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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 28, 2016 | 30 Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports h a t ' s o f f f or o p e n c h "Connected to your Community" a m p Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas tries on a Mountie's hat as he accepts the championship trophy at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday. Vegas fired a final round 64 to win by one stroke over three players, including Dustin Johnson, one of the top golfers in the world. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (follow on Twitter @ halton_photog) Vegas had to wait to win Open By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff For an hour and 20 minutes, Jhonattan Vegas waited, watched and hoped. He had fired a final round 64 that included nine birdies, getting him to 12-under for the tournament. "All you can do is put yourself in position to win and good things happen," the 31-year-old Venezuelan said after posting a one-stroke victory over three players, including U.S. Open champ Dustin Johnson. A week earlier, Vegas shot a course record 60, including a hole-in-one, in the second round at the Barbasol Championship in Alabama and took a three-shot lead into the final round. But a 72, left him tied for fourth, three shots behind the eventual winner Aaron Baddeley. Sunday, Vegas did everything he could to again give himself a chance to win with an outstanding final round at Glen Abbey. And this time he did. It was just the second victory of his career and his first since January of 2011. That win in the Bob Hope Classic came in just his fifth PGA start. "You think things are going to come a little easier and you want to keep it going," Vegas said. "You realize it's just hard to win here." Prior to his round, Vegas pegged 12-under as the number needed to win the tournament. But despite a string of five straight birdies on the front nine, Vegas was still three shots shy of that target through 15 holes. On 16, he made a seven-foot birdie putt and after hitting his approach to eight feet and converting on the 17th, Vegas had a share of the lead with nine players within two shots. On 18, he put his 43-foot eagle putt within a foot and tapped in for a third straight birdie. But with 16 golfers still on the course, Vegas began to wonder if 12-under would be enough. "There were a bunch at 11 or 10 (under), Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, a bunch of guys were really close, some great players," Vegas said. Seven players would come to the 18th hole with a chance to tie Vegas. One by one they would fall. Jon Rahm had a 10-foot eagle putt but it slid just past the hole and he settled for birdie and 11-under for the tournament. Ricky Barnes and Alex Cejka could only manage pars. Martin Laird, trailing by just a shot, found a fairway bunker with his drive and had an awkward lie. His third shot sailed into the gallery and needing to get up and down from 76 yards, he could only manage a par. Steve Wheatcroft also needed a birdie to force a playoff but his bid ended when he sailed his bunker shot over the green into the water. Dustin Johnson worked his way back into contention with a 13-footer for eagle on 16. But he needed to duplicate that on 18 to force a playoff. His approach went just over the green just into the rough, leaving a short chip to force a playoff. However, it came up a few feet short. That left third-round leader Brandt Snedeker as the last challenger. His second shot into 18 ended up on the downslope of a greenside bunker and his shot trickled back into the bunker, ending his chances. At long last, Vegas' wait was over. "The biggest thing is the belief that you can do it," he said. "That you can shoot numbers against the best players in the world." · More on RBC Canadian Open on pg. 31.