Jhonattan Vegas takes the RBC Canadian Open, but homegrown Jared du Toit the big winner

The record will show that Jared du Toit finished in a tie for ninth place at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, three strokes behind winner Jhonattan Vegas.

But in the hearts of everyone who attended or watched the tournament, the 21-year-old Canadian was the biggest winner on the golf course.

Whether it was marching up the 18th fairway to raucous applause, scrambling to save par or narrowly missing an eagle putt on the final hole for dramatic flourish, de Toit carried himself like a PGA Tour veteran. In fact, he performed better than a lot of the biggest names in the game in doing so, finishing the day one under and tournament 9-under par.

Which is pretty impressive considering that this was his first event on the PGA Tour and one that came with few hopes.

``Honestly I had no expectations coming into this week," the Kimberley, B.C., product said. ``I thought maybe if I play well and make the cut -- I honestly didn't know. To come out this week and play well, Top-10, feels really good."

Sunday's final round was something special, even though it marked the second straight year that a Canadian teed off in the final pairing. But last year's Canadian of the moment was David Hearn, a battle-tested veteran pro.

This was an amateur with one pro tournament under his belt prior to this.

That's what made it all the more special.

And the fans knew it. Right from the time du Toit approached the first tee, Glen Abbey Golf Club was electric.

As Dustin Johnson and Steve Wheatcroft headed down the first fairway, the sky was almost split by the roar that accompanied du Toit's arrival.

If there were any nerves, du Toit didn't show them. He calmly flipped a ball, waiting his turn to tee off as a Golf Canada employee lugged around a cardboard box filled with "flags for du Toit."

The young Arizona State University student was then the recipient of two big ovations, the first at the mention of "Canada" and an even louder one when his name was announced.

And it never abated, even though it soon became apparent that the chances of him pulling off a miracle were slim indeed.

``The atmosphere they were providing was unbelievable," he said of the fans. ``Every tee box, like I said yesterday, every tee box, every green, everyone was clapping, hollering, `Go Canada!' It was truly unbelievable. I'm on cloud nine right now."

While du Toit said he fed off that energy, fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin said there was a lot of pressure on all of those representing this country.

"Not a day goes by or a minute goes by that the media doesn't mention it to us that we haven't won yet," the tour veteran said after a final-round 71 that left him one-under for the Open. "When you constantly have people you and reminding you of the fact that we haven't won in 50, 60 years, 62 years now, yes, there is added pressure."

Whether it was pressure, too much adrenalin from that send-off or the nerves that would naturally hit somebody in his position, du Toit didn't take long to get into trouble.

After pars on the first two holes, narrowly missing a birdie on the second, he sent a bunker shot through the green on the third and settled for a bogey.

He missed a great birdie chance on the fifth, missing a nine-foot putt, and then three-putted for another bogey on six.

With a host of golfers passing him on the leaderboard, it was looking more and more like the impossible dream  truly was going to be impossible on this day.

But ttime and again, he proved that he could play with the big boys for four rounds.

A brilliant approach shot from 179 yards led to a 10-foot putt for birdie on eight.

He continued to struggle off the tee and with approach shots, but showed that this kid is made of pretty stern stuff. He salvaged pars on 11, 12 and 13 thanks to great chips under a lot of pressure.

After narrowly missing an eagle on 16, he sank a short putt for a par to drop to 8-under.

Then came the near eagle on 18.

That added some life to a rather anti-climactic finish. Vegas, who finished his 8-under 64 with three straight birdies, had long finished his round and was on the range when Johnson, Wheatcroft and Brandt Snedeker all came up short on the 18th to give the Venezuelan his second PGA victory.

The other Canadian amateur to play on the weekend, hockey referee/golfer Garrett Rank, shot a 76 Sunday to finish 8-over for the tournament.