Rory McIlroy set for Canadian Open defence after pandemic cancellations

Three years to the day since he lifted the trophy, Rory McIlroy will finally begin the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title on Thursday.

McIlroy carded a stunning final round of 61 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club to seal a seven-shot triumph over Shane Lowry and American Webb Simpson in 2019, but has been prevented from seeking back-to-back wins due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To put the time gap into context, three of the world's current top 10 were not even PGA Tour members at the time of McIlroy’s win.

World number one Scottie Scheffler missed the cut at the previous week’s event on the Korn Ferry Tour, Open champion Collin Morikawa made his professional debut in Canada on a sponsor’s exemption and world number seven Viktor Hovland was low amateur at the following week’s US Open.

"It’s great to be back in Canada, first and foremost," McIlroy said in a press conference at St George’s Golf and Country Club, some 45 miles north of the site of his victory in 2019.

"It’s obviously been a while since this championship’s been played. I think everyone I’ve spoken to, everyone that I’ve seen out on the golf course is really excited for the Canadian Open to be back and just for live sporting events in general to be back on in this country.

"I’m excited to be back, excited to finally defend my title from three years ago at Hamilton and yeah, wonderful memories from that week.

"I was playing really well coming into it, got myself in another position after the Saturday night and then just really took advantage of that position on Sunday and went out with the mindset of being aggressive and really trying to take the tournament by the scruff of the neck, I guess, and I was able to do that.

"It was a really fun day, I had a chance to shoot