“Gets the adrenaline going” – RBC Canadian Open defending champion Nick Taylor dubs it ‘fun’ to have a large crowd following him on the course

Nick Taylor is currently competing in the 2024 RBC Canadian Open underway at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club. The defending champion has had an underwhelming start to the tournament as he carded 72 and remained +2 after day one.

Despite that, fans were following Taylor as he is the defending champion and a local boy. Hence, Taylor seemed optimistic in the post-round press conference and said that seeing the crowd following him on day one was fun.

"It's fun. Usually, the morning round for me on a Thursday, there's not that many people there. So the energy was high, which is great. Gets adrenaline going, which is fun that early in the morning. Gets you to focus on what you need to do. So, unfortunately, didn't go my way, but the crowds have been amazing," he said [at 0:27].

Teeing off in the morning session from the back nine, Nick Taylor had a poor start as he began the title defense with a bogey. The Canadian golfer made a couple of birdies and bogeys to finish the back nine with +1.

The expectations from Taylor were high, as the crowd expected him to showcase a strong finish on the front nine. Unfortunately, he repeated a similar performance as he carded +1 and finished +2 for the day.

Going into day 2, Nick Taylor will hope to perform better and at least get past the cut line and make it to the weekend.

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Recap of Nick Taylor's win at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open

Nick Taylor registered a dramatic victory at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open. It was a cliffhanger of a finish as the Canadian golfer forced a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood. He drained an 11-foot birdie putt to reach 17 under while Fleetwood needed a birdie on the final hole to win in regulation, which he eventually missed, enforcing a playoff in rainy conditions.

Both golfers made a birdie on the 18th in their first playoff hole and then a par on the same hole. Fleetwood and Taylor then went to the par 3 9th hole, where they finished with pars again.

Nick Taylor and Tommy Fleetwood then went back to the 18th hole, where Taylor's tee shot found a divot on the fairway. Despite that, he hit an incredible second shot to the front of the green and had around 72 feet putt for an eagle. Fleetwood laid up his second shot and hit his third shot to 12 feet.

However, he did not complete the putt as Nick Taylor's incredible putt hit the flagstick and dropped in the hole. With this eagle putt, the 35-year-old golfer registered his 3rd PGA Tour win and also holed the longest putt of his career.