SIZING STEREOTYPES - HOW NICK TAYLOR'S BACKYARD WIN COMPLETELY RESHAPED THE NATIONS GOLFING IDENTITY

Mario Russo

Delegitimizing stereotypes is what the people of Canada do best, especially when it comes to rewriting expectations in the world of sports. Yesterday’s RBC Canadian Open emphatically shattered the stigma around golf’s place above the 49th parallel and converted its presence on the PGA TOUR calendar from a want, to a need amongst everyone involved.

All you had to do was watch Nick Taylor’s putt from over 70 feet sink itself to the bottom of the 18th hole in order to feel the momentous shift in Canadian golf. A similar sentiment to what was felt over 20 years prior to Taylor’s victory in the form of a 2003 Masters win featuring Canadian golf icon Mike Weir - who also teed it up on the weekend at age 53.

Pair that feeling on the eighteenth green with the timeless call of SiriusXM’s Mark Zecchino and the clamoring roar of the post-putt Canadian anthem, and you will discover just how immense the desire for golf is within the country.

How the rolling of the ball can unite a nation like few things can. Or how a tournament left off the PGA’s 2023 designated events list can single-handedly restore the league’s rotting identity.

Although the latter may only be temporarily effective, uniting with and around the game of golf will be a long-standing occurrence. Not just its permanent ascendancy within the Canadian golf scene, but it's abidance amongst the next generation of golfers only ressurfaces the real meaning behind the saccharine scenes at Oakdale Golf and Country Club.

Nick Taylor’s playoff victory this past Sunday only points the needle further north in what has been the year of renaissance within Canadian golf. For the first time since 1983, four separate Canadians have lifted a trophy at some point in the current PGA TOUR season.

Corey Conners was the last Canadian to win on TOUR after taking home the Valero Texas Open in early April. He complimented the wins of Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson in October and November respectively to help grow the dominance of the Northern contingent on TOUR.

Taylor - who entered the weekend tied for 49th place - embodied and personified what has been a surge to the top for Canadian golfers all throughout 2023. In pressured situations, Taylor - much like his Canadian counterparts have done all season long - dialed up his game when the outside noise screamed ‘afterthought’ directly to his face.

In a similar stance to the tournament he both played and took victory in, being a figure of relevance appeared to be a token of success rather than the bare minimum it resembles for most of the golfers on the PGA TOUR.

Just like the nation he hails from, Taylor’s chances at seasonal success have been overlooked, mocked and diminished from fans and critics alike. The 35-year old wasn't even viewed as the best Canadian on TOUR following Corey Conners’ top 12 finish at the PGA Championship last month.

But much like stereotypes, sinking suppositions from the outside is what Canadians do best. It’s what Taylor delivered this past weekend and ironically how he came about doing so after starting his championship-seeking Sunday 11-under par and tied for eighth place.

Nick Taylor is Canadian golf, and with his newest addition to the trophy case, blazes the trail for the next generation of golfers up north. After 69 years of waiting, the nation’s native contender threaded the needle to make some long-awaited history and did so by creating an all-time moment in Canada’s sporting history.

Never has the game of golf been at such an elevated position in Canada’s sports development. The stereotypes revolving around golf’s close proximity to death’s door north of the border has - like many of the Canadian presumptions before it - been buried well beneath the everlasting snow, residential igloos and maple trees that encapsulate the entire country.

Maybe Canadian’s being on top of the golf world will be the next stereotype to debunk.