GATINEAU, Que. – Declan O’Donovan of Sydney, Australia edged out Team Canada NextGen member Isaiah Ibit of Orleans, Ont. on the second playoff hole to claim the 120th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, and cap off a memorable finish at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in Gatineau, Que.
O’Donovan captured his title by draining a birdie putt from outside 30 feet, becoming the first Australian winner to hoist the Early Grey Cup since Gary Simpson claimed the 89th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in 1993.
O’Donovan carded rounds of 69-67-67-64=267 to win the tournament, playing alongside Ibit and Andre Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont. in the final group on Thursday. All three players held a share of the lead throughout the final round. It was the first-ever playoff of O’Donovan’s golf career.
After opening his final round with a pair of bogeys to fall out of the lead, O’Donovan orchestrated a clinical start to his back nine to authoritatively retrieve his place atop Thursday’s leaderboard.
The 22-year-old made the turn exactly how he needed to, holing out on his second shot on the par-4 10th for eagle to claw his way back in contention. A birdie at the 11th followed for the Australian, tying him for the lead before outright securing it four holes later following a pair of dropped shots from Ibit and Andre Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont.
His one-shot lead rendered safely until the final hole, with O’Donovan adding some insurance with consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. The cushion however, failed to hold off the red-hot putter of Ibit who roared to life with three-straight birdies on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to dramatically force a playoff with O’Donovan.
“Isaiah, he really got the momentum going for me,” praised O’Donovan of Ibit, his playing partner. “He was forcing me to play well. 16, 17 and 18, for him, three birdies was absolutely incredible… he’ll definitely win this event. I’m not sure how many people have won the junior Canadian amateur and the men’s Canadian amateur, but if he’s the first, I could definitely see that happening,” he added.
The two played the 18th hole twice, escaping the first playoff hole equally with par before a wayward approach shot on the par-5 shaped the tournament’s outcome. Alongside O’Donovan in the first cut of the rough aligning the fairway, Ibit opted to use a three-wood to get his ball onto the green. His shot veered left of the target, failing to find his ball and forcing him to take back-on-the-line penalty relief on the fringe of the 16th green, as O’Donovan safely delivered his approach to the edge of the fairway.
Moments later, an up-and-down secured O’Donovan the title, with the Australian diverting from his lack of playoff experience by reading his last putt perfectly to become the second international player in as many years to hoist the Earl Grey Cup.
“I’ve played tournaments before. I’ve won, and I have been behind the eight ball, and I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned in situations like today is just keep hitting the ball. Don’t let your head take you out of it. Just keep hitting as many good shots as possible. And I definitely did that today,” said O’Donovan.
In addition to winning the Earl Grey Cup, O’Donovan becomes one of the first players to clinch their place in next year’s RBC Canadian Open, set to return to TPC Toronto (North Course) at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont. The win also grants the Australian a place in the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship, set for August 11-17 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. and fully exempts him from local qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Amateur and 2026 U.S. Open.
“There’s a lot of opportunity that comes with this event. I mean, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about what, what could happen if I did win. I think rolling that putt in on the last really let the feeling sink in of that I’m going to be playing in a PGA TOUR event, I’m going to be playing my first U.S. Amateur,” said O’Donovan.
If eligible, O’Donovan will be able to defend his title next year as Thursday’s win secures his place in the field at the 121st Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. He also joins a prestigious list of players to have their name etched into the Earl Grey Cup, including Canadian Golf Hall of Famers George S. Lyon and Sandy Somerville who captured eight and six championships respectively.
Other past champions include Canadian Golf Hall of Famers and four-time winners, Nick Weslock (1957, 1963, 1964, 1966) and Doug Roxburgh (1972, 1974, 1982, 1988). More recently, two-time PGA TOUR winner Mackenzie Hughes claimed the championship in consecutive years (2011, 2012) while 2023 RBC Canadian Open champion and five-time PGA TOUR winner Nick Taylor claimed the 103rd Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in 2007.
Team Ontario was able to successfully reclaim the Willingdon Cup on Tuesday with a seven-stroke come-from-behind win over Team Quebec and Team Alberta.
The trio, represented by Eric Zhao of North York, Ont., Dawson Lew of Toronto, Ont. and Zhu parlayed a 7-under 63 from Zhu on Monday with a 4-under performance from Lew the following day to clinch the province’s 33rd title at the Inter-Provincial Team Championship.
The team championship ran concurrently over the first 36 holes, with the two lowest scores from the three-person team counting towards the combined team total for each round. Team Ontario finished last year’s tournament four shots behind Team British Columbia.
The top 20 finishers on Thursday have also secured a spot in next year’s Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. To view the final leaderboard from the 120th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
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