THE MODERATOR: Goods afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. How about that, huh? Give yourself a big round of applause. You guys have been fabulous all week.
(Applause.)
Well I don't know about you folks, but I think that was probably worth three years wait, wasn't it?
(Applause.)
It's now my pleasure to introduce the president of golf Canada, Liz Hoffman.
(Applause.)
LIZ HOFFMAN: What an incredible finish to celebrate the return of the RBC Canadian Open.
(Applause.)
This week has been so special with our friends from St. George's Golf and Country Club, as well as the Islington Golf Club and the 2,000 plus volunteers that welcome back the 111th playing of our national championship.
To superintendent Ian McQueen and the incredible grounds team, your work this week has been extraordinary.
(Applause.)
Golf Canada is so proud of our incredible partnership with RBC and the PGA TOUR for their collaboration in this historic championship. The impact extends to our charitable beneficiary, First Tee Canada, bringing transformative experience through golf to Canadian youth.
(Applause.)
It's been such an honor to host the world's best players. And thank you everyone for your support. Thank you.
(Applause.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Liz. I would now like to call upon Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum to present the Rivermead Cup.
LAURENCE APPLEBAUM: Thank you, Bob. The Rivermead Cup is awarded to the low Canadian of the RBC Canadian Open open. Previous names on this trophy include Mike Weir, Adam Hadwin, MacKenzie Hughes. And today our No. 1 Canadian on the PGA TOUR shot a 62. Please join me in awarding --
(Applause.)
Rory played -- Corey played with Rory -- give me another chance, give me a Mulligan, in Canada we give Mulligans, right?
Corey Conners played with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas for the first two days. And the emotion that the fans showed all three of them continued on to Sunday. So please join me in congratulating Rivermead Cup trophy winner and favorite son, Corey Conners. Congratulations.
(Applause.)
RORY MCILROY: Well that was pretty fun. Thanks everyone for coming out, showing me this support. Thanks to RBC for putting on such a great event. They do great things in the community and for golf and they have been a great supporter of me. Really looking forward to coming back next year. Hope to see you all again and maybe put my name on the bigger trophy here.
(Applause.)
THE MODERATOR: And since we're celebrating Canadian golfers, let's also give you the news, if you haven't heard yet, Brooke Henderson won her 11th LPGA Tour title today.
(Applause.)
I would now like to call up Dave McKay the CEO and president of RBC.
DAVID MCKAY: Thanks, Bob and thank you everyone. On behalf of our 88,000 employees around the world I can't tell you how proud we are to host the RBC Canadian Open. It's not just any tournament, it's our national championship. And it's a celebration of golf.
And thank you so much for the spirit, the energy, the enthusiasm you brought to our national championship this week. Thank you.
(Applause.)
As you know these tournaments don't happen on their own. I have a few thank you's but I want to thank all the members, the ground crew of St. George's. This course played so Well over the week, the golfers loved the course, they found it fair, challenging. Thank you to all the groundskeepers.
And the volunteers, 2,100 volunteers to make this incredible week go. Thank you to the volunteers and St. George's.
(Applause.)
But lastly thank you to you. You should hear this place rock, you should see it on the CBS broadcast on television. You made this tournament an incredible show for the whole world. This is what golf is about. Sponsorship and partnership with the PGA bringing the best golfers in the world to an iconic venue and putting on an incredible show of golf today. Thank you so much to the fans, you made this one of the most incredible tournaments of the year, so thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Now it gives me very, very great pleasure to present the trophy for the second time to the 2022 winner of the RBC Canadian Open open, Rory McIlroy.
(Applause.)
THE MODERATOR: Rory, I don't know if you've taken out Canadian citizenship or thought about it, but I think you might be welcome here.
RORY MCILROY: Well I was actually thinking, Corey talked about putting his name on the big one, maybe I should try and put my name on the small one. (Laughing).
THE MODERATOR: You've waited probably the longest of anyone in golf history to defend a title, three years. What's it like to get your name on this trophy with the names like Snead and Palmer and Trevino and Tiger and now for the second time your name?
RORY MCILROY: Yeah, national championships are a big deal. I'm lucky enough to have won a few of them and to get my name on here again with the likes of as you say, so many iconic figures in this game, this is what golf's about and I'm just, I'm so proud to have my name on there again.
THE MODERATOR: What was this crowd like? What was it like playing in front of these people chanting your name every step of the way, cheering you on from start to finish? Tell us what it felt like from Thursday through to this last putt.
RORY MCILROY: It was absolutely incredible. Thank you. Like from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. This tournament is absolutely unbelievable. Thank you to the fans, St. George's, RBC, Golf Canada, the volunteers, everyone that put this event on. I'll remember this day for a long, long time.
THE MODERATOR: There's been six people who have won this back-to-back. Nobody's won this three times in a row. What do you think?
RORY MCILROY: I'm going to give it a go. I'll be here next year.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Rory. Rory McIlroy, everybody.
(Applause.)
THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our closing ceremonies and trophy presentation. We look forward to seeing all of you, including Rory next year at Oakdale Golf Club. Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports