Stewart fires steady 6-under to take Scotia Wealth Open
David Stewart put on his Sundaybest, then tore up Nipawin’s Evergreen Golf Course in impressive fashion.
Stewart breezed through the course to capture this year’s Scotia Wealth Open by firing a final round of 5-under 67 on Sunday.
The Saskatoon golfer — a past provincial junior and amateur champion — finished the two-day tournament at 6-under (71-67— 138) to capture his first-ever Scotia Wealth Open, which was previously known as the RBC Nipawin Open, by three strokes.
Stewart prevailed in what tournament chair Dean Prosky called the “best field ever” for the annual Nipawin event. Clint Schiller, who spent some time on the PGA Tour Canada circuit, finished second at 3-under with a two-day score of 141 (679-72).
Former Saskatchewan Amateur champion Troy Bulmer placed third at even-par (76-68—144), followed by Ty Campbell (7570—145) and Kade Johnson (7273—145), who were tied for fourth.
Saskatoon’s Liam Courtney (75-72—147), who recently tried to qualify for PGA Tour Canada, and 2016 provincial amateur men’s champ Justin Wood (71-76—147) placed tied for sixth at 3-over.
Prince Albert’s Danny Klughart, a former Scotia Wealth Open champion, finished eighth at 4-over (72-76—148).
PGA Tour Canada kicked off its 2018 season with the Freedom 55 Financial Open in Vancouver, B.C., at the Point Grey Golf and Country Club.
Jordan Niebrugge won his first professional tournament by shooting rounds of 68-66-68-72 to win by two strokes. (Niebrugge played in the 2015 Open championship, where, as an amateur, he was able to beat Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler on his way to a tie for sixth.)
Last year, Niebrugge finished ninth overall in the year-end Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit standings.
Riley Wheeldon of Richmond, B.C., tied for 10th at Point Grey and claimed the first Canadian player of the week award for the season.
Next up is the Bayview Place DC Bank Open in Victoria, B.C., at the Uplands Golf Club, where former SIGA Dakota Dunes Open champion Max Rottluff is the defending champion.
Niebrugge elected to defer Monday ’s opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Open in order to prepare for the Web.com Tour’s Rust-oleum Championship this week in Illinois.
The PGA Tour has one more stop before the $12-million U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.
There are five Canadians in the field this week for the $6.6-million Fedex St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn., at TPC Southwind.
Canada will be represented by Nick Taylor, Ben Silverman, Mackenzie Hughes, David Hearn and Corey Conners.
Among the favourites are Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Daniel Berger, Henrik Stenson, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau and Billy Horschel.
The LPGA resumes this week with its Shoprite LPGA Classic at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Course in Galloway, N.J., where four Canucks will tee it up.
Brooke Henderson, who withdrew from the U.S. Open, will be joined by Anne-catherine Tanguay, Brittany Marchand and Maude-aimee Leblanc.
Last week, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugam won a playoff over Korea’s H.J. Kim to claim the U.S. Women’s Open at Shoal Creek.
Just who is Paul Broadhurst, you may wonder?
The 52-year-old Englishman currently leads the Champions Tour’s money list and Charles Schwab Cup standings. Broadhurst, who has four PGA Tour victories under his belt, has collected $921,099 on the senior tour this year.
That puts him ahead of perennial front-runner Bernhard Langer ($860,321) as well as Jerry Kelly ($824,263) and Steve Stricker ($806,235).
The Champions Tour continues this week with the $1.75-million Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.