Tour players pumped for Player’s Cup
Put the money on the table and watch the Canadian Tour professionals make their travel plans to Winnipeg.
Add in a involuntary shrinking of the Tour’s schedule and a winner’s ticket to the RBC Canadian Open and you’ve got a stellar field for next week’s Players Cup at Pine Ridge Golf Club.
This year’s purse rises to $300,000, up from $200,000, and the winner earns a cheque for $48,000 and takes a spot in the PGA Tour field a week later at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.
“No disrespect to Pine Ridge because it’s a fantastic golf course and they do a great job but on the Canadian Tour if you’re playing for $300,000 and a spot in the Canadian Open, you could play it in a parking lot and guys would show up,” said Players Cup executive chairman Rob McMillan during Thursday’s media day.
“It’s that big a deal.”
McMillan, who will be among the inductees into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame, won this Tour event at Pine Ridge 14 years ago and knows what a springboard a win can be.
“I’ve been there and for a guy to win close to $50,000 and really set yourself up for the rest of the year and going to Q school … it’s going to really give these guys some opportunities,” he said.
This will be the third year in a row the Tour offers the winner a Canadian Open exemption and not surprisingly, an elite field is entered for the seventh official event of the year.
Forty of the top 42 money-winners this season are entered, including money-list leader Brock Mackenzie of the U.S.
Missing from the event will be No. 3 Dustin Risdon, who is in next week’s Nationwide Tour event, and No. 4 David Vanegas, the Columbian who won the year’s first event but has played in no other CanTour tournaments.
You have to go all the way down to No. 43 on the list, Mexico’s Octavio Gonzales, to find another player who’s skipping Winnipeg.
Also missing this season will be defending champion Graham DeLaet of Saskatchewan, who’s now a full-time member of the PGA Tour.
Among the locals entered are Tour members Adam Speirs, Matt Johnston, Ryan Horn and Tyler Mancini. Dean North of Carman, host pro Shane Dick and Niakwa amateur Scott Markham have also been given exemptions.
Tickets for next week’s event are available at Pine Ridge, at the gate starting next Thursday and at any Red River Co-Op.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Tour-players-pumped-for-Players-Cup-98063414.html
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