At a Monday press conference, Golf Canada officials announced who would be coming to the RBC Canadian Open – and who would not.
The names on the arrivals side were impressive for a non-signature tournament being held the week before the U.S. Open. Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Jacob Bridegman and Tony Finau are in, along with RBC ambassadors Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala and Shane Lowry. The defending champ, Ryan Fox, will return as well.
There is a healthy Canadian contingent headed up by Mike Weir, who will make his 33rd appearance. Also playing home games will be Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, Adam Svensson, A.J. Ewart, Sudarshan Yellamaraju and 2023 winner Nick Taylor. More Canadians will be announced as the tournament date moves closer.
On the departures side, the news wasn’t as good.
Rory McIlroy is not in the field after playing the previous five Opens and winning two. Tournament director Ryan Paul put on a brave face at the press conference, saying that talks with McIlroy continued in hopes he might show up, but the odds at this point are unlikely. It marked the second RBC-sponsored tournament that McIlroy has skipped this year after taking a pass at the RBC Heritage.
The Masters champion said late last year that he would be cutting down his schedule and he’s held to that. This week he is playing at the Truist Championship, just the sixth time he’s teed it up on the PGA Tour this season.
McIlroy has been the drawing card during his visits to Canada, and when he comes, he’s been exceptionally busy, filling out corporate outings early in the week, pro-ams on Wednesday and media requests throughout. It’s not exactly the best way to prepare for a major, although McIlroy has finished inside the top 10 in four of the five years when he’s been to Canada.
But the majors are where he has his focus now and he’s not expected to play the week before them. This week’s event, just before the PGA Championship, is an exception largely due to the fact it is being played at Quail Hollow where McIlroy has won four times.
The bright side of the RBC Canadian Open is that for a non-signature event, it will have a solid field. Compared to similar tournaments that are not in the signature categories, this will look like a major.
Fitzpatrick is currently ranked fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking. Morikawa, who is married to a Canadian, is sixth, and Fleetwood, who was in the playoff for Nick Taylor’s historic moment, is one notch lower. Jacob Bridgeman is 19th.
At the press gathering, Golf Canada officials also announced that the Open would return to TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley for a third time in 2027. Paul promised that many of the problems that his organizing team encountered in 2025 will be corrected or improved, especially parking. (Another change will see the Media Centre tent moved to a location near the driving range. Last year, it was situated between the first and 10th tees and players complained about the loudmouths inside.)
TPC Toronto has been a solid host. There is plenty of room for all the extras that come with a tournament and the course received fairly favourable reviews from players. The third visit also gives Golf Canada more time to convince one of the Great Toronto Area classic courses to host the Open. That’s no easy task. In addition to the land needed to host not just the golf but everything that comes with it, it’s hard to get members to surrender their course during peak golf time of a short season. The number of willing clubs is minimal.
The RBC Canadian Open will tee off for the 115th time on June10 and it’s likely it will once again draw a large crowd to witness an impressive field of players. It has consistently delivered exciting finishes such as last year’s playoff between Fox and Burns, the 72-foot putt of Taylor and McIlroy’s dramatic last-hole win over Finau and Justin Thomas.
Here’s betting that it will deliver excitement one more time.
