T
wo of the best indicators of a quality golf championship are longevity and the
caliber of champion it produces. The PGA Championship of Canada has scored
high in both categories.
Like many of the great championships of today, the PGA Championship of Cana-
da (formerly the CPGA Championship) had a humble beginning. The inaugural event
took place in 1912, just one year after a small group of professionals, led by George
Cumming, founded the Professional Golfers' Association of Canada at the Royal Ot-
tawa Golf Club. Royal Montreal Head Professional C.R. Murray captured the very first
PGA Championship of Canada at the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club, just outside
of Toronto.
Year after year, Canada's premier golfers continued to add their names to the list of
champions. Al Balding won the event four times from 1955 to 1970. Moe Norman col-
lected a pair of PGA Championship crowns in 1966 and 1974, both at the Willow Park
Golf & Country Club in Calgary. The last golfer to dominate the PGA Championship
was voted the PGA of Canada Golfer of the Century by his peers-George Knudson
won this tournament five times from 1964 to 1977.
The last 30 years have produced a variety of champions including top Canadians
like Jon Mills, Richard Zokol, Jim Rutledge, Dave Barr, Dan Halldorson, Rick Gibson and
Ashley Chinner. The PGA Championship of Canada has also crowned many interna-
tional stars as well, including the likes of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd
and Steve Stricker.
