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Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes capitalizes on exemption into RBC Heritage
Mackenzie Hughes picked a good week to have a good week. The Canadian took advantage of his sponsor exemption at the RBC Heritage, vaulting him up the Tour standings and likely into the PGA Championship.
In the field at the RBC Heritage thanks to a sponsor exemption, Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes knew it was a good week to have a good week as he navigated the hanging willows that line Harbour Town Golf Links’s fairways.
Hughes was firmly in the mix through most of the 72 holes at the RBC Heritage, a signature event on the PGA Tour schedule, and ended up tied for third — his best result since the Valspar Championship last March.
The native of Ancaster, Ont., catapulted himself nearly 50 spots in the FedExCup standings to No. 41 and all but secured a spot in next month’s PGA Championship, which takes place at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. – where Hughes is not only a member, but also a resident of the community.
Alas, Hughes admitted that two things about his Sunday evening effort can be true. He’s chuffed to have played so well, but he also knows this was a great opportunity missed to return to the PGA Tour winner’s circle once again.
“Man, it was playing tough out there, and I played awesome. I really had a chance to win today,” Hughes said. “It was one of those days where I hit some really great iron shots really close, and I could kind of feel I had something going early.
“It was just a shot here or there and I’m right there. It’s like, it’s bittersweet. I’m excited with what my game showed this week. But when you get close at the end, you’re kind of wanting a little more.”
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Hughes shot a 4-under 68 Sunday at Harbour Town to finish at 14-under 270 for the week — just three shots back of a playoff.
Justin Thomas would go on to win on the first playoff hole, defeating Andrew Novak with a 21-foot birdie to bust a near three-year win drought on the PGA Tour.
Hughes opened with two birdies in his first three holes Sunday before giving one back with a bogey on the par-3 7th. He caught fire making the turn, however, making three birdies in a row on Nos. 8-10. Hughes eventually began to run out of holes after making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 12 and 13. Still, Hughes added birdies on the par-4 15th and one on the final hole of the day for good measure and said he took “tons of confidence” from the week.
The T3 finish came after he notched another top-10 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in his previous Tour start. He’s riding a nice wave now, he said.
“It’s been a relatively ‘slow-ish’ start to the year for me. I played well in Houston and felt like I was building on some things there, and now to come here and kind of solidify where my game is headed feels really good,” Hughes said. “I’ve got some work to do still. There are some things I still want to shore up a little bit. But really pleased with the progress I saw this week, and like I said, nice to build off the momentum I had there in Houston.”
It hasn’t been the best of starts, statistically, for Hughes. He sits well into the 100s in all of strokes gained: total, off the tee, approach to green and even putting (where Hughes was third in that stat in 2024). This week, however, Hughes was T23 in strokes gained: off the tee, something he ranks 130th in for the season. A marked improvement.
“I still think the driving for me is kind of the big thing. Typically, if my iron play is good, my putter can do some damage. But certainly (Sunday) I just hit some shots really, really close and I think that is a quick way to accelerate your rounds and give you a bunch of confidence,” Hughes said. “To hit the irons the way I did and drive it pretty well, it’s a nice combination for me.”
Hughes is not playing this week at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans (the PGA Tour’s only team event features one Canadian duo of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both of Abbotsford, B.C., while Surrey, B.C.’s Adam Svensson is paired with Australia’s Cam Davis), but admitted he would have been “lying” if the precarious spot he had found himself in the FedExCup standings hadn’t crossed his mind through the first quarter of the year.
Only the top 100 in the standings will regain cards for 2026 — a big change from the top-125 number that held for decades previously. Hughes came into the RBC Heritage at No. 93, so by Sunday night he had a singular mission firmly accomplished — while also likely earning his way into his hometown major championship as a nice bonus.
“To have a result like this and to do it when I know the points are going to be amplified, it’s massive for me,” Hughes said. “To capitalize on a sponsor invite, grab a bunch of points, that’s massive for me.”
