A place on the DP World Tour would supercharge the Canadian Open

The new PGA TOUR competitive platform is being confirmed week by week with new tournaments announced for both the Championship and Challenger Series, but it is clear that National Opens cannot feature in either series under the current proposals. So the Canadian Open needs a new home. Step forward Guy Kinnings and the DP World Tour.

Fairmont Banff Springs Jerry Bowley

The DP World Tour has built itself on playing the great national Opens of the world, as well as some great championships across the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and in 2027 the tour schedule will continue to prove this. The Capital.com Australian Open, AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, Magical Kenya Open presented by absa, Investec South African Open Championship, Hero Indian Open, Volvo China Open, Turkish Airlines Open, Soudal (Belgian) Open, Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol, KLM Dutch Open, DS Automobiles Open d’Italia, Genesis Scottish Open, Amgen Irish Open, FedEx Open de France, and Open de España presented by Madrid, will all feature on the calendar.

The English Open is set to return to the schedule in 2028, and the Open de Portugal is a fixture on the HotelPlanner Tour after a long run on the European Tour ended in 2010. The German Open was one of the most prestigious events in European golf, and ran from 1912 to 1999, and the BMW International Open has become the de-facto National Open of Germany, as has the Danish Golf Championship in Denmark.

National pride and identity has been key to the development of the DP World Tour, and no event on the PGA TOUR schedule would fit better on the DP World Tour than the Canadian Open.

The importance of National Opens have been discussed in the medio and by many of the world's top golfers in recent years, especially after Nick Taylor's dramatic victory in the Canadian Open in 2023, and Robert MacIntyre's triumph in the Genesis Scottish Open in 2024. Brian Rolapp teased the idea of a series of events globally in partnership with the DP World Tour, but details of that are very thin on the ground.

Plans for the PGA TOUR's new Championship Series call for no events around the Majors, so the Canadian Open could find itself continuing in a pre-US Open date, or potentially move back to the September date it held for many years at the start of the 21st century, including Tiger Woods' iconic win in 2000. The Canadian Open could be a spectacular way for the DP World Tour to kick-off a reimagined conclusion to the season, and join the British Masters, OMEGA European Masters, Amgen Irish Open, BMW PGA Championship, Open de France, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Open de Espana, Indian Open, Volvo China Open, Hong Kong Open, Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship, South African Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge, and DP World Tour Championship.

This would give the DP World Tour a mid-December finish to its season, and mean the calendar would be back to being a calendar-year schedule, which is always good for professional golf. The Abu Dhabi Championship could move back to its original January date, reforming the original Middle East Swing of Abu Dhabi Championship, Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters, giving the DP World Tour a big series of events before the PGA TOUR's Championship Series gets going in February.

How the Canadian Open could fit in a reimagined conclusion to the DP World Tour season

The DP World Tour's events, especially National Opens, have not been afraid to be staged at the world's greatest and most unique courses including Royal County Down, The Old Course, Kingsbarns, Carnoustie, Crans Sur Sierre, Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Delhi Golf Club, Sentosa Country Club, Hong Kong Golf Club, Taiheiyo Country Club, Emirates Golf Club, Dubai Creek, Sun City, Leopard Creek and Durban Country Club.

The Canadian Open, for far too long, has been just another PGA TOUR event. As part of the DP World Tour the event could head to the country's most iconic courses including Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Jasper Park, Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Cabot Cliffs, and Cabot Links, among others. Its current prize fund would be at the higher end of DP World Tour purses, putting it on a par with the 5 existing Rolex Series events, and even staging it with a reduced prize fund on a par with the Amgen Irish Open would not necessarily be a bad thing.

Staging the Canadian Open at Fairmont Banff Springs and Jasper Park would attract the interest of most of the world's best golfers, especially if it did not interfere with their commitments on the PGA TOUR. The Canadian Open's history and heritage would also make it an attractive proposition for many of the best golfers in the world, as would its proximity to the United States of America.

Moving the Canadian Open to the DP World Tour could also free the way for the PGA TOUR to stage a Championship Series event at TPC Toronto, maybe call it the RBC Championship? It would not surprise me at all.

SHANK, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association