Four others earn 2022 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada status;
those in positions 6-10 earn one tournament start each in 2022
VICTORIA, B.C. – Even though he got a late start on the 2021 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season, Callum Davison made up for lost time by playing consistent, sometimes dominant, golf in his five Tour starts. Including his ninth-place finish at the season finale, the Reliance Properties DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist, Davis finished with 1,244.19 points to outdistance No. 2 Blair Bursey by 193.19 points to capture the Points List title and Player of the Year honors. Bursey began the week outside the top five, at No. 6, and mathematically couldn’t catch Davison, but he left little doubt about his status with his one-shot victory Sunday.
Davison will be exempt for every tournament on the 2022 Mackenzie Tour. In addition, as the Player of the Year, he received an invitation to play in the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, an offer also extended to Forme Tour Player of the Year Trevor Werbylo.
After Davison and Bursey, the third-, fourth- and fifth-place Points List finishers were, respectively, amateur Noah Steele, Brendan Leonard and Michael Blair. All five players earned ceremonial hockey jerseys along with their 2022 Mackenzie Tour membership cards following the end of play Sunday at Uplands Golf Club. They will all be exempt on the 2021 Mackenzie Tour for part of the season and possess the ability to maintain status based on their early season performance.
Davison, of Duncan, British Columbia, began the season playing on the U.S.-based Forme Tour after he was the medalist at that Tour’s Qualifying Tournament in suburban Tacoma, Washington. Toward the end of that campaign, in what was a disappointing season, Davison
elected to return to Canada to play the Mackenzie Tour. He immediately put his stamp on the Tour, winning the Brudenell River Classic on Prince Edward Island in his debut. He added a second win, last week in Kelowna, British Columbia, capturing the GolfBC Championship. Davison didn’t miss a cut in his five starts, and his worst finish was a tie for 19th at the Elk Ridge Open.
“It’s huge. Coming off a pretty bad season, turning it around by going back to Canada and playing how I think I can play and what I’ve worked for has paid off a little,” said Davison, who hits full shots cross-handed. “I can’t wait for the next season.”
“We had a great year, and we saw our Points List battle come down to the final day. Callum was so impressive despite missing the first three tournaments,” said Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Executive Director Scott Pritchard. “The minute he arrived on the Tour, Callum proved his game with his victory in Prince Edward Island. The fact he backed up that win with another title, last week in Kelowna, proved that he had separated himself as the Tour’s best player this year. We congratulate Callum on what he’s been able to accomplish, and we very much look forward to watching his game progress on the Mackenzie Tour in 2022.”
The players who finished in the sixth-through-10th positions on the final Points List will each receive one playing opportunity via sponsor’s exemptions on the 2022 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. The five Mackenzie Tour players receiving those benefits are Andrew Harrison (No. 6), Sebastian Szirmak (No. 7), Raoul Menard (No. 8), Yi Cao (No. 9) and Jared du Toit (No. 10).
Pritchard anticipates the 2022 Mackenzie Tour season will begin in late-May, early June, the full schedule of tournaments still to be announced.
The Mackenzie Tour began in 2013, with the Tour providing players a path to the Korn Ferry Tour. In 2020, the global pandemic forced the Tour to cancel its season, and issues at the Canada-U.S. border, again caused by COVID-19, turned this year’s Mackenzie Tour into a Tour for players already living in Canada.
Final 2021 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Points List Top 10
2022 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Members Via Top-Five Points List Finish
Callum Davison this Season
In his first Mackenzie Tour start, Davison shot rounds of 68-64-69 to win the 54-hole Brudenell River Classic. That 8-under 64 represented his low round of the season. He also shot a 64 Sunday at the season-ending Reliance Properties DCBank Open, a 6-under score. That ninth-place performance was his fourth top-10 of the season, to go with his tie for 10th at the ATB Financial Classic and his win at the Golf BC Championship, a tournament where Davison shot three 68s and a second-round 66 to hold on to win by two strokes.
Blair Bursey this Season
He seemingly finished in the top 10 every week and finally broke through with that elusive win at the final tournament of the season, the Reliance Properties DCBank Open in Victoria. In his seven tournament appearances, Bursey made every cut, finished in the top 10 in his first four events—three of those finishing in the top five—and broke through with the victory.
Noah Steele this Season
In six tournaments, Steele established himself as not merely the best amateur—which he clearly was—but also one of the best players. The Sam Houston State alum won the second tournament of the campaign, the Osprey Valley Open, with opening and closing 66s at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. He was the picture of consistency all season, with a runner-up showing at the Brudenell River Classic and top-15 showings at the ATB Financial Classic, the GolfBC Championship and the Reliance Properties DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist to go with his win.
Brendan Leonard this Season
He won the season-opening tournament, the Mackenzie Investments Open outside Montreal, and picked up two more top-10 finishes in a solid, consistent season that saw him miss only one cut. Leonard did enough in the final week to remain securely inside the top five, thanks to additional top-10s—at the Elk Ridge Open (tied for seventh) and the Golf BC Championship (third) and a tie for 13th at the Reliance Properties DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist.
Michael Blair this Season
He got off to a bit of a slow start, tying for 20th and tying for 47th in his first two starts—at the Mackenzie Investments Open and the Osprey Valley Open, respectively. He broke through, winning the Prince Edward Island Open on the strength of a blistering start that saw him get to 9-under with 18 holes to play. Despite an even-par showing in his final two rounds, Blair finished regulation tied with Maxwell Sear then defeated Sear in a sudden-death playoff. In total, Blair made the cut in all six of his 2021 tournament appearances.
About the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada
The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada is a series of tournaments played across Canada each summer, where tomorrow’s stars begin the path to the PGA TOUR. In 2021, because of
restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border, the Mackenzie Tour is for players based in Canada. The Mackenzie Tour’s mission is to deliver a PGA TOUR experience for its members, fans, volunteers and partners in order to develop the future stars of professional golf and enrich the communities it visits