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While the field of the RBC Canadian Open misses some big names like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, the field still packs proven winners, rising stars, fan favorites, and hometown candidates. However, some of those big names have unexpectedly headed home early after missing the cut at TPC Toronto. Here are the top 3 shocking names missing the cut at the 2026 RBC Canadian Open.

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Justin Rose

The 13-time PGA Tour winner is one of the most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. Despite being 45 years old, Rose continues to compete with young golfers and still wins. This season, he won the Farmers Insurance Open 2026. Besides that, he had put on a great show at both majors so far by finishing T3 at the Masters and T10 at the PGA Championship.

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Rose struggled at the RBC Canadian Open 2026. His at-par opening round, including five birdies and five bogeys, didn’t give him a solid start. Then on the second day, he carded 2 over and finished overall at 2 over par across the 36 holes. With a cutline at 2 under, Rose is 4 strokes short.

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Aaron Rai

Straight after his PGA Championship 2026 win, Rai finished T19 at the Memorial Tournament. What makes his missed cut even more shocking is his familiarity with the event and the course. The 31-year-old has played the event in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and has always had a top 15 finish. His best finish came in 2023, when he carded rounds of 67-69-69-67 to finish tied for 3rd at 16-under 272.

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He had a decent opening round, which included birdies on holes 1, 3, 8, and 15, and bogeys on 2, 10, and 17. This helped him finish round 1 under 69. He started Round 2 on a good note with a birdie on the opening hole but then followed it with consecutive bogeys on holes 3 and 4. He then scored another birdie on the front nine and then a bogey on hole 11. After 18 holes on Friday, Rai had carded an even par and overall sat at 1 under, just 1 stroke short of the cutline.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Hojgaard has enjoyed an inconsistent season overall until now. Of the 13 starts he has had, he made the cut in 11. This includes runner-up finishes at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and the Truist Championship. He also finished T3 at the WM Phoenix Open.

After the runner-up finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, he missed the cut at the Masters 2026. Then, he followed his T2 Truist Championship finish with a T44 at the PGA Championship and a missed cut at the Memorial Tournament.

He started with a 1-under 69 opening round, but his Round 2 has not been even close to the decent opening round. This one had three double bogeys on holes 1, 3, and 11. Four birdies, one bogey, along with these double bogeys, took his day 2 score to 3 over par.

From major champions to recent PGA Tour winners and proven contenders, the 2026 RBC Canadian Open has shown that reputation alone guarantees nothing.

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Kailash Bhimji Vaviya

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Kailash Vaviya is a Golf Journalist at EssentiallySports, covering both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. His reporting spans major championship contention, player performance, and the ongoing tensions between the two circuits, from the financial pressures LIV players face to the tour politics shaping where careers go. He has followed golf closely since his college years, and that long-running familiarity informs how he covers the game, placing week-to-week results within the bigger structural stories around them. Before joining EssentiallySports, Kailash wrote for Comic Book Resources (CBR) and Forbes, where he developed a research-driven approach to sports and media reporting. He brings that same attention to accuracy and structure to his golf work, with particular depth on the business and political side of the professional game alongside the competitive storylines that define each tournament week.

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Riya Singhal

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