Rod Spittle
Canadian Rod Spittle will return to play a full schedule on the 2015 Champions Tour.
The Niagara Falls, Ont. golfer needed a five-foot putt for par on the final hole to finish a solo fifth at the tour's qualifying school last Friday, grabbing one of the coveted fully exempt spots available. Spittle won the the Champion Tour's AT&T Championship back in 2010 but needed to go to q-school to secure his playing privileges after finishing 50th on the money list this past year.
Frank Esposito took medalist honours, winning by four strokes over Grant Waite. Jeff Coston and Jerry Smith also joined Spittle in grabbing one of the five tour cards available.
Two other Canadians managed to secure conditionally-exempt spots for 2015. Jim Rutledge of Victoria, B.C., who had managed to claim one of the five cards in each of the last few years, fell just short, finishing sixth after winning a playoff against John Riegger. Rick Gibson, who was born in Calgary but lives in the Phillipines after playing the majority of his career on the Asian Tour, finished 10th after making par on the first playoff hole against Cesar Monasterio.
Ken Tarling of Grimsby, Ont. finished tied for 48th while Calgary's Darryl James ended up tied for 66th.