CALEDON, Ont. – After only his third event, Mississauga native Matthew Anderson made his first cut on the PGA Tour, and did it on home soil.
As the 2025 Canadian Open kicked off at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley on Thursday morning, all eyes were on the many Canadians looking to make an impression.
A total of 24 homegrown golfers were involved on opening day, with some of them staying very much involved by the weekend.
Matthew Anderson, a 25 year-old Korn Ferry (two top-5 finishes), and PGA Tour Americas (one victory) competitor, was thrilled with his achievement, and looking for more.
“I’ve wanted to do this obviously for a while. I know I can compete,” he said, in a media scrum after the Friday round. “Last year, I felt I was ready, but I just didn’t really have the game.
“This year I felt I was ready, and I felt like my game was in a good spot and it was just about going out there and trusting myself.”
Anderson realized the room for improvement coming into this year, and acknowledged how his game has developed since last season.
“I’m just striking it better. It’s more consistent.” he said. “I was obviously coming off playing some good golf, but just some swing stuff wasn’t really in a good spot.
“Even my coach would tell you I’m a long way, even like a year ago, from that point,” he added.
All of this comes in front of a home crowd of proud Canadians who have really backed anyone representing north of the border, something that has not gone unnoticed by Anderson.
“To hear those cheers and all the support, you sometimes get like the jitters or the goosebumps. Yeah, it’s so fun.”
As for what he expects coming into the weekend and how he plans to prepare for it, Anderson doesn’t seem to phased.
“I’ll just go home, get some food. I don’t know if we’ll cook or pick something up. Hit balls for 15 minutes, get up, and just do my normal pre-round routine, just like any other day.”
The Canadian tees off at 10:50 a.m. on Saturday morning to open up his third round at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, and you can bet Anderson will be soaking in every moment of it.
“There’s just nothing really like it.”
