CALEDON — Three of Canada's best golfers are in one of the marquee groups at the RBC Canadian Open and they're living up to that top billing.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., were in the morning wave together in Thursday's opening round. They were just ahead of a group that featured world No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Sweden's Ludwig Aberg and Luke Clanton of the United States.
Pendrith was tied with Americans Alex Smalley and Paul Peterson at 5-under 65 to hold the clubhouse lead. They dropped down into a nine-way tie for ninth once the afternoon wave was finished. Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and Chile's Cristobal Del Solar both flirted with the course record at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, firing 9-under 61 rounds to finish the first round atop the leaderboard.
"It was great out there. I felt like the crowd really filled in on the back nine," said Pendrith, standing within sight of the 18th green. "Nick was making some birdies, and I was making some birdies. Mac holed a 6-iron on 5.
"So it was a lot of fun. The crowd was into it. Nice to see a lot of people out here on a rainy day. We had a blast out there, and we all played pretty well."
Taylor, the 2023 winner of the men's national golf championship, was a shot back of Pendrith tied with a group for 18th. Hughes shot a 2-under 68 to sit in a tie with Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., Matthew Scobie of Oshawa, Ont., and Vancouver's Brett Webster.
"It was fun to feed off each other. It's better than going the other way, obviously," said Taylor. "Everyone played well.
"Mac probably could have made a couple more putts where he normally does, but for all of us to be under par, it was a good start."
It was a far cry from their first appearances at the Canadian Open, when they were all amateurs getting to play in the national championship thanks to sponsor exemptions.
"It's cool to look back on. I think 2008 might have been my first Canadian Open, and I teed off at 7:30 at night because we had a long rain delay, and that was kind of my unique first start," said Taylor. "Fast forward 17 years, being the featured group, it's cool. It's what we dreamt about."
Pendrith agreed with Taylor, adding that his first Canadian Open appearance at Royal Montreal Golf Club in 2014 was formative for him.
"Those experiences, I think, help me," said Pendrith. "It's one of the biggest events for us, and it's one that we look forward to all year.
"It's my fifth or sixth Canadian Open now, and it's nice to play in a group with those guys and have all the fans supporting us. It's the week that we look forward to every year."
It's a tradition on the PGA Tour that all the Canadians in the field practice together on the Tuesday of tournament week. That camaraderie bled over into Thursday's round.
"To play a practice round with a couple buddies — excuse me, tournament round, it felt like a practice round is what I'm trying to say — It was a lot of fun," said Taylor. "We kept it loose. It was nice to see a few birdies go in."
A thunderstorm Wednesday night and continued rain into the morning made the greens soft and accuracy important. It affected spectators too, as they had to seek cover in the morning.
Fans who tried to come in the early afternoon struggled to find parking as one of two public lots at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley had to be closed because the heavy rainfall made the ground too soft to be driven on. The other parking lot quickly filled up, so Golf Canada encouraged spectators to use ride share or public drop-off if possible.
Olesen said that the rainy conditions actually helped him take the lead.
"Obviously, they're a little bit softer than what they were yesterday," he said. "I didn't actually see the front nine until today. That worked out well maybe not to know any of the holes really.
"Sometimes you just have a feel of the greens and you just look at it, and you can sort of see the lines easy, and that was one of those days for me."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
