Defending champion Riley Wheeldon returns to the site of his breakthrough 2013 win this week as he tees it up at the 2014 Syncrude Boreal Open in Fort McMurray, Alta.
The third stop on this year's PGA Tour Canada schedule runs June 16-22, with 156 players vying for $150,000, including $27,000 going to the winner.
Last year, Wheeldon earned his first PGA Tour Canada victory at the Syncrude Boreal Open. Several experts at PGA Tour Canada pick Wheeldon as their favourite to win, including Rick Young of SCORE Golf: "Though it's never easy to defend a title, Riley Wheeldon's good vibe from being back at Syncrude should do wonders for his confidence level as he seeks to climb up into the PGA Tour Canada race for one of the five Web.com promotions. Simply too good a player to be where he is right now. The Wheeldon ship gets righted this week in Alberta."
The Comox golfer goes into this week's tourney on a high note after finishing tied for second at the June 12-14 Vancouver Open. After an opening round 67, Wheeldon struggled on day two, shooting 73 for a two-day total of -4 and began the final round four shots off the pace.
Wheeldon reeled off five birdies on the first six holes and missed a four-footer on #9 that would have him shoot 30. This closed the gap to one on Michael Gligic, and birdies on #10 and #14 got Wheeldon to 11-under par, where he would finish for the tournament.
The sizzling 65 left him tied with Gligic and one shot back of winner Adam Cornelson. Gligic and Wheeldon took home cheques of $4,400 each for a share of second place.