Canadian Tour commissioner Rick Janes forged a working relationship with the PGA Tour, which became involved, first at an arm's length, with operations, sponsorship and finances.
As part of its agreement, it also had the option at the end of this season to absorb the Canadian Tour to become a division under the PGA umbrella.
Jeff Monday, the senior vice-president of tournament development for the PGA Tour, had been at all of the Canadian events this season doing due diligence and it was his recommendation on which his board voted Monday.
"I would say the people doing the due diligence are bullish," Janes told QMI Agency's Doug Graham last month. "Clearly, Canada is a very mature golfing market. It makes an enormous amount of sense and it particularly fits into (what the PGA Tour is doing with the) Latin American tour."
While having a domestic tour is great for players and golf in this country, many international players also use it as a springboard. For them it's a welcome move
"It would definitely be good for this tour and the development for all players," Sarnia's Matt Hill told QMI Agency at last month's Great Waterway Classic.
Hill wrapped up the Order of Merit this season to get one of two tickets to the second stage of Q-school and was selected the tour's player of the year.
"Obviously, if you have the PGA Tour name in there, it makes it easier and more beneficial to get sponsorships," he said. "Everybody is on for it."
No Love lost
Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III says he's ready to put all the second-guessing and criticism behind him and get back to business.
And the 48-year-old wants to keep doing it on the world's top tour, too.
"My goal now is I'm off the board, I'm not the Ryder Cup captain," Love said Wednesday at his home tournament, the McGladrey Classic in Sea Island, Ga. "Next year should be great. I should have no distractions. So I'm excited about next season.
"Vijay (Singh, 49) and I played three days last week and talked about not going on the Champions Tour. We want to beat these guys. We're not even thinking -- everybody else is asking me and Vijay, when are you going on the Champions Tour, and I'm thinking how do I get as many wins as Vijay? Vijay is thinking how do I get as many wins as Phil (Mickelson)? So we want to keep going out here. We're competitive."
To heck with just being competitive, though, Love still thinks he can hang with the best.
"It's a sense of pride," he said. "But there's a lot of money to play for. I've never won a FedExCup. I'd like to get back in the top in the world rankings. I'm still motivated."
Blixt driven
It's always fun to hear the stories of struggle before pro golfers make it big, to hear they were just like us before they started earning huge cheques.
Last week's winner, Jonas Blixt, who cashed in winnings of $900,000 at the Frys.com Open to bring his season total over the $2-million mark, was candid about his trials while on the Web.com Tour during his news conference Wednesday at this week's McGladrey Classic, much of it revolving around his car.
The 28-year-old Swede lived above a Florida family's garage, he said, and one time when he was away for five weeks, his landlord took his Ford Mustang to New York without telling him. Another time before a five-week absence, Blixt said, he forgot to roll up the car's windows, "so I'm still trying to get my car together."
Looks like he can afford a new one now.
tim.mckay@sunmedia.ca
On the tee
PGA Tour
McGladrey Classic
Sea Island Resort, Seaside Course (7,005 yards, par 70), St. Simons Island, Ga.
* Canadians David Hearn (108th on money list) and Stephen Ames (185th) in the field.
LPGA Tour
Hanabank Championship
Sky 72 Golf Club, Ocean Course (6,364 yards, par 72), Incheon, South Korea
* Michelle Wie and Tiger Woods' niece, Cheyenne Woods, playing on sponsor's exemptions
European Tour
Perth International
Lake Karrinyup Country Club (7,143 yards, par 72), Perth, Australia.
* Inaugural event on course where Ernie Els set Euro tour's scoring record in relation to par at 29-under in 2003.
