryder Cuppers in MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg. They are all decent bets to return to the team for the September competition in New York. "I think a lot of the European guys like to play the week before a major," McIlroy said. "But I think for the most part, [the Canadian Open has] become a very, very good tournament, and I think because of that, and you see guys playing each and every year, I think the field then starts to become stronger because you see your peers do something, and we're all sort of like sheep out here." WATCH | Caledon, Ont., set to host its first Canadian Open: RBC Canadian Open tees off for the 1st time in Caledon 1 day ago Duration 1:51 The RBC Canadian Open tees off for the first time in Caledon on Thursday. This year, 25 Canadians are contesting for the golf tournament's top prize. For McIlroy himself, the Canadian Open this year is acting as a "reset" on a season that saw early wins at famed courses like Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass before his Masters triumph. Now, he's looking forward to a second half that will include next week's U.S. Open and July's Open Championship at Royal Portrush, which will be contested in his home country of Northern Ireland. "You have this event in your life that you've worked towards and it happens, sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again. I think the last two weeks have been good for me just as a reset, just to sort of figure out where I'm at in my own head what I want to do, where I want to play," he said. Where he wanted to play was the Canadian Open, even as speculation piled up over his absences at PGA Championship post-round media and the Memorial entirely. Now, those questions have been put to rest. McIlroy is back at a tournament with which he's become synonymous, and the two-time winner is looking to make it three. "Anytime you start to rack up multiple wins in places, especially with a trophy like the Canadian Open and the names that are on that trophy, there's not many that are on it three times, so yeah, it would be very cool," McIlroy said.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Rory McIlroy is your 2025 Masters Champion
Sports Duration 1:04 'We know how roller-coasters end. We had no idea how that Sunday round at the Masters was going to end': Myles Dichter of Basement Golf talks all things Rory McIlroy with us on CBC Sports Reacts.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Weekend recap: Rory wins the Masters (in very Rory fashion)
Here's a look at the top moments from the past couple days, including some impressive Canadians results. Golf: Rory gets his green jacket, Conners fades to eighth In one of the most dramatic finishes imaginable, fan favourite Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland recovered from another late meltdown to defeat England's Justin Rose in a playoff and win the Masters to complete the rare career Grand Slam. McIlroy entered the final round at Augusta with a two-shot lead over American Bryson DeChambeau and was seven up on Rose as he sought to overcome a decade of agonizing misses since his last major victory in 2014. But McIlroy promptly double-bogeyed the first hole, setting the stage for a vintage Rory-coaster day of impossibly beautiful shot-making and gut-wrenching mistakes that left him needing to par the 18th to hold off the surging Rose, who had completed a 6-under round with a long birdie putt on 18. After dumping his approach into a bunker, McIlroy missed a five-foot putt for the win, sending him back to the 18th tee for the playoff. Somehow keeping his cool, he striped his drive and then stuffed a wedge to three feet for birdie to capture the elusive green jacket and join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only players to win all four majors in men's golf. WATCH | CBC Sports recaps 2025 Masters, McIlroy's historic win: Rory McIlroy wins the Masters, recap with Myles Dichter of Basement Golf 2 hours ago Duration 9:25 Canada's Corey Conners tied for eighth, staying right in contention until Sunday. He missed a par putt of less than a foot on the first hole, setting the tone for a 3-over round that left him six shots behind McIlroy and Rose. Conners now has four top-10 finishes at the Masters in the last six years and five top-10s on the PGA Tour this season — one more than he had in all of 2024. Nick Taylor, the only other Canadian to make the cut, finished tied for 40th at 3 over par. It was the first time in five years that the 2023 Canadian Open champion qualified for the weekend at a major. Here's more on Sunday's final round and McIlroy's emotional victory. Women's hockey: Canada eyes a rematch The United States defeated archrival Canada 2-1 on Sunday at the women's world championship in the Czech Republic to clinch first place in Group A. Defenders Lee Stecklein and Megan Keller scored for the Americans before forward Laura Stacey replied in the third period for Canada. The result does not change the fact that the U.S. and Canada, who have squared off in 22 of the 23 women's world championship finals and six of the seven Olympic gold-medal games, will almost certainly meet in the title game again this Sunday. As if to underscore that point, Canada rebounded from yesterday's loss to trounce the host Czechs 7-1 today to finish 3-1 in the preliminary stage and clinch second place in the group. The Americans finish up against Switzerland tomorrow before the quarterfinals on Thursday. All five teams in Canada's group, which also includes Finland, automatically advance to the quarters along with the top three from the weaker Group B. NHL: Winnipeg wins the Presidents' After clinching the top seed in the Western Conference on Saturday, the Jets wrapped up the first Presidents' Trophy (for the league's best record) in franchise history on Sunday when East-leading Washington lost to Columbus. Winnipeg will likely play Minnesota or St. Louis in the first round, though Calgary can still steal one of the two wild-card spots in the West. The Flames are two points behind St. Louis with two games left. Edmonton, which beat Winnipeg yesterday, is now guaranteed to face Los Angeles in the first round for the fourth straight year. The Oilers won all three previous matchups, but this time they're banged up and will be without injured defenceman Mattias Ekholm for at least the first round, while the Kings can clinch home-ice advantage with a win tonight in Edmonton. One more opening-round matchup is set in the West — Dallas vs. Colorado — along with one in the East — Carolina vs. New Jersey. It's looking more and more like we'll get a Battle of Ontario between Toronto and Ottawa, and a Battle of Florida between Tampa Bay and the Stanley Cup champion Panthers, while Montreal can clinch its first playoff berth since 2021 and a first-round date with Washington by beating Chicago tonight. One more interesting NHL note: for the first time ever, all four of the Original Six clubs based in the U.S. will miss the playoffs. NBA: Post-season matchups set As Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the final two games of a likely MVP season for the top-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder, the pairings for the play-in tournament were decided. In the Western Conference, it'll be No. 7 seed Golden State vs. No. 8 Memphis and No. 9 Sacramento vs. No. 10 Dallas. In the East it's No. 7 Orlando vs. No. 8 Atlanta and No. 9 Chicago vs. No. 10 Miami. The winners of Tuesday's 7 vs. 8 games advance to the 16-team playoff bracket. The losers get a second chance on Friday when they face the winners of Wednesday's 9 vs. 10 games. Oklahoma City and No. 2 seed Houston await the two play-in survivors in the Western Conference, while the East play-in winners meet No. 1 Cleveland or defending NBA champion Boston in the best-of-seven first round. The following first-round matchups are set: in the East, No. 3 New York vs. No. 6 Detroit and No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Milwaukee; in the West, it's the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 Minnesota and Canadian Jamal Murray' No. 4 Denver vs. the No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers. In other NBA news, the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholzer today after a disappointing 36-46 season, while New Orleans (21-61) canned top executive David Griffin. In women's basketball, Paige Bueckers is expected to be picked No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings in tonight's WNBA draft after leading UConn to the NCAA title. The expansion Golden State Valkyries choose fifth, while the 2026 expansion Toronto Tempo are already preparing for next year's draft. Canada's Rachel Homan fell just short of winning her third Grand Slam of Curling title of 2024-25, losing 5-4 to Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in the women's final at the season-ending Players' Championship in Toronto on Sunday. Still, what a season for Homan and her teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes. They repeated as world champions, went undefeated at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the second straight year and reached the final at all five Grand Slams, winning two of them. Their record this season was 75-8 — a win rate of better than 90 per cent. On the men's side, newly crowned world champion Bruce Mouat of Scotland defeated Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller on Sunday to capture his record fourth Slam of the season. While that's a wrap on the four-player curling season, we still have the mixed doubles world championship coming up April 26-May 3 in Fredericton. Mouat and his teammate Jenn Dodds and Canadian champs Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant are among the duos trying to secure spots in next year's Winter Olympics. Other key Canadian results: * Canada's divers won a pair of medals at a World Cup event in Windsor, Ont. Sonya Palkhivala and Amélie-Laura Jasmin took silver in the women's 3m synchro event while Matt Cullen and Benjamin Tessier earned bronze in the men's 10m synchro. Chinese divers won eight of the nine golds. * Audrey Lamothe and Ximena Ortiz Montano took bronze in the women's duet technical event at an artistic swimming World Cup meet in Egypt. It was just their second time competing together. * Olympic swimmers Blake Tierney, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Taylor Ruck were among the winners at the Canadian Open meet in Edmonton, while double Paralympic champion Nicholas Bennett and Paralympic bronze medallist Shelby Newkirk each won a pair of golds. * Gymnast Shallon Olsen finished fourth in the women's vault at a World Cup event in Croatia, while mountain biker Jenn Jackson was also fourth in a women's cross-country Olympic World Cup race in Brazil. * Olympic beach volleyball silver medallists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were eliminated in the second playoff round at a Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Brazil. * Canada failed to reach the eight-team Billie Jean King Cup finals after losing to host Japan at a qualifier for the women's team tennis championship. The Canadians were without Leylah Fernandez, who led Canada to its only BJK Cup title in 2023 and is the country's highest-ranked women's singles player. Doubles ace Gabriela Dabrowski also did not participate.
