Tom Stankowski won the season-ending Canadian Tour Championship yesterday by two strokes for his first career victory on the developmental circuit.
The 45-year-old American, the older brother of PGA Tour regular Paul Stankowski, shot three-under-par 69 at the National Pines Golf Club in Innisfil, Ont., to reach 16-under 272.
His first prize of $37,600 is the Canadian Tour's richest offering of the year.
"This feels great," Stankowski told cantour.com. "I proved to myself that I can win at this level and it means a lot to me to come out here and beat some great players."
Stankowski had just one other top-10 finish this year, making the cut in eight of 14 starts.
" I started off the year really slowly and was having trouble making cuts out here," he said. "I felt pretty good coming in here, but I didn't really expect to win."
But the bigger winners yesterday were American John Ellis and Canadian Wes Heffernan.
Ellis, who tied for fourth-place yesterday, secured the top spot on the money list with $113,315 in winnings this season and was named the tour's player of the year.
Ellis won three times this season and finished in the top 10 in 11 of his 12 starts. Only Ken Duke, in 1999, won more than Ellis in a single season.
Heffernan tied for second place yesterday with Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., at 14 under and held on to second spot on the money list.
As the top two money winners, Ellis and Heffernan get to bypass the gruelling first stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying tournament, Q-school, this coming fall.
Should they graduate from the second stage to the final stage, they would be almost assured of climbing the professional golf ladder to either the Nationwide Tour or the PGA Tour.
CANTOUR MONEY MEN
Here's a look at the Canadian Tour's biggest money winners since 1999, when Ken Duke won a record $122,188.
2008 John Ellis, United States, $113,315.
2007 Byron Smith, United States, $91,202.
2006 Stephen Gangluff, United States, $67,336.
2005 Michael Harris, United States, $95,622.
2004 Erik Compton, United States, $85,876.
2003 Jon Mills, Belleville, Ont., $55,321.
2002 Hank Kuehne, United States, $105,959.
2001 Aaron Barber, United States, $75,337.
2000 Steven Alker, New Zealand, $93,617.
1999 Ken Duke, United States, $122,188.
When I get to the PGA Tour, I am going to look back on this season and say that it was a real stepping stone in my development. I felt like I climbed over a big hill this year and that the PGA Tour is right there. John Ellis, a 28-year-old American who tied for fourth at the Canadian Tour Championship yesterday and locked up the season money list title.