Ellis wins twice on Canadian tour
He’s not on the PGA Tour yet
– emphasis on yet – but John Ellis is doing everything he can to
get there as quickly as possible, including picking up back-to-back
wins on the Canadian PGA Tour the past two weeks.
Ellis wins twice on Canadian tour
He’s not on the PGA Tour yet – emphasis on yet – but John Ellis is doing everything he can to get there as quickly as possible, including picking up back-to-back wins on the Canadian PGA Tour the past two weeks.
Ellis, who graduated from Live Oak High School in 1998, kicked the streak off with a win in the Stockton Sports Commission Classic and followed that up with a win in the Corona Mazatlan Mexican PGA Championship last week.
“When he won the first one, I said ‘hey this is incredible’ – but I expected it too,” said John’s father Dave Ellis from his San Jose home. “He has been working very, very hard at this and has been knocking at the door for a long, long time.”
Ellis earned $16,000 for winning the event in Stockton and then banked $20,000 more for his win in Mexico, where he birdied the final hole to edge past Canada’s Wes Hefferman by a stroke.
“I was excited for him but not surprised,” Ellis said. “When he won in Stockton, that was close to home but to go that far away and make a seven-footer to win, that was really something.”
In order to expand its schedule and avoid the inclement weather, the Canadian Tour has had recent stops in California and is now on its Mexico swing before returning to Canada on June 2.
In addition to the monetary rewards, the recent wins by Ellis should open the door to additional sponsorship and will make the path to the American PGA Tour a much easier one – if he keeps the momentum going Currently, Ellis is No. 1 on the Canadian PGA Tour money list with $38,800 in earnings. The Canadian Tour is considered one of the top Tours for preparing players to one day compete on the PGA Tour. It’s where former Masters champion Mike Weir got his start.
By finishing the season in the top two on the Canadian Tour money list Ellis will earn an automatic exemption to the Second Stage of the PGA Tour’s grueling, three-stage tournament. Exemption into the second stage also makes Ellis’ path to the Nationwide Tour, where purses are roughly five times that of the Canadian Tour, an easier one as well.
Since graduating high school, Ellis has played non-stop golf in pursuit of his dream. In addition to the recent wins Ellis has shown flashes of what may be to come. Last fall, the 28-year-old fired rounds of 66, 64, 72 to capture the Nevada Open and a $12,000 check against a strong field. At the Mexican PGA this past week he fired a 62 in the opening round to set the pace.
Last summer he played in 10 events on the Canadian PGA Tour where he picked up two second-place finishes and earned a third-place in the Tour’s prestigious season-ending championship. He also ended the season with a scoring average of 69.89 and earned more than $40,000 for his efforts.
Despite the success, there have been some letdowns. The most difficult being his failure to make it past the Second Stage of the PGA Tour’s Q-School tournament last fall, where he missed a spot in the final stage by a mere three strokes.
“If I made it into the finals, I would have either earned my PGA or Nationwide Tour card no matter where I finished,” said in an earlier interview. “That was tough. It was just one week. It’s frustrating, but at the same time it’s a process. Hopefully, if I keep at it, it will happen.”
It appears that it already has…
