Mackenzie Hughes is having a laugh, he in reality is. He’s simply looking to keep targeted as he chases the RBC Canadian Viewable name.
Yells of “atta boy Mac!,” “Let’s go Canada!” and “We got you, Mac!” rang throughout Hamilton Golfing and Nation Membership on Saturday as Hughes shot a 3-under 67 to sit down in a join for 2nd with Fresh Zealand’s Ryan Fox and American Ben Griffin. All 3 are looking to catch Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who shot a 4-under 66 to assemble a four-shot govern heading into the overall spherical of Canada’s males’s golfing championship.
“I never get cheered for like this really ever, because when I’m playing in the U.S., I’m pretty much a nobody,” mentioned Hughes, who’s from Dundas, Ont., simply 8 kilometres clear of the route. “Being here at home you feel like they’re really pulling you across the line.
“I made a putt on 10 and it used to be identical to, it used to be like chills. The putt went in, the public went nuts, and only a few of the ones moments and issues I felt I’ll have in mind for a protracted year.”
If Hughes can catch MacIntyre in the final round it will be the first time in 110 years that Canadians have won the men’s national golf championship in back-to-back years.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., ended a 69-year drought at the home open at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club in 2023.
As long a wait as it was for a Canadian to win the national title — Pat Fletcher was the last to do it in 1954 — it has been even longer since Canadians won it in consecutive years. Albert Murray (1913) and Karl Keffer (1914) were the last homegrown back-to-back champs.
Hughes has said all week that he’s trying to shelve any pressure to keep the title in Canada and just stay present when he’s on the course, even as the crowd is very vocally in his corner.
“For me, it’s about no longer making an attempt too parched, no longer forcing issues,” he said. “For probably the most section I might say I did a good-looking excellent activity.
“There were a few things I would like to do over again, but, yeah, for the most part playing near the lead in your National Open I felt like I did a pretty good job handling everything and kept myself within distance for tomorrow.”
WATCH | Hughes in putting distance headhing in ultimate spherical:
Mackenzie Hughes, who used to be born in Hamilton, Ont., and grew up in within reach Dundas, Ont., sits join for second park, 4 photographs again of chief Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, heading into the overall spherical of the RBC Canadian Viewable, on the Hamilton Golfing and Nation Membership in Ancaster, Ont.
Hughes will get non-public
On the hockey-themed Disagree. 13 hollow, dubbed The Rink as a result of the hockey forums condition the tee field, Hughes did permit himself to get non-public. For a 2nd year on the match he pulled at the hockey jersey of society good friend Invoice Bathtub, who died April 23.
“I just feel like he was a huge part of my life and my journey to this point,” mentioned Hughes of Bathtub, who caddied for him in 2019 when the Canadian Viewable used to be terminating in Hamilton. “We walked these hills the last time I was here and it’s just nice to kind of keep him out there with me, if you will.
“I do know we’re in the middle of a accumulation of chaos and competitiveness on that Rink hollow and it’s in fact a really perfect parched shot with like a 6-iron or 5-iron, however there are larger issues than golfing and he used to be a in reality similar good friend of mine and I’m excited about him a accumulation.”
MacIntyre was 1 over on the day through 13 holes, allowing Hughes to briefly take the lead, but he reeled off three consecutive birdies and eagled No. 17 to pull way ahead of the field.
“I didn’t have it superior in the beginning, however I think like on every occasion I dropped a shot I bounced again with perhaps two excellent photographs into the fairway, and I might pick out up a shot again,” said MacIntyre. “It by no means were given clear of me.
“A bit of luck, a bit of myself staying in the moment, staying calm. I got my reward with the putter in the end.”
Two-time Canadian Viewable champion Rory McIlroy remained an visible fan favorite on Saturday. Roars might be heard each year he made a birdie putt as he fired a 5-under spherical to bop again from a disappointing 2-over attempt on Friday. That lifted him right into a four-way join for eleventh at 7-under total.
“I feel like an honorary Canadian at this point and the support I get here is amazing,” mentioned McIlroy, who received his first Canadian Viewable at the similar route in 2019. “I keep saying it, but just a pleasure to play in an atmosphere like that.
“The crowds are so excellent, they’re so supportive, so progressive, taking a look ahead to 1 extra week of it.”
Corey Conners (67) of Listowel, Ont., used to be in that workforce with McIlroy. Taylor Pendrith (66) of Richmond Hill, Ont., used to be a shot again in a five-way join for fifteenth.
Hughes, Conners, and Pendrith have been all on Kent Condition College’s males’s golfing workforce in combination.
