James Love
The cream of the Canadian Tour crop will compete for the most lucrative purse in the storied history of the circuit this week at the Canadian Tour Championship, the crown jewel of the tour schedule.
Historic St. Catharines G&CC will host the Canadian Tour Championship for the second straight year as the world's top PGA TOUR prospects from 15 countries chase a $325,000 purse.
Seconds after the final putt falls Sunday afternoon, the winner will accept the gleaming Canadian Tour Championship trophy along with a cheque for $52,000. Recipients of the Canadian Tour Bursary will also be decided.
Although the Canadian Tour Championship signals the end of the summer-long Canadian swing, it's not the final event of the season. The inaugural Desert Dunes Classic will be staged this November in Palm Springs, Calif. Introduced to help keep players in game shape between the first and second stage of PGA Tour Q-School, the California event will decide several year-end awards including the Rolex Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
However, this week will crown the top two finishers on the Order of Merit that will receive a coveted exemption into the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.
The week will also be one of remembrance and reflection as players, tour officials, volunteers and spectators pay tribute to former Canadian Tour Championship Chairman Dave Matthews, the 2009 RCGA Volunteer of the Year and St. Catharines Sportsman of the Year. Mr. Matthews was diagnosed with terminal cancer just a few weeks before the 2009 Canadian Tour Championship. He survived long enough to see Calgary's James Love hoist the trophy but passed away less than a week later.
"He was very energetic, no matter what it was that he was tackling, whether it was a board package or the girls curling team that he was involved in," St. Catharines Golf and Country Club member Alan Ralph told Bernie Puchalski of the St. Catharines Standard earlier this year. "He seemed to have so much enthusiasm and a lot of enthusiasm for golf.
"That's what made him so special. He was so over the top on practically anything that he took up."
Love is back to defend his title in St. Catharines, one year after claiming his first Canadian Tour triumph. Love and Kent Eger, coming off his second win in three years at the Seaforth Country Classic, lead an impressive charge of Canadians into St. Catharines that includes the likes of RBC Canadian Open low Canuck Adam Hadwin, Andrew Parr, Darren Griff, Stuart Anderson, Brad Fritsch, Derek Gillespie, Richard Scott, Yohann Benson and Wes Heffernan.
Californian Aaron Goldberg, who had won two consecutive events before finishing seventh in Seaforth, will look to stay on the top perch on the Order of Merit this week. Goldberg has been simply outstanding in his sophomore season, racking up two wins, a runner up and three other top tens in just seven starts. Other U.S. players who could find themselves in contention in St. Catharines include Brock Mackenzie, Rob Grube, George Bradford, Andy Matthews, Trey Denton, Brady Stockton, Stephen Gangluff, Daniel Im, Tom Glissmeyer, Mike Grob, Clayton Rask, Byron Smith , Will Wilcox and John Ellis.
There will also be a heavy international presence in St. Catharines, led by Mexico's Jose de Jesus Rodriguez. Poised to take a three-shot lead into the final day at Seaforth, Rodriguez, just seconds after a course record-tying 10-under 61, was disqualified for not signing his scorecard. He'll be looking to make up for that this week and headlines an impressive global lineup that includes Brad Heaven (New Zealand), Lucas Lee (Brazil), Hugo Leon (Chile), Alan McLean (Scotland), Cesar Coello (Mexico), Josh Geary (New Zealand) and Mauricio Molina (Argentina).
Please check back with cantour.com to see updates, features and live scoring from the Canadian Tour Championship.