WINDSOR, Ontario – With his first career victory on PGA TOUR Canada in the bank, Davis Shore will continue his pursuit of greener pastures this week when the Windsor Championship returns to the picturesque Ambassador Golf Club for the first time since 2019.

“This is my first time in Windsor, but it seems like a really cool place,” Shore said. “The course is in great condition. It’s just about perfect. The fairways are great and the greens are rolling really, really pure. So it should be a fun week.”

Shore won last week’s Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos CBM Aggregates in Toronto by one shot and improved to No. 6 on the Fortinet Cup standings. Shore, a Knoxville-native who played at the University of Alabama, hopes to build on the success that Tennesseeans have had in Windsor, with Brentwood, Tennessee’s Dawson Armstrong hoisting the Windsor Championship trophy the last time the tournament was contested four years ago.

A strong showing in Windsor from last week’s Champion will go a long way in solidifying Shore’s place in the season-long Fortinet Cup points list that awards the top five finishers at the end of the season with 2024 Korn Ferry Tour cards.

“To make that top five is not an easy thing to do,” Shore said. “We still have a lot of points to earn to get in that top five, but this is just huge to be in my position. It kind of gets the monkey off your back a little, so to speak. I feel like now I can just go play.”

Shore got a taste of success earlier this year on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, where he had three top-10s, was runner-up at the JHSF Aberto do Brasil and finished 13th on the Totalplay Cup points list. He began his PGA TOUR Canada season two weeks ago at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open, but the victory last week was enough to elevate him 94 spots on the Fortinet Cup list.

Shore knows very well the struggle of a season-long points race. His roommate on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica was Walker Lee, who picked up a win and finished third on the Totalplay Cup points list to secure conditional membership on the Korn Ferry Tour. Shore wants to follow his buddy’s blueprint.

“He had a win and I watched – even with a win – how hard he had to play at the end to still maintain his top-five position,” Shore said. “Just watching that and knowing that, I think is going to help for the rest of the season.”

The difference last week for Shore came on the greens. He began to make some of the putts that had not been falling all season.

“I think I had my best putting round of the year in the second round on Friday,” he said. “That’s been something I’ve been struggling with a little bit this season on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. It was something I’ve worked really hard on of late and to see it pay off, like it did on Friday, gave me a lot of confidence heading into the weekend.”

The win was especially sweet for Shore. He overcame plenty of physical problems while at Alabama – a hip impingement, a torn labrum that required corrective surgery and a fractured L3 vertebrae – which kept him from playing golf for nearly an entire season in college.

Canadian Myles Creighton of Digby, Nova Scotia, also guaranteed conditional membership on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour by placing second on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Totalplay Cup points list. He opted to compete on PGA TOUR Canada in order to keep his game sharp. He finished one shot behind Shore last week at Osprey Valley.

“I’m used to playing both tours,” Creighton said. “This is the first time I’ve locked up Korn Ferry status. That doesn’t start until January, so I’m trying to find stuff to do until that happens. I’d like to win a couple times and win the money list, but I’d have to finish first on the points list to better my status. It’s strange, I’m trying to figure out what to do with all my time. I’m not a good at just sitting around, so I figured I’d come up here and play a couple tournaments … just stay sharp.”

For Windsor Championship Tournament Director Adam Wagner, the return of PGA TOUR Canada to the city of Windsor is a long time coming and has created a buzz around the city from both players and fans alike.

“The tour keeps coming back. They love the golf course. They love the structure that we have. They love the city,” said Wagner.

In the previous two playings of the Windsor Championship in 2018 and 2019, both held at Ambassador Golf Club, the tournament raised over $215,000 for local charities within the Windsor and Essex County area.

The Ambassador Golf Club was designed by architect Thomas McBroom, who has crafted exceptional courses around the world. The course opened its doors in 2005 and is a public course. It was nominated for “Best New Course” in Canada by Golf Digest and Ontario Golf Magazine. It has twice been ranked No. 1 in “Best Value” in Canada. The course will play 7,033 yards to par 71 this week.

Key Information

Davis Lamb, the only two-time winner on PGA TOUR Canada this season, remains No. 1 on the Fortinet Cup standings. Lamb has a 388-point lead over John Pak, who has one victory and two top-10s. Canadian Etienne Papineau, who won the season-opening Royal Beach Victoria Open, remains in third place. Chris Korte, who began the season without any substantial status, has played his way into the No. 4 spot and Canadian Stuart Macdonald, who has one win, is in fifth place. The top five players earn conditional status on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour.

Dawson Armstrong won the Windsor Championship in 2019, the last time it was contested. He broke out of the pack on Sunday afternoon – there were 24 players within four shots of the lead to start the final day -- and earned his first professional victory. Armstrong is playing the Korn Ferry Tour this season and has a pair of top-25 finishes.

Shawn Tipton shot 6-under 64 to win the open qualifier at Roseland Golf and Curling Club on Monday. The 37-year-old veteran professional will be making his second career start on PGA TOUR Canada. Michael Slesinski shot 65 and will be making his second start of the season; he finished 65th at the season-opening Royal Beach Victoria Open. The other six qualifying spots went to Zack Mason, Michael Sakane, Ethan Cairns, Van Holmgren, Ian Martin and Cristian DiMarco.

The only player with five top-10 finishes is Sam Choi, who earned his way on PGA TOUR Canada through PGA TOUR University. After finishing no worse than a tie for sixth in his first five events, Choi tied for 54th last week at Osprey Valley. In 24 competitive rounds this season, Choi has 19 rounds in the 60s. His high score of the year is a 74.

Among the players who received a sponsor exemption were Canadians Andrew Harrison, Drew Nesbitt, Max Sekulic, Brendan Seys, Ty Campbell and Thomas DeMarco.

Quotable

“The line between us and the guys on the PGA TOUR is so thin. One shot a round is basically the difference. You’ve got to find every little area where you can get a little bit better.” – Davis Shore

“My goal is to compete as well as I can. I don’t want to be one of those guys that says he’s going to win it or wants to win it, but I do want to make the cut.” – Thomas DeMarco

Tournament Rundown

Dates: August 3-6, 2023

Tournament Name: Windsor Championship, the seventh of 10 official Fortinet Cup events

Social Media: Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @PGATOURCanada and @YQGChampionship

Hashtags: #FortinetCup

Host Course: Ambassador Golf Club

Par/Yardage: 71 (36-35), 7,033

Field: 156 players from 9 countries and territories

Countries: Argentina (2), Australia (3), Canada (34), England (2), France (1), Japan (2), Mexico (2), Switzerland (1), United States (109)

Fortinet Cup Points: Winner earns 500

Purse: $200,000, with the winner earning $36,000

Cut: Top-60 professionals, and ties, after 36 holes plus any amateurs inside the top-60

Benefiting Charity: Transition to Betterness (T2B) is a local Windsor charity that has had the opportunity to grow in Windsor-Essex County for over two decades with 20+ on-going programs that support patients and families in our local hospitals and healthcare facilities.

PGA TOUR Americas: Following the completion of the 2023 PGA TOUR Canada season, the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada will merge into a singular Tour to form PGA TOUR Americas, which will begin play in February 2024. PGA TOUR Americas will consist of 16 events contested across Latin America, Canada and the United States, from February through September. The top-10 finishers on the season-long points list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the following season.

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 $100,000 player bonus pool—with $25,000 to the winner—to the top Fortinet Cup points-winners. The top Fortinet Cup points-earner gains membership to the full 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, while the second-through-fifth finishers earn conditional 2024 membership. All top-five finishers are also exempt into the final stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, and those finishing sixth through 25th are exempt into the second stage. In addition, the Fortinet Cup winner will also receive an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2023 Fortinet Championship in California. Finally, the top-60 players on the points list will earn membership on the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas through the Latin American swing.