Golfer Nick Taylor aims to author another Canadian heritage moment at Paris Olympics

On the 10th hole of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, crowds began to swell behind Nick Taylor.

Through the back nine, the roars grew louder, rowdier and increasingly partisan.

By the 16th hole, Canadian Masters champion Mike Weir was back at Toronto's Oakdale Golf and Country Club. His round had finished much earlier, and he'd gone back to his friend's place for a quick nap, but he hurried back to the course with a gut feeling that he was about to witness something special from his fellow Canadian.

At the 18th, when Taylor's par putt dropped to secure a playoff, cheers could be heard throughout Ledgeview Golf and Country Club in Abbotsford, B.C. — the course on which Taylor grew up.

And when Taylor finally defeated England's Tommy Fleetwood after four extra holes amid pouring rain, punctuating the victory with a miraculous 72-foot eagle putt and a putter toss, a farmer in Saskatoon likewise threw his hands in the air and accidentally jerked his tractor into his crops, leaving a hole that remained a year later.

WATCH | Nick Taylor on being an Olympian:

In victory, Taylor became the first Canadian man to win his national open since 1954. Over the 14 months since, he has witnessed firsthand the effect of authoring one of those so-called Canadian heritage moments.

"I don't think I've probably fully grasped it yet," Taylor said at the 2024 Canadian Open in Hamilton, Ont. "It's hard to think of words instead of obviously saying how cool it is, but I appreciate all the people that come up and tell those stories because it is a lot of fun to hear."

Now, the 36-year-old will have the chance to etch his name into the history books yet again when he and Corey Conners head to Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, to represent