The first one never comes easy. Robert MacIntyre learned that this week at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open as the PGA Tour rookie successfully held onto his 54-hole lead at Hamilton Golf & Country Club for a one-stroke victory over Ben Griffin at 16 under. The win marked the first of MacIntyre's PGA Tour career, and it came with his father serving as caddie.
With his maiden triumph, MacIntyre becomes the fifth rookie to win on the PGA Tour this season, joining Matthieu Pavon as those who utilized the DP World Tour pathway to get to this stage. Not only has the Scotsman locked up his playing privileges for the next two seasons, he enters the winner's circle at a timely point on the calendar as he punches his ticket into the U.S. Open in two weeks at Pinehurst.
The win was particularly emotional for MacIntyre, who admitted that a bit of homesickness led to him calling his father, Dougie, to caddie for him this week in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
"I'm speechless, to be honest," MacIntyre told CBS after the victory. "... This is just everything for me and my family. ... I can't believe I've done it with him on the bag. I'm crying with joy but laughing because I didn't think this was possible."
Dougie shared details of the sudden the decision before MacIntyre confirmed that his father would be returning to Scotland with him unlikely to play next week.
"I got phoned last Saturday. I'm sitting on the couch at home, 8:00 Saturday night. I gotta leave my job -- you know, I'm busy at work -- by 8:00 the next morning, I'm on a flight out here. Wow," Dougie said.
MacIntyre began the final round in possession of a record four-stroke lead, his first after 54 holes on the PGA Tour. He saw that advantage disappear within just over an hour of play as he dropped a shot on the first hole while Canadian Mackenzie Hughes rattled off three straight birdies in the penultimate group to square the two momentarily.
Hughes was not the only player to throw punches in the direction of MacIntyre as Tom Kim opened with three straight birdies and Rory McIlroy made his presence known with four birdies in his first six holes. The two turned in 4-under 31 and looked primed to post a number the 27-year-old would need to surpass.
Instead of growing concerned, MacIntyre responded with three birdies to close out his front half including back-to-back efforts on Nos. 7-8. With Hughes leaking oil and Kim dropping a shot ahead of him, the burly left hander seized control of a five-stroke lead and the tournament with an emphatic birdie on the difficult par-4 11th.
With seven holes to play, MacIntyre appeared in full control until he wasn't. A misfire off the tee with an iron on No. 12 led to a bogey and another one followed soon after on the par-3 13th. He remained in good shape as Kim and McIlroy posted 13 under in the clubhouse, but the tournament got tense when Victor Perez birdied his last to get to 14 under.
For a moment, it appeared that would be the number for MacIntyre to beat from 16 under; however, playing partner Griffin entered the conversation with a lengthy birdie conversion on the par-3 16th to pull within two. Griffin continued to apply pressure with another birdie on the par-5 17th to cut the lead to one with one to play.
That would be as close as he would get with MacIntyre leaving no doubt when his approach into the finisher settled 9 feet from the pin with two putts available to secure the title. When Griffin missed his birdie chance from just off the green, MacIntyre patiently found the bottom of the cup with his father right there by his side to witness it all. Grade: A+
Here are grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the RBC Canadian Open.
T4. Rory McIlroy (-13): McIlroy's week consisted of some good golf and some not-so-good golf, yet he almost won anyway. His iron play stole the show on Thursday and Saturday where he gained more than six combined strokes on approach across those two rounds. Unfortunately for McIlroy, these two performances sandwiched one on Friday in which he lost three strokes with the scoring clubs en route to carding a 2-over 72. Paired with Kim over the weekend, McIlroy drafted on the youngster's momentum and emerged late on Sunday as MacIntyre's biggest threat. A couple back-nine birdies in the final round made it so he played his last 36 holes in 11 under, but it wasn't enough to capture win No. 27. Grade: A
"A good week," McIlroy said. "Three really good rounds of golf, one not so good one. Felt a little out of sorts on Friday. Did a good range session and sort of rectified it. So, yeah, overall, three rounds out of four were really good and just that one disappointing one on Friday, but overall after a week off where I didn't really, didn't feel like I prepared as well as I probably could have. Yeah, it was a solid week."
T4. Tom Kim (-13): Kim made the biggest move early Sunday. The three-time PGA Tour winner failed to take advantage of the par-5 4th and the short par-4 5th but did well to add one more to turn in 31. Birdies on Nos. 10 and 12 pulled Kim within a couple of the lead and gave him a chance to go and post a number. A miss from inside 4 feet on the 14th halted all momentum leaving Kim without much hope. Amid a somewhat uneventful year, Kim's play in Canada marks his first top-five finish of the season and could serve as a launchpad for the remainder of the summer. Grade: A
T7. Mackenzie Hughes (-10): After Nick Taylor broke a 69-year drought last year, Hughes aimed to become the second straight Canadian to win his nation's open. He got off to a dream start rattling off three straight birdies from Nos. 2-4 to touch the lead and put his country's flag above the rest. His biggest mistake of the day came on the short par-4 5th where he dropped a shot before another came a few holes later at No. 9 after hitting a shank on his second which effectively took him out of contention. Grade: A-
T21. Tommy Fleetwood (-7): The Englishman hovered for most of the week and entered the final round with a fighter's chance. His opening double bogey immediately put any thoughts of a comeback to a rest as Fleetwood was unable to recover and ultimately settled for a top-20 finish instead. He has played some nice golf since San Antonio -- highlighted by his podium finish at the Masters-- but Fleetwood is still without a true contention run on the PGA Tour in 2024. Grade: B-
MC. Sahith Theegala (--): Theegala's weekend omission came as a bit of a surprise as he arrived ranked second in total strokes gained this year among those in the field. He never got things rolling in the right direction and experienced everything from a 4-putt double bogey to his driver breaking. It marks Theegala's second individual missed cut of the season and his first since the Sony Open in early January. While disappointing, there shouldn't be too much concern about the state of his game. Grade: F
Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald, Greg DuCharme recap the final round of the RBC Canadian Open. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.