For a moment on Sunday, Matthew Anderson was on top at the RBC Canadian Open.

After six front-nine birdies for a score of 29, the 26-year-old Korn Ferry Tour member, playing in his fourth PGA Tour event, headed to the 10th tee with a share of the lead at TPC Toronto.

And then he made his first bad swing of the day.

His tee shot on the par 4 flew left out of bounds, forcing him to hit again. The error led to a double-bogey six and dropped him from the lead. It was the start of a birdieless back nine for Anderson, which resulted in a round of 3-under 67. He ended up at 11 under par for the championship, good enough to finish solo-13th.

“You definitely feel the juices. Thoughts come into your head, like, ‘Hey, it’s my national open, I’m tied for the lead, that’s awesome,” said Anderson. “Then we redirect the focus and try to make a good swing. Obviously, on 10 tee, I did not make a very good swing, but I was trying my best. It was raining, it was windy, sometimes stuff happens. Then you kind of just try and forget about it and move on. I thought I did a fairly good job of that.”

His over-par second nine opened the door for Sudarshan Yellamaraju to pass him on the leaderboard and take home the Rivermead Cup as low Canadian. Still, it was the best week of Anderson’s professional career and came after a streak of five missed cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour. The $218,050 PGA Tour paycheque will help make up for those Friday trunk slams and serves as proof that his game is good enough to hang on the top circuit.

“I mean, if I didn’t believe it before, I absolutely know that I can win out here,” said the Mississauga native. “I proved that to myself. I mean, listen, I went out, I did my process, I did as best I could … I would rather be in there in the mix and not have it go my way than not have that at all.”

The decision to play at TPC Toronto meant skipping this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event taking place in Texas. It may seem like a no-brainer to play in one’s national open, but Anderson could’ve used a good result on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn points. He currently sits 76th on that circuit’s ledger, with only those in the top 20 at year’s end earning PGA Tour cards.

Matthew Anderson finished T13 at the 2026 RBC Canadian Open. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

“I think honestly, I believe in my game, no matter what. I’m never going to turn down an opportunity to play in my national open,” said the 26-year-old. “It’s something that I grew up watching. Ultimately, missing a week on the Korn Ferry Tour, yes, there are points, but ultimately, if I believe in my game and I believe in my direction of where I’m going. I’m going to get to where I want anyway, regardless of whether I choose to play an event one week or not.”

Anderson was paired with fellow Canadian Justin Matthews, who was the lone amateur to make the cut at TPC Toronto. Like Anderson, it was a tale of two nines for the 21-year-old. He had it going on the front nine, putting four circles on his scorecard to sit inside the top 10. But a triple-bogey on No. 17, followed by a bogey on the closing hole, dropped him down the leaderboard to a tie for 29th at 8 under par.

“I honestly felt really comfortable out there. I had nothing to lose this week playing as an amateur,” said Matthews, who hails from Little Britain, Ont. “I can’t earn any money. It’s not as high stakes for me compared to some of the other guys. I was just really trying to enjoy the moment. I had nothing to lose today. I just had a lot of fun.”

The week was extra special for Matthews, who trains at the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley Academy Centre. He had his coach, TPC Toronto head pro Braeden Cryderman, on the bag for the tournament and was feeling the love from everyone on the grounds all week.

“This place has been a tremendous home for me,” said Matthews, who will be entering his senior year at the University of Charlotte this fall. “I played and practised here for the last three years. It really does feel like home. All the staff, Brayden, I love it here. It’s phenomenal. Having it as a home game and having all the staff behind me, it’s just been so special.”

Yellamaraju’s late charge came via birdies on Nos. 12, 15 and 17. A costly bogey on 18 got the 24-year-old in the house at 12 under. That was one shot ahead of Anderson, but also one behind fourth place. Hard Yellamaraju finished at 13 under par he would have claimed a world ranking tiebreaker to get into the Open Championship as one of the top-three finishers not otherwise exempt into the major next month.  
 
“Obviously going into the week, you have that little bit of added pressure being at the Canadian Open and for me being pretty close to home,” said Yellamaraju, who spent his adolescence in Mississauga. “I just kind of tried to keep trying to tell myself to play the best that I could and just fight until the very end, which was pretty much what I did.”

The week was a successful one for Canadian men’s golf, which saw 10 of the 21 Canadians make the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, the most since 1969.

“We’re trying to keep pushing ourselves to try to keep getting better and I think we keep cheering each other on even when we’re maybe not there in person or watching kind of from afar,” said Yellamaraju. “It was cool to see a lot of Canadians make the cut this week and then I saw on the leaderboard that Matthew and Justin were really playing some good golf and almost had a chance to win. That was cool to see.”