Tommy Fleetwood’s wait for a TOUR title continues

Tommy Fleetwood has long been regarded as one of the best players yet to win on the PGA TOUR. The easygoing Englishman has grown into a fan favorite across the pond in North America; the prevailing sentiment typically urges him to cross the finish line and raise a trophy.

That is, until Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open, when Fleetwood ran into a buzzsaw personified by Nick Taylor and the Canadian public. With Canada’s drought at its national open on the verge of reaching seven decades, there wasn’t a sliver of doubt as to the crowd favorite at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto.

The table was set for a Fleetwood victory – he needed birdie at the 499-yard, par-5 finishing hole, the day’s least difficult hole, to surpass clubhouse leader Taylor and earn that elusive first title. But two loose swings led to par; he matched Taylor’s 17-under total at Oakdale, then succumbed to Taylor’s written-in-the-stars 72-foot eagle on the fourth playoff hole that shook the ground near the shores of Lake Ontario.

The playoff defeat marked Fleetwood’s fifth runner-up on TOUR. It's a cliché, but Fleetwood has done everything on TOUR but win, including this week, where it took 76 holes to succumb to the native Canadian. He’s a big-time player with six DP World Tour wins and five top-five finishes in majors. There’s no question he has the game to compete on the biggest stage.

It takes a lot to beat a top-form Fleetwood.

It took a top-form Taylor, and a country.

“Nice moment for Nick and the fans here, so it’s great to be a part of that Sunday and that playoff,” Fleetwood said afterward. “I had my chances, really; it wasn’t meant to be this time. Congratulations to him.

“I just have to keep practicing, keep playing. I was really pleased with how I played over the weekend. I played great today, even though I missed some chances, if you like, on those playoff holes … It was close. I just have to take the positives from it and start practicing tomorrow. I’ve got a major next week. So can't dwell on it too much.”

Fleetwood played his first 17 holes Sunday in 5 under, including back-to-back stuffed wedges for birdies at 16 and 17 that brought him to the final hole with victory in his sights; the par-5 18th played to just 4.432 on Sunday, with 38 birdies and three eagles, compared to 31 pars and two bogeys. Fleetwood missed the fairway right with irons, though, on both the tee shot and second shot, leading to a short-sided third shot from 82 yards that forced him to play conservatively to the back of the green and settle for a two-putt par.

“I was playing so well,” Fleetwood said, “and just got a bit fast.”

Fleetwood and Taylor matched scores of birdie-par-par to begin the playoff, before Taylor turned the improbable into reality on the fourth overtime hole – draining the cross-green eagle that immediately etched its place in Canadian golf history. Fleetwood was preparing for an 11-foot birdie try of his own. All he could do was shake Taylor’s hand – then elude the swarm of well-wishers that immediately stormed the 18th green, some with champagne bottles in hand.

Canada waited 69 years for this title – delivered by Taylor in grand fashion. Fleetwood continues to wait for a title of his own.

“I'm not going to take anything away from Nick,” Fleetwood said. “I played with him the first two rounds and he obviously struggled on day one (to a 3-over 75). So he's played unbelievable from there on in, and then amazing moment for him on the last hole.”

Fleetwood opened with rounds of 70-70 before a third-round, 8-under 64 propelled him into the Sunday conversation. He began the final round in a tie for second, two strokes back of 54-hole leader C.T. Pan, who finished in a three-way tie for third at 16 under, one shy of the playoff.

Joining Pan in the tie for third were Fleetwood’s fellow Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai.

For a while, it looked Hatton’s score might be enough to force overtime in hockey-mad Canada. The fiery 31-year-old made 10 birdies Sunday, including four straight to close the day, and was derailed only by a double bogey at No. 8. Hatton played seven pairings ahead of the final group and waited for nearly an hour before Taylor, four groups later, drained a curling 12-footer to post 17 under, bumping Hatton and Rai – who played one group ahead of Taylor – from playoff contention.

Fleetwood played in the final group alongside Pan, needing that closing birdie to avoid the inherent variability of a playoff. He came up just shy.

Fleetwood’s situation in Toronto drew comparison to that of Stewart Cink at the 2009 Open Championship against Tom Watson, who at age 59 was looking to become the oldest TOUR winner and major champion by a wide margin. That day, the crowds were pulling for Watson. This time, the energy was squarely on Taylor’s side.

In contrast to Cink’s winning outcome at The Open, this time the sentimental favorite delivered with a moment that seemed straight out of a Hollywood script.

Fleetwood will look to author that Hollywood story next week at The Los Angeles Country Club, as the TOUR heads west for the U.S. Open. He knows his game’s there. He just won’t need to fight the karma of an entire nation.

Canada had earned its moment – and it seems Fleetwood’s will come as well.