Canadians off to strong start this PGA Tour season

As the PGA Tour wraps up its west coast swing, it’s a good time to assess the performance of the Canadian players through the starting weeks of this year’s calendar.

The traditional kickoff to the season includes the first seven events on the schedule including two in Hawaii, four in California and a quick visit to Arizona for one. Technically, this week’s stop in Mexico could be included in this collection of tournaments, but for tradition’s sake, we’ll go with the starting seven.

That number works as there are seven Canadians eligible for some or all of the tournaments played so far. Collectively, they’ve had a stellar start, with at least one of them finishing inside the top 12 in every event. Individually, however, it can be a different story.

Here’s how they’ve fared so far.  

Nick Taylor: A

Taylor earned his fifth PGA Tour victory at the Sony Open, once again finishing in dramatic style with a chip-in eagle on the 72nd hole that earned him a spot in a playoff. For the third time in his career, he captured a tournament in extra holes.

The rest of his early season has been strong if not sensational.

A tie for ninth at the Genesis Invitational and a tie for 12th at the American Express were his next-best finishes and he made the cut in all six of his starts. That included a tie for 25th in his title defence at the WM Phoenix Open.

Statistically, it’s easy to see how much better his game is from the one that dragged him down during the second half of 2024. 
The biggest improvement came in Greens in Regulation. Last year he finished in 152nd spot and, so far this season, he is sixth. Overall, he’s 15th in Strokes Gained: Total compared to 95th in 2004.

Taylor has usually fared well in the West, with wins in Hawaii (2025), Phoenix (2024) and Pebble Beach (2020) giving him a victory in each of the three West Coast swing states.

Along with his 2023 RBC Canadian Open title, he has also now won in each of the past three years.

After a poor second half of last season, a renewed attitude that puts less pressure on himself has been key to the improved play.

Taylor Pendrith: B+

Three finishes inside the top 13 for Pendrith, who played five times on the West Coast. His best performance was a tie for seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open. That was followed by a tie for ninth at Pebble Beach.

He has some impressive numbers, including sitting second in Greens in Regulation and fourth in Total Driving (a combination of distance and accuracy). But his putter is apparently going to wait until he gets to Florida to wake up. He is 152nd in Strokes Gained: Putting averaging just over 30 putts per round. He ended 2024 in fifth spot in SG: Putting.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., native will make his first appearance at the Masters in April.

Corey Conners: B-

Conners has never been a lover of the West Coast swing.

His tie for fifth at this year’s Sentry was his first top-10 finish on that side of the continent since 2019. The next week at Sony, the Listowel, Ont., product missed the cut, the first time in his previous 33 starts where he didn’t make it to the weekend.

It’s not that he has been terrible by any means, just not a threat to win. He’s become accustomed to middle-of-the-pack paycheques and knows that he may not hit his stride until he gets back to Florida.

Statistically, it’s also predictable how his game is faring. So far this year, his numbers for Greens in Regulation (15th) and Driving Accuracy (31st) are high. His Putting (134th) and Scrambling (176th) marks are low. Those statistics reflect what have always been the strengths and weaknesses of Conners’ game.

Despite all this, he still sits inside the top 50 in the world ranking and has a spot reserved at the Masters.

Mac Hughes: C

Hughes is another Ontario guy who hasn’t had much success on the West Coast.

In the past five years, he’s played 19 times in the swing events and has managed just two finishes inside the top 20 and missed the cut six times.

This year, after missing the cut at the Sony, he played the weekend at the American Express, Pebble Beach and Phoenix, finishing T58, T40 and T36.

Normally one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, the West Coast greens aren’t among his favourites, and he heads back to Florida sitting 136 in Strokes Gained: Putting. He was 18th in the category last year.

None of this is all that worrisome. Based on past experience, Hughes will rally as the season progresses, just as he has done in past years, perhaps even notching career victory No. 3.

Despite his attempts to even out the highs and lows of his game, he is a hot-and-cold golfer and not very many of those highs happen early in the year.

Adam Hadwin: C

Hadwin had a little bit of everything in his first half-dozen starts in 2025.

There was a top 10 at the WM Phoenix Open, a missed cut at the American Express, an event where he’s finished second twice, and a round of 83 at the Genesis at Torrey Pines. That score equalled his career high, which he’s shot twice before.

The ups and downs seem extreme, but his play has not been that bad overall, at least statistically. 
He was 75th in Strokes Gained: Total, better than the 111th spot he ended 2024. He was also better in Putting, Greens in Regulation, Tee to Green and Around the Green. In that last category, he was in 34th spot compared to 103rd at the end of 2024.

Ben Silverman: C-

Silverman made four starts, with his best finish an impressive tie for 16th at the WM Phoenix Open. He finished 69th in the Sony and missed the cut in two other starts.

His best weapon so far this season has been the putter and he is seventh in Total Putting. That’s not a surprise since he ended 2024 in 15th in that category.

Adam Svensson: C-

Four starts, two middle-of-the-pack finishes and two missed cuts for Svensson.

His game at the moment is a bit of a mystery as he has a scoring average of 69.69, good for 43rd spot in the standings, and 52nd in Strokes Gained: Total.

His struggles seem to revolve around his putting where he sits 140nd in Strokes Gained: Putting. That’s an improvement over last year where he ended the season in 172nd place.

Even a small improvement on the greens would go a long way towards helping Svensson climb up the FedEx Cup points list. Two years ago, when he finished 37th in the FedEx Cup standings, he was 59th in Strokes Gained: Putting.