CALEDON, Ont. — Matthew Anderson had a few family and friends hanging on with his final stretch of holes Thursday. But otherwise, when you’re in the last group of the day, there’s not many folks out there cheering you on. 

Anderson, who is from Mississauga, did, however, give the small group of patrons something to cheer about. 

He birdied two of his final three holes and after a bogey-free 6-under 64, he sits tied for the lead at the RBC Canadian Open alongside five others. 

“Just kind of clicked today. Was hitting it really nice. Obviously putted well. I mean, you can’t shoot 6-under probably on most golf courses without putting well. Just generally, all around pretty solid,” Anderson said. “I liked my attitude. Just kind of went one shot at a time. Just tried to keep going and see where we end up.”

Including Anderson, after the opening day at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s north course there are some Canadian flags flying high — and a repeat of 2023, when Nick Taylor won his home country’s national open, is absolutely in play. 

Anderson is in the field this week on a sponsor invite — he made the cut last year at the Canadian Open as well, also hosted at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley — but has struggled lately on his usual circuit, the Korn Ferry Tour. He came to the Canadian Open having missed his last five cuts in a row. 

“You’re always working on stuff. I found I obviously haven’t played my best recently (on the Korn Ferry Tour). You’re always working on stuff. You’re always working on things you can get a little better at, and you never know when it’s going to click. It happened to kind of click today,” Anderson said.

Anderson sits tied alongside the likes of Sahith Theegala (who went out early to shoot 64 before lunchtime) along with Sam Burns — who lost in a playoff to Ryan Fox last year — and Brooks Koepka, who is making his 12th start back on the PGA Tour since returning from LIV. This is Koepka’s first start in Canada since 2019. 

Adam Svensson sits at 5 under, just one back of the leading pack, while Taylor Pendrith is at 4 under. 

Pendrith hit what he thought was an incredible opening approach shot on his first hole of the day before it scared the cup but zipped all the way down into the water, leading to a double bogey. For someone who has struggled with their starts so far this season and was looking for a spark at home at an important time in the PGA Tour calendar, this was, to put it mildly, less than ideal. 

But Pendrith didn’t flinch. He forgave himself quickly, he said, knowing that he didn’t necessarily hit a bad shot — he just got a bad break. So, what did he do immediately after that? He made four birdies in a row to return to red figures and ended his day with a 66.

“Made a lot of putts today which was nice. Felt like I drove it really well,” Pendrith said. “I hit some really nice wedge shots, specifically on the first hole today. That was the best shot of the day and ended up making double, which was a little frustrating to start like that. But rolled in some nice putts pretty much all day.”  

Pendrith, who sits a tough 138th in strokes gained: putting on the PGA Tour, said returning home to play in Ontario gave him some comfort on the greens considering how much golf he’s played in his home province growing up. Pendrith ended up gaining more than three shots on the field with the putter on Thursday. 

“It was nice today to make a bunch of putts. That always feels good, especially early in the round it kind of gives you a little bit more confidence throughout the day,” Pendrith said. 

While Pendrith said he had the flat-stick working, Svensson said it was the driver and irons that helped him fire a 5-under 65 — tied for his low round in relation to par so far this season.

“I hit the ball extremely solid. I think I missed one fairway… I hit it really well off the tee. This golf course is difficult, (you’ve) got to putt well, got to do everything well and I feel like I did that today,” Svensson said.

“I feel like my game’s been trending. I wouldn’t say it’s the best I’ve hit it, but it’s the most solid I’ve hit it in the wind today. I felt like I hit a lot of pure shots.” 

While Pendrith is still inside the top 100 in the FedExCup standings, for now he sits in a precarious spot at No. 92. Svensson, meanwhile, is 164th with his best finish being a tie for 26th (at both the Puerto Rico Open and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a pair of events that only offer limited FedExCup points). A good result this week would go an extremely long way to pad the points for next season as just the top 100 re-earn PGA Tour status. 

The RBC Canadian Open is also once again part of The Open Qualifying Series, which means the top three golfers on the leaderboard Sunday who are not otherwise in the field at Royal Birkdale Golf Club will earn spots in next month’s Open Championship.

If Svensson would earn his way into The Open, it would be his first major start in two years as Svensson went viral earlier this week for a blunder at the U.S. Open qualifier at Lambton Golf and Country Club. He was in an 8-for-3 playoff but mistakenly picked up his marker after the official U.S. Open spot was locked up. What Svensson didn’t realize was that there was still more of a playoff for the first and second alternate spots — with the first alternate very likely to get into the field at Shinnecock Hills next week. 

“It was nothing but my fault,” Svensson said of what happened Monday evening. “We were playing for alternate spots. I had no idea. They just said, ‘three for one.’ And once he made that putt, I just picked it up.”

Whether it’s a proven Canadian looking for a spot in a major or their best result of the season, or if Anderson manages to go on a Cinderella run through the weekend, we’re primed for an exciting final three days at the Canadian Open. 

“I definitely imagined being in contention this week,” Anderson said. “I had no doubts I could do it. Obviously feels great out there to feel the juices flowing and be in there and doing it. It feels awesome. Time to keep doing it.”