Canadian golf hopes to ride momentum from Nick Taylor's home victory to U.S. Open and beyond
CBC
Nick Taylor celebrated his first two PGA Tour victories by eating pizza and doing laundry.
There won't be much time for celebration following his third title either after the Abbotsford, B.C., native became the first Canadian man to win the national open since 1954 on Sunday at Toronto's Oakdale Golf and Country Club.
Taylor is one of seven Canadians in the field for the U.S. Open, the third major of the year which begins on Thursday at Los Angeles Country Club.
Joining him are three other Tour winners this season: Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. Four Canadian victories mark the most ever in a PGA Tour season.
Together, they form a generation of golfers inspired by Mike Weir's 2003 Masters victory.
"That was right when I was dropping pretty much every other sport and focusing on golf," Taylor said on Sunday.
WATCH | Nick Taylor wins Canadian Open, ending Canada's drought:
"To have Mike win that tournament I think really made everyone believe that we could do it coming from a country like we do, where golf isn't ideal for -- it wasn't quite half the year where I grew up, but three, four months you're not really touching a club. It's inspirational."
The other three Canadian golfers in the U.S. Open field are Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Calgary's Roger Sloan.
After Taylor, 35, erased the men's national open drought, he said the next frontier for the Canadian contingent is to win a major.
"[The Canadian Open] is fifth on the list, I think, from the four majors," he said. "Corey's played unbelievable the last two or three years in a lot of major championships. He's been inspiring to play well at the top of the best fields out here. But that's the next step."
WATCH | Taylor makes 72-foot eagle putt to win RBC Canadian Open:
Conners held a share of the 36-hole lead at the PGA Championship last month until a wayward bunker shot on Saturday derailed his tournament. He wound up tied for 12th.
A similar story repeated itself at Oakdale, with Conners among the leaders after the first round but unable to stay in contention through the back nine on Sunday.
