Tour News
8 Things We Learned from the RBC Canadian Open

Having all recovered from last week’s dramatic showdown between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, the PGA Tour moved back across the pond for Canada’s flagship tournament, the RBC Canadian Open. The field was surprisingly strong given its unenviable position stuck between The Open and the PGA Championship with two of the top-4 players in the Official World Golf Rankings playing.
Here’s what we learned this week.
Surprisingly Strong Field
Want to make sure you have a strong field? Sponsor the right players. RBC guaranteed itself a decent field just based on the players they sponsor: Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Brandt Snedeker to name a few, and all made the trek from Troon. Snedeker had a chance to win, but he couldn’t eagle the 72nd hole and finished two back at 10-under.
And Still…
Titleist had an incredible 106 players using their ball at the RBC Canadian Open. Its closest competitor had 16. In a time where manufacturers keep advertising the latest technology in clubs and balls, Titleist has remained the undisputed No. 1 ball among pros. And from the numbers, it doesn’t look like it will be changing any time soon.
Hard and Fast
When you think of Canada, hot, windy, and baked out aren’t necessarily the first words that come to mind. But that is exactly how Glen Abbey played.
Downhill holes were playing ridiculously short, and the pros weren’t prepared for it. On Friday, Ernie Els and Jason Day both drove their balls in the water on the 18th with Day’s drive traveling 404 yards on the par-5. Day still make birdie, however, hitting his next shot on the green and pouring in the putt.
Trackman making its way to a PGA Tour range near you
A lot has been made of Dustin Johnson’s improved wedge play this year. It’s been cite as a main reason why he was able to win the U.S. Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. DJ has started using Trackman on the range prior to rounds to dial in his wedge distances each day. He doesn’t use it for angles, lofts, or any of the other measurements Trackman offers, only distance.
Well, other players are taking notice. While in the CBS booth on Saturday, Brandt Snedeker, Ian Baker Finch and Jim Nantz discussed Johnson’s improved wedge play. Snedeker talked about how he splurged for a Trackman after watching Johnson start to hit his wedges inside his own during practice rounds. With the way Johnson is playing this year, you can expect to see more and more Trackmans proliferating the range. If you have an extra $20,000 laying around, it will probably help your game, too.
Big One?
With Rory McIlroy making more news for his comments than his golf game, Jason Day giving away leads in final rounds and Jordan Spieth struggling with lofty expectations, the Big Three has failed to live up to the hype this year. Having been left out of all the talk, Dustin Johnson has steamrolled his opponents and looks like a good bet to contend at the PGA Championship next week. While he didn’t win this week, he put himself in contention with a chance to chip in on the final hole to tie for the lead.
Despite coming up just short, DJ heads into next week as a prohibitive favorite with some momentum. Maybe the greatest athlete in the history of golf, Johnson now has the golf game to match. And with his confidence and game at an all time high, he may leave the Big Three behind.
Amateur Hour
Jared du Toit and Garrett Rank captured the hearts of Canadian fans as the two home-country amateurs made the cut — and du Toit had a real chance to win. Both come from quite different backgrounds and have quite different futures ahead, though we should see both as professionals.
Rank will be in NHL arenas next year as a referee after being promoted from the minors. Du Toit, a rising senior at Arizona State University and former teammate of Jon Rahm, will likely be headed to one of the pro tours or qualifying school after graduating. He went into Sunday’s round playing in the final group after making a bomb for eagle on the 18th hole Saturday. du Toit had low expectations starting the week, even failing to show up without a caddy. No matter, he handled himself nicely on Sunday finishing tied for ninth with a final-round 71.
The Drought Continues
No Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open since 1954 when Pat Fletcher pulled out the title. Canadians were hopeful last year was the year after David Hearn went into the final round with a two-shot lead. But Jason Day killed those dreams with a closing 68 to beat Hearn by two. This week started with Canadians putting their hopes in Hearn or Graham DeLaet to come through, but neither could live up to their countrymen’s’ expectations. Both missed the cut and the chipping issues for DeLaet continue.
On Thursday, DeLaet almost hit a playing partner’s caddy with what should have been a relatively easy chip on the 9th hole. Then on No. 16, he skulled a ball from a bunker into another bunker before taking another two shots to get it out. Pretty ugly stuff. Let’s hope he can get it fixed before the Olympics next month.
Viva Vegas
After starting the year without full exempt status on the PGA Tour, Jhonattan Vegas followed up his 4th-place finish at the Barbasol Championship with a final-round 64 to win by one over Jon Rahm, Martin Laird and Dustin Johnson.
Following his round, Vegas choked back tears to Peter Kostis saying, “From where I started this year, not having full status on Tour and knowing it was going to be a really tough year … I think it was a great thing for me, because it made me realize how much I love being here and how much hard I had to work to get back here. And then I come out with this great win.”
Vegas has earned a place at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, and gets to look forward to the Masters next year.
Related: See the clubs Vegas used to win
Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.
Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.
Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.
General Albums
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 Wyndham Championship – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Davis Riley – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Scotty Kennon – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Austin Duncan – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Will Chandler – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kevin Roy – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ben Griffin – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Ryan Gerard – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Adam Schenk – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Kurt Kitayama – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Camilo Villegas – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matti Schmid – WITB – 2025 Wyndham Championship
Pullout Albums
- Denny McCarthy’s custom Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Swag Golf putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Karl Vilips TM MG5 wedges – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- New Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
- Cameron putters – 2025 Wyndham Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2025 3M Open

GolfWRX is live from the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities!
Back from our overseas journey, we have plenty for you to digest from Minnesota, including WITBs and in-hand looks at some pretty impressive putters.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2025 3M Open – Tuesday #1
- 2025 3M Open – Tuesday #2
- 2025 3M Open – Tuesday #3
- 2025 3M Open – Tuesday #4
WITB Albums
- Luke List – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Isaiah Salinda – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Kaito Onishi – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Seamus Power – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Chris Kirk – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Andrew Putnam – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Thomas Campbell – Minnesota PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2025 3M Open
- Max Herendeen – WITB – 2025 3M Open
Pullout Albums
- Rickie’s custom Joe Powell persimmon driver – 2025 3M Open
- Custom Cameron T-9.5 – 2025 3M Open
- Tom Kim’s custom prototype Cameron putter – 2025 3M Open
- New Cameron prototype putters – 2025 3M Open
- Zac Blair’s latest Scotty acquisition – 2025 3M Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2025 Open Championship

GolfWRX was live this week across the pond for The Open Championship! Check out links to all our galleries from Royal Portrush below.
General Albums
- 2025 The Open Championship – Sunday #1
- 2025 The Open Championship – Monday #1
- 2025 The Open Championship – Monday #2
- 2025 Open Championship – Monday #3
- 2025 The Open Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2025 The Open Championship – Tuesday #2
- 2025 The Open Championship – Wednesday #1
Pullout Albums
- Cobra’s 153rd Open Championship staff bag – 2025 The Open Championship
- Srixon’s Open Championship staff bag – 2025 The Open Championship
- Scotty Cameron 2025 Open Championship putter covers – 2025 The Open Championship
- TaylorMade’s 153rd Open Championship staff bag – 2025 The Open Championship
- Shane Lowry – testing a couple of Cameron putters – 2025 The Open Championship
- New Scotty Cameron Phantom Black putters(and new cover & grip) – 2025 The Open Championship
- FootJoy x Harris Tweed limited-edition shoes – 2025 The Open Championship
- Nike “Open Championship” collection shoes, bags and hoodies – 2025 The Open Championship
Ben Peters
Jul 25, 2016 at 1:08 pm
It was only a matter of time for Vegas. Congrats to a quality player and even better person.