A swing of the putter. It comes up with some speed, now up the rise… for the eagle, for the win… to the cup, it’s in!
The drought is over! The drought is over!
When it comes to sports broadcasting, I’ve always enjoyed radio play-by-play over television. Give me a Toronto Blue Jays game, especially during the days of Jerry Horwath and Tom Cheek, on the radio over the Sportsnet or TSN all any day of the week. Same goes for hockey – I’d much rather hear Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph calls a Leafs game over the Hockey Night in Canada crew.
Perhaps it is the fact I have to picture the action in my mind that I like, or perhaps it is the simplicity of audio-only play-by-play, but it just feels right compared to the talking heads on our television screens.
Or perhaps it the words of excitement that stick with me.
Two balls and two strikes… here’s the pitch on the way; a swing and a belt!
Left field!
Way back!
Blue Jays win! The Blue Jays are World Series Champions as Joe Carter hits a three-run home run in the ninth inning!…
Touch ‘em all Joe! You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!
I was eight years old when Joe Carter hit that iconic home run into left field at the SkyDome to lead the Blue Jays to their second World Series. But I remember that call from Tom Cheek like it was yesterday.
If you’re a Leafs fan, no doubt every fond memory you have of the Leafs comes with a Joe Bowen soundtrack.
And as a Canadian sports fan, the call from SiriusXM of Nick Taylor sinking a 72-foot putt to win the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday evening – the quote that starts this piece – will be one that sticks in my brain for years to come.
Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C. via Winnipeg, hit the putt of a lifetime to become the first Canadian in 69 years to win this country’s national open golf championship.
There have been several Canadians come close over the years, with the closest being Mike Weir in 2004 when he lost a playoff to Vijay Singh. I remember that day as well.
As a teen, the 2003 Masters – the year Weir won the Green Jacket, becoming the first male to win a major (he remains the only one to this day) – was the moment that many Canadians got interested in the game.
Weir’s success in the early 2000s was the genesis for this generation of golfers – Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, and Listowel’s own Corey Conners.
All have won on the PGA Tour, and are golfers that Canada’s youth look up to today.
However, and I say this with all respect to Conners et al, but Nick Taylor’s putt yesterday is this generation’s “Weir wins the Masters” moment.
This tournament had all of the drama you needed to make the event interesting, both on the course as well as off of it (PGA/LIV merger), and Sunday’s ending was the perfect ending.
As that putt went in the hole, those gathered at my house for a family dinner jumped off the couch and cheered, just like the thousands in attendance at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto did.
Weir, Conners and Hadwin were among the Canadians in the field who stuck around to watch the four-hole playoff, and were among the first to congratulate Taylor on the 18th green after his putt went in.
Nick Taylor with the eagle! The 2023 RBC Canadian Open Champion!
History! History!
He’s an icon now in this country!
Yes, Mr. SiriusXM play-by-play man, Nick Taylor has cemented his legacy in Canadian sports with that win.
And who knows, maybe 20 years from now, a young golfer from midwestern Ontario will find similar success on the world’s biggest stage, and look back at June 11, 2023 as the day they “wanted to win the big one like Nick Taylor.”
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. He, like many golfers of his age, had several chances to “win the Canadian Open” on the putting green at his local golf course during his teen years. He didn’t make them. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
