A look at the top 10 golfers in Canada’s history

It’s been some time since a Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open. It was 1954 when Pat Fletcher hoisted the trophy, and even longer – 1914 to be exact – when a born-in-Canada golfer won the tournament (Fletcher was born in England).

But despite that specific drought, there has been no shortage of excellent Canadian performances on golf’s biggest stages.

Between TOUR victories, generational inspiration, and Hall of Fame resumes, Canada has produced plenty of golfer’s worth celebrating.

And according to Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer, Kevin Blue, the national sport organization isn’t just happy with what’s happening now. Golf Canada has staked a claim in bringing 30 Canadians to the LPGA and PGA TOUR by 2032. It’s a lofty goal, but the roots are planted.

This generation of TOUR stalwarts are continuing to write their history. Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes are now two-time winners after their victories this season. Adam Svensson’s got a win now, too. Nick Taylor has two, while Adam Hadwin has one and a Presidents Cup appearance. Taylor Pendrith made his Presidents Cup debut last fall, too. These guys have a chance to add their names to this list eventually.

But for now, here are the top 10 Canadian golfers of all time.

10. Stan Leonard

A three-time PGA TOUR winner, Stan Leonard was a celebrated professional who racked up 38 wins across Alberta, British Columbia, and nationally. He was six-time winner of the PGA of Canada’s national championship – which celebrates its 100th playing in 2022 – and was the Low Canadian at the Canadian Open eight times.

Leonard won the 1957 Greater Greensboro Open (now the Wyndham Championship), the 1958 Tournament of Champions (now the Sentry Tournament of Champions), and the 1960 Western Open.

Leonard, who was inducted in into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972, also finished inside the top 10 at the Masters three years in a row. It was a feat matched only by Corey Conners earlier this spring.

Leonard was also inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Golf Hall of Fame, and the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame.

9. Al Balding

Balding was a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR and his victory in 1955 at the Mayfair Inn Open was the first by a Canadian in the United States. Two years later he finished sixth on the PGA TOUR’s money list – the highest of any Canadian before or since. He also lost in three TOUR playoffs. One of those losses, at the 1964 Fresno Open Invitational, came to fellow Canadian George Knudson.

Balding was a multi-time PGA of Canada Champion and won the World Cup alongside Knudson in 1968.

His best result at a major was a T8 at The Open Championship. He backed that up with another top-10 finish the very next year.

Balding was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1968, the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame in 2014, and Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame in 1985.

8. Stephen Ames

Ames was born in Trinidad & Tabago – his grandmother a champion golfer in his native country – but became a Canadian citizen in 2005.

Ames turned professional in 1987 and has won on every TOUR level. His four wins on the PGA TOUR was highlighted by his victory at the 2006 PLAYERS Championship.

“This is big,” said Ames at the time. “Forty-eight or 49 of the top 50 players were playing? I beat the top players in the world this week.”

Ames, who won on the Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour before notching his first TOUR title, would go on to win twice more on the PGA TOUR (the Children’s Miracle Network Classics in both 2007 and 2009). He’s also a four-time winner on PGA Tour Champions, with two victories alone in 2023.

Ames had six top-10 finishes at majors in his career and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2014.

7. Moe Norman

Tiger Woods once said Norman (and Ben Hogan) were the only two golfers in history who have truly “owned” their swings. Sam Snead said Norman was golf’s “greatest” striker of the ball.

The accolades about Norman’s ball-striking prowess continued until his death in 2004, but not before he racked up 55 wins on the old Canadian Tour, the PGA of Canada, and more. He was also the Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion in 1955 and 1956.

Norman played 27 events on TOUR (his highest finish was a fourth-place result at the New Orleans Open in 1959) along with five on PGA TOUR Champions. He made 25 of 27 cuts on TOUR and made two starts at the Masters in 1957. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2006.

Norman’s idiosyncrasies – many attribute it to a car accident when he was five and not receiving proper medical treatment combined with those believing he was also on the autism spectrum – may have caused his TOUR career to be short, but his return to his native Ontario saw him become one of the most beloved golfing characters in the country’s history.

6. Lorie Kane

Kane was a celebrated youngster growing up on Prince Edward Island, wining the PEI Junior Girls Championship twice and the province’s Women’s Amateur nine times. She played basketball at Acadia University as well before turning professional in golf in 1993 and earning LPGA Tour status three years later.

She captured the PGA of Canada’s Women’s Championship each year from 1996-1999 and again in 2001 – the year after she won three times on the LPGA Tour.

Kane’s 2000 campaign on the LPGA Tour saw her win the Michelob Light Classic, the New Albany Golf Classic, and the Mizuno Classic. Kane, who also has 14 career runner-up finishes on the LPGA Tour, was the second Canadian in the LPGA Tour’s history to have a multiple win season and her three-win campaign saw her win the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year title.

Kane’s off-course accolades are numerous. She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2021, and was named to the Order of Canada (the second-highest honor for a civilian in Canada) in 2006.

5. Marlene Stewart Streit

Streit is one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in the history of the game – regardless of country. She is the only golfer to have won the U.S., British, Australian, and Canadian Amateur Championships along with dozens of other high-level amateur events across Canada and around the world.

She is the only Canadian in the World Golf Hall of Fame and the only golfer in the country’s history to be named Canada’s Athlete of the Year more than once.

Streit is a four-time winner of Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year title, was given the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, and was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1962 – when she was only 28 years old.

She showed no signs of slowing down as she’s advanced in age, either. Streit won the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at age 69 – the oldest champion in the tournament’s history.

4. George Knudson

Knudson won eight times on the PGA TOUR in an 11-year span and was the winningest Canadian in the TOUR’s history for more than three decades.

His winning resume as a professional is robust – both at home and abroad – as an individual and as part of a team. He represented Canada the World Cup nine times, winning as an individual in 1966 and with Balding as a team in 1968.

Knudson had one of the silkiest swings in Canadian golf history and he wielded it to five PGA of Canada National Championship titles and earning Low Canadian honors at the Canadian Open five times.

He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1986 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1969.

3. Sandra Post

Post was the ‘first’ Canadian for a lot of celebrated moments on the LPGA Tour.

She was the first Canadian to play the LPGA Tour and as a rookie, in 1968, she won a major championship (the then-LPGA Championship). She was, at the time, the youngest golfer to win a major. Her young age (20 years, 20 days) would not be topped by a major winner until 2007.

Post would go on to win eight times on the LPGA Tour and was the first Canadian to win more than once in the same season – a feat she accomplished twice, in both 1978 and 1979.

She was a celebrated junior and amateur golfer in Ontario and decided to skip college. The decision turned out to be the right one, as she won Rookie of the Year honors in her debut season.

Post, who was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year in 1979, was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1988 and bestowed the Order of Canada in 2004.

2. Mike Weir

Canada’s most celebrated male golfer is also responsible for inspiring the current generation of TOUR stars including fellow Ontarians Conners and Hughes. Almost every golf fan in the country can recall where they were when Weir captured the Green Jacket in 2003, becoming the first Canadian male to win a major.

Weir won eight times on the PGA TOUR including a World Golf Championship and the TOUR Championship in 2000 and 2001, respectively. His Masters title came in his three-win season of 2003.

That year Weir made it to third in the world and was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year.

Weir played on five Presidents Cup teams and has been an assistant captain in 2017, 2019, and 2022. He received the Order of Canada in 2009 and was inducted into Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame the same year. He was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2017 and has seen a career resurgence since joining PGA TOUR Champions. He won for the first time on the over-50 circuit last year and continues to be a threat when he tees it up.

1. Brooke Henderson

The only golfer on this list not to be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame has had the greatest career of them all.

And the reason why she’s not a Hall of Famer yet? Because she’s only 25.

Henderson’s amateur career peaked when she was ranked as the No.1 amateur in the world in 2014. She skipped college and turned professional, winning her first event on the LPGA Tour in 2015 by eight strokes at just 17 years old.

In all Henderson – who has won 13 times on the LPGA Tour – is the winningest Canadian of all time on either the LPGA or PGA Tour.

She’s won two majors so far – the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and last year’s Evian Championship, along with the CP Women’s Open in 2018, becoming the first Canadian to win on home soil since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973.

Henderson won the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on the LPGA Tour to kick off 2023 is as strong a way as possible.

She was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, won an ESPY Award in 2019 as the ‘Best Female Golfer’ and earned the LPGA Founders Award that same year.

And, well, Henderson’s career is still just getting started.