MacIntyre Earns 1st PGA Tour Victory, Saso Captures 2nd U.S. Open Title | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing
June 2nd, 2024

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in professional golf, the PGA Tour was north of the border for the RBC Canadian Open, and the ladies were at Lancaster Country Club for the 79th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open.

RBC Canadian Open - Tournament History 

Outside of The Open Championship and the U.S. Open, the RBC Canadian Open is the third-oldest tournament on the PGA Tour dating back to 1904 when it was first played. Since then, the Canadian Open has been played every year except for during both World Wars and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Although it is the Canadian National Open, the tournament has historically been dominated by American born players, who have won 72 of the editions which is 64 more than the next closest countries of Canada, Australia, and England.

Last year, Nick Taylor ended a 69-year winless drought for Canadian golfers by canning a 70-foot bomb on the fourth playoff hole to defeat Tommy Fleetwood. Many courses have hosted the Canadian Open, including Royal Montreal, Glen Abbey, St. George’s, and Hamilton. While these courses vary in style and layout, the winning scores typically end up in the mid-teens and it has been pushed into the twenties as recently as 2019 when Rory McIlroy ran away from the field and won by seven. 

Some very notable names have won this event throughout its long history, including Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, and Walter Hagen.More recently, this event has been won by the following players: 

2024 - Robert MacIntyre (-16)
2023 - Nick Taylor (-17)
2022 - Rory McIlroy (-19)
2019 - Rory McIlroy (-22)
2018 - Dustin Johnson

The Big Swing 

This week the big swing belongs to Robert “Bobby” MacIntyre. The left-hander from Scotland picked up his first PGA Tour title, and became the fourth Scottsman to ever win the Canadian Open. The 27-year-old burst onto the scene last summer when he dueled Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open and ended up finishing runner-up. To win this week he’d have to stare him down again, as McIlroy has won the Canadian Open multiple times and has never finished outside the top-10 at the event. The Canadians were looking to go back to back this week and win again after Nick Taylor’s heroics last summer. In addition to the defending champ was Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, recent winner Taylor Pendrith, and many more Canadians hoping to win their national open. 

Sam Burns jumped out to a fast start on Thursday, carding a 63 and posting 7-under to set the pace early in the championship. Sean O’Hair was able to turn back the clock, matching the 63 and taking a share of the lead. Rory McIlroy started out strong to no one's surprise, shooting 4-under 66 after making four birdies on the back nine. MacIntyre opened with 6-under 64 and was continuing his strong play after posting a T8 at the PGA Championship a couple weeks ago. 

The course got a little bit tougher scoring wise the rest of the way, but low scores were still out there for the players who were able to keep their ball in the fairway off the tee. Hamilton, which isn’t a very long course for the tour’s best, has some pretty thick and penalizing rough. 

Hughes was leading the charge for the Canadians, shooting rounds of 69 and 64 on Thursday and Friday to put himself in the mix heading into the weekend. McIlroy’s round on Friday was costly for his efforts of winning his third Canadian Open. He struggled mightily tee to green on Friday, carding a 2-over 72 and dropping back on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, MacIntyre backed up his 64 with another great round of 66 and was in the driver's seat to pick up his first title on the weekend. Competing at the top with MacIntyre was New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who had opened his tournament with rounds of 66 and 64, matching MacIntyre’s 10-under pace through 36 holes.

On Saturday, Tom Kim and McIlroy were paired together for what was sure to be an entertaining round. Both players were seven or eight shots behind the leaders and had a chance to go out early and attack the course. As expected, both players went out and posted rounds of 5-under 65, getting in at 7-under and having a better chance of catching the leaders in the final round. MacIntyre extended his lead on Saturday, playing another solid round from start to finish to shoot another 66 and hold the 54-hole lead. 

Fox wasn’t able to keep pace with MacIntyre, even after starting out 4-under in his first 6 holes to jump out to a fast lead. He gave all four of those birdies back to the course and wound up with an even-par 70. Conners and Hughes each posted 67 to keep themselves in contention. 

On Sunday, the McIlroy and Kim pairing was kept together and the duo was looking to replicate the magic they had on Saturday. Both got off to a fast start again and were 4-under through 7 making them real threats to make a charge. Both players played the remainder of their rounds in 2-under to post a pair of 64s. MacIntyre opened his final round with a bogey and was quickly in a fight as the chasers were making birdies ahead of him. He was able to recover nicely and made birdies at Nos. 4, 7, and 8. From that point he had a fairly comfortable lead for most of the afternoon. 

He would drop a couple of shots after bogeys at the 12th and 13th, but was able to make another birdie at the 15th. Ben Griffin was the one to give it the best run. After a 2-under front nine, Griffin made a charge coming down the stretch making birdies at 15, 16, and 17 to trail by just one shot entering the final hole. 

Each player was in fine position off the tee, but MacIntyre cemented his advantage with a brilliant approach shot to roughly 10 feet, while Griffin had just missed the green. Griffin’s birdie attempt was left short, and MacIntyre was able to comfortably two-putt to win. MacIntyre becomes the first Scottsman to win the Canadian Open since 1926. 

In the World of Women’s Golf 

This week the best ladies in the world gathered at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, PA for the U.S. Women’s Open. Of note, 2nd Swing master fitter Kevin Kraft is actually the holder of the course record at Lancaster Country Club. When Kevin won the Pennsylvania State Open in 2018, which was played at Lancaster, he fired six-under-par 64 in his second round, which still holds today as the course record.

Headlining the field was of course red hot world No. 1 Nelly Korda who was looking to continue her momentum and pick up another major. Korda’s tournament unofficially came to an end on Thursday when she came to the 163 yard par-3 12th hole. Korda’s tee shot found the back bunker, leaving a treacherous downhill shot to a front pin that was just above a false front on the green that funneled to a penalty area. Korda’s bunker shot rolled past the pin, down the slope, off the green and all the way into the penalty area. She hit two more balls in the water en route to a 10 on the hole, derailing her chances of contending. 

The course played extremely difficult, as is expected at a U.S. Open, and just four players in the entire field were under par on their rounds. Japan’s Yuka Saso was the one to take the top spot leading at 2-under after an impressive opening round. After an even par round of 70 on Thursday, Minjee Lee shot a 1-under round of 69 on Friday to grab a share of the lead. Saso shot 1-over on Friday, dropping back to 1-under for the championship and joining Lee. Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai had opened with 69 67 and was leading the pack at 4-under par heading to the weekend. 

The course remained tough on Saturday, but Lee and Hinako Shibuno carded the rounds of the day at 66 to vault up the leaderboard. Saso also shot under par, shooting 69 and staying right near the top of the leaderboard. 

On Sunday, it was Yuka Saso’s day. Shibuno, Lee, and Meechai all shot rounds over par and fell out of contention. Saso held steady, even after making a double bogey on the par-3 6th hole. She stayed the course and went on to make four birdies in the last seven holes to win the title. It would be a three shot margin over her fellow countrywoman Hinako Shibuno, and Saso is now a 2-time U.S. Open champion.