CARDIGAN, Prince Edward Island—With the remnants of Hurricane Ida rolling through the Maritimes on Thursday, Callum Davison persevered to capture the Brudenell River Classic, capping the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s two-week stint on Prince Edward Island.

The Duncan, British Columbia, native shot a final-round of 3-under, 69 to finish the tournament at 15-under, one shot better than Golf Canada Amateur Team member Noah Steele.

“It feels great,” said Davison, the only player on Tour to employ the unorthodox cross-handed grip on full swings. “I hit it great off the tee all week, so that was huge. I’ve been struggling with that this season, and I just made some putts when I needed to.”

Steele, of Kingston, was looking for his second consecutive victory after winning the Osprey Valley Open at TPC Toronto two weeks ago. He finished with 4-under 68, just falling short of forcing a playoff.

“If you would have told me that 4-under par was what I would have signed for, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” said Steele. “I didn’t hit it amazing, but I just managed really well and just grinded away and stayed in it. So, I’m proud of that.”

It rained all day at Brudenell River Golf Course, intensifying on the back nine as the lead groups came down the stretch. The grounds crew employed squeegees on the last few greens as puddles began to form.

“After (No.) 12 it was terrible,” said Davison of the weather as he bogeyed two of his last three holes. “I was just trying to make contact. If you miss it, at least miss it in the right areas so you can at least try to make a par. By the time we got to 17, it was not really very playable. I’m just glad on 18 all I had to do was make a six (to force a playoff).”

“It was a mess, and just got progressively worse,” added Steele. “We got to start the day without really much (rain) at all, and it would start and stop, and then it just got progressively harder and harder. Those last four holes, you kind of lost it. You couldn’t keep anything dry anymore, clubs were slipping, and it was getting pretty messy.”

John Williams finished alone in third place, at 11-under, while four ended at 10-under, tied for fourth.

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada now heads to Saskatchewan for next week’s inaugural Elk Ridge Open.

Key Information

Points List Standings

Through Brudenell River Classic

• Blair Bursey just missed out on finishing in the top five for a fourth straight tournament. The Gander, Newfoundland, native and former Utah Valley University golfer shot a final round, 5-under 67 to tie for eighth. His 9-under total was one shot behind the four players who tied for fourth.
• Etienne Brault of Mercier, Quebec, recorded the low round of the day, shooting a 7-under 65, with five birdies and two eagles.
• Callum Davison and Noah Steele were the only two players to record three straight rounds in the 60s in this 54-hole event.
• With his second-place finish, Noah Steele took over first place on the Points List. He has 800 points, 172 points ahead of Brendan Leonard. Callum Davison jumped to No. 4 on the list with his victory, worth 500 points.
• Michael Blair, winner of the Prince Edward Island Open last week and second on the Points List, tied for 10th, at 8-under after shooting a 1-over round of 73.
• Sixteen players shot under-par in the final round, with nine players shooting in the 60s.
• The top-five players on the final Points List will earn 2022 PGA TOUR Canada membership. First place on the Points List will receive fully exempt status for the 2022 PGA TOUR Canada season, while those in the second-through-fifth positions will earn exempt status up until the first reshuffle based on player performance.

Quotable

“The birdie putt I made on 15 was big because I thought that would give myself a little bit of a bigger lead coming in on the last three.” –Callum Davison

“I would have picked up my ball if I was playing for fun.” –Callum Davison on the heavy rainfall in the final round

 “I was struggling on the Forme Tour and was going to lose my card anyway. I was just going to play one event up here, but since they were so close together and I was already here, I decided to play the second one.” –Callum Davison

“Now my goal is to make the top five on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada.” –Callum Davison

“I proved a lot to myself in Toronto, so just coming out here for a new week and a clean slate, I just wanted to continue that play the best that I could. There’s a lot to gain from the last two tournaments for sure.” –Noah Steele on his first and second place finishes in two starts

 Final-Round Weather:

Rain throughout the day, heavy downpours during the final hour of play. High of 22. Wind NE at 9 kph. Gusts in the afternoon reached 19 kph.