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RBC Canadian Open: Memorable moments

We look back at 10 of the most memorable moments in the history of the RBC Canadian Open.

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In four-week stretch, Lee Trevino did something no one else had ever done – win the U.S., Canadian and British Opens in the same year. Between beating Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff at Merion and edging Lu Liang-Huan by one shot at Royal Birkdale, Trevino beat Art Wall Jr. in a playoff at Richelieu Valley. It was the first of Trevino’s three Canadian Open titles, and no one matched his Open trifecta until Tiger Woods did it in 2000.

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This shot is a staple of any list of Tiger Woods’ greatest shots. One stroke ahead of New Zealand’s Grant Waite going to the par-5 72nd hole, Woods hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker. With Waite already on the green in two, Woods hit a 6-iron from 218 yards. The ball flew over the water hazard between Woods and the green, landed just to the right of a tight-tucked pin and settled into the fringe just over the green. Woods got up and down from there to win.

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In the world of golf lore, it’s well known that Jack Nicklaus’ first PGA Tour win was the 1962 U.S. Open. What’s not so well known is that Nicklaus’ longtime rival, Arnold Palmer, also made a national Open his first PGA Tour win. In Arnie’s case it was the 1955 Canadian Open, where he beat Jack Burke Jr. by four shots and collected the princely sum of $2,400.

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When Pat Fletcher won the 1954 Canadian Open, he became the first Canadian to win his national Open since 1914. No Canadian has won the championship since then.

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Jack Nicklaus never won the Canadian Open, but he came close several times (seven runner-up finishes). One of those times was 1984, when he lost to Greg Norman by two strokes. On the 17th hole on Sunday, Norman hit his approach over the green into an area that normally was out of bounds. But the area had been converted into a makeshift parking lot, and the OB stakes had been removed. So Norman was able to salvage a bogey when he could have been looking at double or worse.

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As the best Canadian golfer of his era, Mike Weir carried the hopes of a nation into the Canadian Open each year. In 2004 Weir had a three-stroke lead with just eight holes to play. Three bogeys, however, dropped him into a playoff with Vijay Singh, which the Fijian won on the third extra hole after Weir found water with his approach.

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Canadian David Hearn took a two-shot lead into the final round, and still had the lead on the 15th hole. But Jason Day birdied the final three holes to deny Hearn becoming the first Canadian to win since 1954 (and the first native-born Canadian to win since 1914). Hearn, who was involved in the 2013 John Deere Classic playoff where Jordan Spieth earned his first PGA Tour win, wound up finishing third.

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Jim Furyk is one of five men to have won back-to-back Canadian Opens. In 2007, as the defending champion, he began the final round trailing Vijay Singh by three shots. That deficit disappeared when he birdied the first two holes, then made a hole-in-one on No. 3, sinking a 5-iron shot from 211 yards.

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With one-stroke of his 9-iron, Leif Olson more than doubled his career earnings to that point. On the 15th hole in the second round, Olson hit a shot that landed past the cup, then spun back. It wasn’t headed toward the flagstick, however, until it caromed off the ball of playing partner Kris Blanks and dove into the cup faster than you can say “Willie Mosconi.” For the ace, Olson won a BMW Z4 Roadster, valued at more than $50,000.

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We’ve all experienced the frustration of missing a putt we know we should have made. Many of us have then knocked the ball into the hole by, shall we say, unorthodox methods. Ah, but most of us are not tournament golfers who have to pay attention to the rules governing this sort of thing. So it was with Andy Bean on the 15th hole of the third round, when he turned his putter upside down and tapped in with the grip end of the club. Later he was reminded that his action carried a two-stroke penalty. It wouldn’t have been a big deal had he not gone out the next day and shot 62, coming up … wait for it … two strokes shy of joining the John Cook-Johnny Miller playoff.

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