There was a pair of big wins, a steady campaign by the greatest of all time, and a celebration of Canadian golf unlike any other – which all made the 2024 season in Canadian golf something to celebrate.
This particular generation of Canadian golf continues to shine in a way we’ve never seen in the past and there were two particular highlights on the PGA Tour in 2024 worth revisiting as we put a bow on the golfing year for Canada – Nick Taylor’s win at the WM Phoenix Open and Taylor Pendrith’s maiden PGA Tour title at THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson.
Taylor rallied from three down with four holes left Sunday in Phoenix and made an 11-foot birdie in the second playoff hole to top Charlie Hoffman for the Canadian’s second win on the PGA Tour in eight months – after his incredible triumph at the RBC Canadian Open. Taylor made a short birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff against the 47-year-old Hoffman.
“I didn’t really falter, so I’ve got to give Nick credit,” said Hoffman. “He birdied four of the last five holes he played. Hats off to him for doing that.”
“The finish was pretty dreamlike and hitting all those putts was a lot of fun,” Taylor added. “The atmosphere was incredible all week.”
Taylor put himself with a course record-matching 60 in the opening round, his five-shot lead matching the largest after 18 holes on the PGA Tour since 1983.
Fast forward from February to May, and Pendrith’s big effort in Texas. The native of Richmond Hill, Ont. birdied the 72nd hole at THE CJ CUP and when Ben Kohles mis-managed a chip around the 18th green – and missed a five-foot par putt that would have sent the event into a playoff – Pendrith was a champion on the PGA Tour for the first time.
“To finally get it done feels unbelievable,” Pendrith said.
Pendrith then continued his fine play through the balance of 2024, becoming the only Canadian to earn a spot in the season-ending Tour Championship, where he eventually finished tied for 14th.
Pendrith’s summertime streak was the catalyst for him to earn a captain’s pick to play under captain Mike Weir at the Presidents Cup in Montreal alongside Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.
Conners, who had represented Canada at the Olympics in Paris alongside Nick Taylor, and Pendrith both earned two points in Montreal – tied for the highest amongst the Internationals, who fell to the mighty Americans 18.5-11.5.
Despite the loss, it was a massive honour for Weir to lead the International squad on home soil – truly, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I just love these guys. I love their fight and what I saw out there today, all week, from the get-go, they battled right to the end. That's all you can ask from the captain is what I asked them to do, and they responded and did that,” Weir said Sunday at Royal Montreal.
“Being with this group was the highlight of my career,” added Hughes, who was a Presidents Cup first-timer in Montreal, “and it was amazing to go to battle with these guys.”
On the LPGA Tour, Brooke Henderson didn’t find the winners circle this year, but she notched nine top-10 finishes – including a tie for eighth at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship – which was triple the number of top-10 results from 2023. She’s trending in the right direction and as motivated as ever to take some of those good, solid results from 2024 and turn them into wins next year – as the LPGA Tour celebrates its 75th anniversary with a record-setting total prize fund of US $131 million.
Savannah Grewal also re-earned her LPGA Tour card for 2025 via her finish in the season-long Race to CME Globe. She came up clutch in the final full-field event of the season, The Annika driven by Gainbridge, to lock up a spot in the top 100 in the standings.
There were three Canadian winners on the PGA Tour Americas schedule in 2024 including back-to-back Canadian winners in Matt Anderson (at the ECP Brazil Open) and Stu Macdonald (at the Diners Club Peru Open). A.J. Ewart added another Canadian title later in the summer at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open.
Not to be ignored is Aaron Cockerill on the DP World Tour, as the lone Canadian on that circuit had a career-year, finishing inside the top 50 in the Race to Dubai to earn a spot, for the first time, in the DP World Tour season finale.
The winningest of all the Canadians amongst the PGA and LPGA Tour circuits, however, was once again Stephen Ames. Ames, who won four times on PGA Tour Champions in 2023, had a tremendous run once again in 2024 – winning another three tournaments. Ames won the Chubb Classic in February, the Mitsubishi Electric Classic (for the second year in a row) in April, and the Boeing Classic (also for the second year in a row) in August.
So, it was another big year of big wins by Canadians around the globe – with more excitement to come in 2025!
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