Five players who could challenge Robert MacIntyre on Sunday at RBC Canadian Open

ANCASTER, Ontario – Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre assumed the driver’s seat Saturday at the RBC Canadian Open, playing his last five holes in 5-under to take a four-shot lead into Sunday’s final round at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. MacIntyre stands 14-under through three rounds in southern Ontario, four strokes clear of Ryan Fox, Ben Griffin and local favorite Mackenzie Hughes.

Canadian eyes will be cast on Hughes, who grew up in Dundas, Ontario, roughly 8 kilometers from Hamilton G&CC. He’ll be chasing MacIntyre, who well knows the feeling of vying for one’s home open, having finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy by one stroke at last year’s Genesis Scottish Open.

Yes, McIlroy also lurks into Sunday here as well, seven strokes off the pace after a third-round 65. It might be a long shot, but it’s a shot. Several others can say the same.

Here’s a look at five players with a chance to catch MacIntyre with a big Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open.

Mackenzie Hughes

With Hughes, the stars could be aligning for one of the season’s feel-good stories on Sunday afternoon in southern Ontario.

Hughes grew up in nearby Dundas, Ontario – 8 kilometers from Hamilton G&CC – and volunteered at the RBC Canadian Open as a kid, with some of his fondest memories coming at the event’s 2003 and 2006 iterations in Hamilton. He’s competing this week with a heavy heart after dear friend Bill Bath’s passing a month ago – as a tribute, Hughes has worn one of Bath’s old hockey jerseys on the par-3 13th hole (known as “The Rink”) in each of this week’s first three competitive rounds. Hughes has plenty at stake on TOUR this summer, fighting to represent Canada at the Olympic Men’s Golf Competition in August and to play for Captain Mike Weir’s International team at this fall’s Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal.

In the meantime, Hughes has a chance to win not only his home country’s national open but his literal home open. He made five birdies in a third-round 67 at Hamilton G&CC that moved him from fourth to second on the leaderboard. He’s four back of leader MacIntyre, but no other player stands between. After Canadian Nick Taylor’s breakthrough victory at last year’s RBC Canadian Open to snap a 69-year Canadian winless drought at this event, the possibilities are tantalizing – could Hughes make to back-to-back Canadian winners?

He'll give it his best shot.

“I made a putt on 10, and it was, like, chills,” Hughes said Saturday. “When I'm playing in the U.S., I mean, I'm pretty much a nobody, so being here at home you feel like they're really pulling you across the line … Some of those moments and things I felt, I'll remember for a long time. I know tomorrow will be even more special and hopefully we can put up a low one.”

Ben Griffin

The University of North Carolina alum is preparing for an eye procedure Tuesday; he learned last year that he suffers from lattice degeneration, and he will undergo laser work to address retinal holes (four in his left eye, one in his right eye). He wore sunglasses Saturday to combat “floaters” – which are accentuated in bright light, as was the case amidst sunny third-round conditions in southern Ontario.

In the meantime, he’s chasing his first TOUR title. Griffin carded a third-round 65 in Hamilton, jumping eight places on the leaderboard into a tie for second. He’ll play in Sunday’s final pairing alongside MacIntyre, with a close-up look at how the 54-hole leader is navigating his own pursuit of a maiden TOUR title.

Griffin has been in a similar position before. He finished T3 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in fall 2022 as a TOUR rookie, just his fourth start as a member, after holding the lead on the final nine. He lost in a playoff at the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship, in heartbreaking fashion after a final-round 74.

His 2024 season has been steady if unspectacular – he entered the week at No. 85 on the FedExCup standings, with 12 made cuts in 18 starts but no finish better than T9 at The American Express. This week though, his eye is on the prize.

“It's what we dream of as kids, trying to come down the stretch in a TOUR event and get it done,” Griffin said Saturday. “I've been close a couple times in my career so far … I've talked to some veterans that have tried to motivate me to stay positive and the win's going to come. So, it just feels good to be in the mix. It's going to be a fun day tomorrow.”

Ryan Fox

Early in Saturday’s third round, this looked like Fox’s tournament to lose. After sharing the 36-hole lead with MacIntyre, he played his first five holes in 4-under to open a four-stroke lead on the field. Fox has yet to win on TOUR but is a four-time DP World Tour winner, a proven commodity at the game’s upper echelon.

Things came apart from there, though, as Fox played his final 12 holes Saturday in 4 over – failing to make a birdie after the fifth hole. It leaves him four back of MacIntyre, his Saturday playing partner, into Sunday’s final round. The silver lining is that no other player stands between the two; Fox is not out of this yet.

Having entered the week at No. 117 on the FedExCup, the stakes are wide-ranging – he’s fighting for a FedExCup Playoffs spot (top 70 after the Wyndham Championship in August) and to boost his consideration for a spot on the International Team at this fall’s Presidents Cup.

Tommy Fleetwood

Last year, Fleetwood came agonizingly close to his first TOUR title at the RBC Canadian Open. He hung neck-and-neck with Canada’s Nick Taylor down the stretch, ultimately the victim of Taylor’s 72-foot eagle on the fourth extra hole that snapped a 69-year winless drought of Canadians in their national open.

Fleetwood has still yet to win on TOUR and is commonly mentioned in the conversation of best players without a TOUR title. He could change that with a sizzling Sunday at Hamilton G&CC. The Englishman carded a third-round, 6-under 64 – matching Victor Perez for Saturday’s low score – to move into a tie for fifth at 9-under, five back of MacIntyre.

Does Canada owe Fleetwood one? Time will tell.

“Very lucky with the support that I get out here,” Fleetwood said Saturday. “The ultimate goal is always to finish on the top of the leaderboard and win, so it's always in the back of your mind … Just continue to do the right things and see where that leads us.”

Rory McIlroy

A seven-stroke deficit into Sunday might seem insurmountable for some. Not Rory McIlroy. The two-time RBC Canadian Open winner remained within striking distance after a 5-under 65 in Saturday’s third round that could have been even lower; he turned in 5-under 30 but played his second nine in even par.

Hamilton G&CC is playing more difficult than when McIlroy won in 2019, but a silly low Sunday wouldn’t be without precedent – he flirted with 59 that Sunday before making bogey on the last to “settle” for a 61. This year, he begins the final round in a tie for 11th at 7-under, seven strokes back of MacIntyre.

The oddsmakers have McIlroy at 18/1 (none of the other three players at 7-under is better than 50/1). That doesn’t mean it’s likely, of course, but the 26-time TOUR winner (including two wins in his last three starts) is plenty capable.

“Wish I had made a couple more coming in, but overall a good day's work,” McIlroy said afterward. “Hopefully it puts me within touching distance going into tomorrow.

“I feel like an honorary Canadian at this point, and the support I get here is amazing. I keep saying it, but just a pleasure to play in an atmosphere like that. The crowds are so good, they're so supportive, so enthusiastic. Looking forward to one more day of it.”