WINNIPEG, Manitoba—Winnipeg Jets alternate captain Mark Scheifele, a two-time NHL All-Star with 230 career goals to his credit, also enjoys swinging other sticks. He’s the honorary chairman of this week’s PGA TOUR Canada event and is playing in the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open via a sponsor’s exemption.

Scheifele has done this before. As a 10-handicap player in 2018, the former first-round draft pick of the Jets shot rounds of 86 and 87, also on a sponsor’s exemption. As he prepares for his second appearance in the tournament, Scheifele told NHL.com that he’s “definitely improved a lot” since then.

Even so, there’s a level of anxiety.

“I’m definitely still going to be nervous. I’m probably still going to black out on the first tee and spray one right,” Scheifele said to NHL.com. “It'll be one of those really fun experiences I get to do again.”

His PGA TOUR Canada debut, he acknowledged, served as motivation.

“Ever since playing in this tournament and seeing how good these guys are, I’ve had a new love and appreciation for the game,” said Scheifele, who raved at a press conference about what good shape Southwood Golf and Country Club is in. He also praised the club in getting ready to host the tournament. Compounding issues was the 1.5 inches of rain that fell Monday night-Tuesday morning. By mid-morning Tuesday, though, the course had drained and there was no evidence of the severe thunderstorm that rolled through the area.

After taking a scheduled break last week, PGA TOUR Canada is back for its final stretch of the season. Just three regular season events remain before the Fortinet Cup Championship from September 15-18, in Kitchener, Ontario.

Through six tournaments (bad weather forced the cancellation of the Elk Ridge Open), there are no two-time winners. As such, the Fortinet Cup standings are tight and loaded with storylines.

For starters, points leader Danny Walker failed to make the cut two weeks ago in Quebec. How will the Osprey Valley Open champion respond as those chasing him narrowed the gap? Walker will play the first two rounds of the CentrePoint Canada Rail Point Manitoba Open with a pair of Frenchmen—Guillaume Fanonnel and Alex Fuchs. Another question involves the wire-to-wire winners of the past two tournaments. Quebec Open champ Ryan Gerard has the hottest hand, leading after each round on his way to victory. That was something Noah Goodwin did the week before, in Tottenham, Ontario. Goodwin withdrew from the Quebec Open because of injury after one round and is in this week’s field, ready for action.

Because of the 500 points awarded for first-place finishes, the top-six golfers in the standings have all prevailed at an event and are within 200 points of Walker’s 720 total points. Wil Bateman (ATB Classic), Brian Carlson (Prince Edward Island Open) and Scott Stevens (Royal Beach Victoria Open) rank second, third and fifth, respectively. Gerard is fourth and Goodwin is sixth. Of the top-50 players on the Fortinet Cup standings, only Joey Vrzich (No. 34) is absent this week.

The Fortinet Cup points winner receives (Canadian) $25,000. In addition, 2023 Korn Ferry Tour membership is also up for grabs to the top-five points-list finishers. The overall points champion wins the Fortinet Cup as the Tour’s Player of the Year and will be exempt into the PGA TOUR’s 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

The CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open tees off Thursday and concludes Sunday.

The Rundown

DATES: August 18-21, 2022

OFFICIAL NAME: CenterPoint Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open

HASHTAGS: #FortinetCup

SCHEDULE: Eighth of 11 official events of the 2022 PGA TOUR Canada season

VENUE: Southwood Golf and Country Club

PAR/YARDS: 72 (36-36), 7,311 yards

POINTS LIST: Winner earns 500 points

PURSE MONEY: (Canadian) $200,000 (winner claims Canadian $36,000)

CUT: Top 60 professional (and ties, plus any amateurs inside the top-60)

FORTINET CUP: The season-long points chase mirrors the competitive structure of the points-based competitions on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Through the sponsorship, the Fortinet Cup offers a new $100,000 player bonus pool—with $25,000 to the winner—to the top Fortinet Cup points-winners. The top-five Fortinet Cup points-earners gain membership to the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour, while Korn Ferry Tour benefits are available to those finishing sixth through 10th. In addition, the Fortinet Cup winner will also be exempt into the PGA TOUR’s 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

Fortinet Cup Standings

TITLE SPONSOR: CenterPoint Canada Rail Park

BENEFITING CHARITIES: True North Youth Foundation’s Project 11, Camp Manitou

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Thursday, August 18 First Round

Friday, August 19 Second Round

Saturday, August 20 Third Round

Sunday, August 21 Final Round

FIELD OVERVIEW:

SIZE: 156 players

COUNTRY AND TERRITORIES BREAKDOWN: Australia (3), Canada (37), China (4), Chinese Taipei (1), Colombia (1), England (2), France (2), Germany (2), Hong Kong (1), Mexico (1), Switzerland (1), Thailand (1), United States (99), Zimbabwe (1).

LAST PGA TOUR CANADA TOURNAMENT: Ryan Gerard became the second consecutive player to go wire to wire (following NoahGoodwin) to win. Gerard, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina, captured the Quebec Open two weeks ago.

OPEN-QUALIFYING: Earlier this week, the tournament conducted a Monday qualifier, with eight playing spots available for the best-performing players in the 18-hole event. The following qualified.

* Qualified via playoff

GOLF COURSE: Southwood Golf and Country Club

PGA TOUR CANADA ALUMNI: With recent back-to-back PGA TOUR wins, 2013 graduate Tony Finau has improved to No. 13 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest-ranked current former PGA TOUR Canada player. Since the Tour’s inaugural season of 2013, more than 250 players have graduated to the Korn Ferry Tour, with 46 players accounting for 52 wins. From there, 54 players have moved on to the PGA TOUR, with 14 players accounting for 18 wins. They are Finau, CoreyConners, MackenzieHughes, JoelDahmen, J.J. Spaun, NickTaylor, C.T. Pan, TalorGooch, AdamLong, AaronWise, CamDavis, RyanBrehm, ChadRamey and SeppStraka. There are currently 10 Canadians on the PGA TOUR.