TORONTO - Golf Canada announced Friday that three players with Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada backgrounds will be granted exemptions into the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, taking place June 3-9 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario.

In the past, exemptions have been given to the top-three players on the Mackenzie Tour Order of Merit following the event preceding the RBC Canadian Open. With the tournament scheduled for the week following the second event on the Mackenzie Tour schedule, exemptions will be given to the following players:

1) The winner of the 2019 Canada Life Open.

2) The winner of the 2019 Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist.

3) The top player on the Web.com Tour Points List following the Evans Scholar Invitational who played at least six Mackenzie Tour events in 2018 or finished in the top 60 on the 2018 Order of Merit.

“We greatly appreciate Golf Canada and its continued support of the Mackenzie Tour,” said Mackenzie Tour Vice President, Scott Pritchard. “We give its players an opportunity to compete at each event and Golf Canada continues to give our players a chance to compete in the RBC Canadian Open.

“It will be special for the winners of the first two Mackenzie Tour events to know they’ll have an opportunity to compete on the game’s greatest stage,” continued Pritchard. “Because of the date change with the RBC Canadian Open, we felt the spot given to the top alumni on the Web.com Tour would continue to reinforce that the Mackenzie Tour is part of the pathway to the PGA TOUR.”

Since the PGA TOUR assumed ownership of the Mackenzie Tour in 2013, Mackenzie Tour players who have earned spots in the RBC Canadian Open have demonstrated they can compete on the PGA TOUR. That experience has played a role in their journeys toward earning PGA TOUR status.

In 2018, two of the three players given exemptions made the cut, with George Cunningham tying for 29th in his PGA TOUR debut. Zach Wright closed the tournament with a 7-under par 30 on his final nine holes to finish tied for 50th.