Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy earn The Open Championship invites at RBC Canadian Open

Three spots for the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon were up for grabs at the RBC Canadian Open as part of The Open Championship qualifying series.

Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Griffin, and Maverick McNealy will now compete at The 152nd Open Championship due to their stellar play at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. The three qualifying spots went to players not already entered in The Open.

Local favorite Hughes, who grew up 11 minutes from Hamilton Golf and Country Club, briefly grabbed a share of the lead until bogeys on 9, 13 and 14 took him out of contention for the title. The silver lining for Hughes, his T7 finish was enough to punch his ticket to The Open Championship after rounds of 64-69-67-70. It was the best finish of his career at the RBC Canadian Open.

“It's always great to get a major start under your belt and to play at Troon, I've played there before and it's a really fun golf course. I’m looking forward to getting there in July," Hughes said.

Ben Griffin, who is scheduled for surgery to repair a hole in his retina on Tuesday, also qualified for The Open Championship after finishing second to his Zurich Classic of New Orleans partner Robert MacIntyre at the RBC Canadian Open. After withdrawing from the PGA Championship and a missed cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Griffin reflected on how quickly fortunes can change in golf.

“The golf swing's so finicky,” Griffin said. He remembers hearing Rory McIlroy talk about little changes paying big dividends mid-tournament.

“I think Rory was talking about how he found something in his swing yesterday after his round (Friday) and things kind of clicked. I feel like that's kind of the same with me. It can get off a little bit and all it takes is something small.”

Griffin is scheduled to play in final qualifying for the U.S. Open on Monday at Cherry Hill Club in Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada. The U.S. Open would mark the 28-year-old’s fourth start in a major championship.

“It's just amazing,” Griffin told the press regarding qualifying for The Open.

“Something I've strived to do since I got on TOUR is play in the best events and keep building my game and getting more and more confident. I feel like I was super comfortable out there today and if I can continue to get really comfortable in these moments and bring it to major championships, I feel like I'm kind of close to breaking through and putting my name up there.

“I played so much growing up with Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, and Sam Burns. All these guys, they're having a ton of success. I know my time's coming and I just got to keep plugging.”

Maverick McNealy, who finished T7 alongside Mackenzie Hughes, also assured his entry into The Open. McNealy recorded his third top 25 in a row Sunday after rounds of 74-65-66-65. It will be McNealy’s second appearance at The Open Championship, his first coming in 2017 at Royal Birkdale where he missed the cut.