Goodbye faceoffs and power plays. Hello bunker shots and corner kicks.
Golf and soccer take center stage in Toronto this weekend, as the RBC Canadian Open and the FIFA World Cup descend on Canada’s biggest city. And with it comes a sea of red — both on the links and on the pitch.
“It’s a big day, we got Canadian Open, soccer, and I think the Blue Jays play tomorrow as well,” Canadian Taylor Pendrith said after his opening round on Thursday. “I think they’re going to have the game going here, from what I’ve heard. I’m expecting to see a lot of support for sure and lots of red tomorrow.”
The World Cup officially kicked off competition on Thursday in Mexico and on Friday the opening whistle will sound in Toronto at 3 p.m. ET, as Canada hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina in the country’s first group-stage match at Toronto Stadium. Just an hour away, players will be clawing to make the cut during the second round of the Canadian Open. On Fridays at the tournament, golf fans typically don their red to show pride for their national championship, so it’s safe to say anywhere you turn in the city you’ll see red kits, even on some of the players at TPC Toronto.
“I have a red shirt I’ll wear,” said Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who considers himself a pretty big soccer fan. “And for this Canada soccer, I mean, I think we should have a good chance to get through the group. I mean, obviously the only thing we can do is win, but there’s a lot of good teams that are pretty good. So, I think if we can get beyond the group then from there anything can happen.”
Co-leader Sahith Theegala, admitted after his 6-under 64 round that he really only watches soccer during the World Cup — which means he’s just like the majority of the U.S. population. However, he said he loves watching the biggest event and how it brings out the very best in the best players in the world.
“I tune into the World Cup every four years, and I get addicted to it,” Theegala said. “I see why it’s the biggest sport in the world. It’s just so easy to follow, the allure is great. Everyone can rally behind their home country.”
Sam Ryder, like Theegala, said he’s not a huge soccer fan but enjoys rallying around the Stars and Stripes on the biggest stage.
“I will watch like the World Cup when teams are playing. It doesn’t really matter who is playing. Obviously, I’ll watch the U.S. because I’m American,” Ryder said.
‘Moments that you never get’
Theegala, who sits tied for the lead, knows what it’s like to be hungry. He’s had four top-10 finishes on Tour this season and said after his opening round that he feels like his game is finally starting to come together.
“It’s been close to clicking, so hopefully just continue this play the rest of the week and kind of gear up for the final part of the year here,” he added.
Game not only recognizes game, it recognizes the hustle. And that’s probably why Theegala is so pumped up to watch some soccer.
“It’s so fun to see how badly the players want it. You can see the nerves; you can see the excitement. You just get moments that you never get in a normal match during the World Cup,” Theegala said.
Unprecedented global sports moment? So far...
The unprecedented double sports whammy (triple if we count baseball) happening in Toronto is enormous in terms of national Canadian fandom. North America hasn’t hosted the World Cup since 1994 and that’s the last time a scenario like this nearly came to fruition.
That’s when the Rangers and the Knicks were in the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals, respectively, at the same time New York hosted matches for the 1994 World Cup. However, the trifecta did not overlap on any exact day. Recent research shows there hasn’t been a championship in a World Cup host city on the same day before now: The RBC Canadian Open being this one.
However, it could potentially be topped on Tuesday in the Big Apple. That’s when New York/New Jersey host a group-stage World Cup match between France and Senegal in the afternoon and a potential Game 6 NBA Finals showdown between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at night, less than an hour from each other (The Yankees also host the White Sox in the Bronx that night). However, while the level of chaos for both cities would be similar, the fan unification would not be the same as in Toronto where red will be the only uniform. But in terms of overall sports fandom, let’s just say it would be nuts.