Blair Bursey, with a two-stroke lead heading into today鈥檚 final round at Uplands, is on the verge of joining some heady company.
The top two finishers from the last Victoria Open pre- pandemic in 2019, winner Paul Barjon and runner-up Doc Redman, are both now on the PGA Tour.
There鈥檚 nothing unusual about that. Future PGA players from Steve Stricker to Tony Finau to Mackenzie Hughes have come through the Victoria tournament since 1981.
If he does hold on in the 2021 Reliance Properties DCBank Open presented by the sa国际传媒, Newfoundlander 颅Bursey will do so knowing it鈥檚 just sports.
Bursey, who played NCAA Div. 1 at Utah Valley University for the Wolverines, survived a life-threatening health scare in his rookie pro season of 2018 after a bowel knot went septic and required emergency surgery. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a clich茅, but it gives you a sense of perspective and orders the right priorities,鈥� said the Gander native.
鈥淚 try to flip it around and use it as a positive. I鈥檓 grateful every day and feel I got a second chance at life.鈥�
Bursey is 11-under 199 after three rounds, two shots ahead of 17-year-old Victoria amateur Jeevan Sihota and Andrew Harrison of Camrose, Alta., in the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒 event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to see the big crowds at this event,鈥� Bursey said of the gallery following the hometown Sihota, whose NCAA Div. 1 offers are piling up.
Sihota commended the gallery, too.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 describe it. It was awesome,鈥� said the Grade 12 online schooling student.
Sihota was shooting par before a late run pulled him back to nine-under after three rounds.
鈥淚 stayed very patient,鈥� he said.
Bursey, meanwhile, kept his lead and saved his round with some gutty recoveries.
鈥淚 was out of position a lot. It was scrambly, but I am proud of how I held in there,鈥� he said.
Harrison, who played for the UBC Thunderbirds, is also in the hunt.
鈥淚鈥檒l try to find the right tempo and not get ahead of myself,鈥� said Harrison, the 2019 Alberta Open champion.
鈥淚鈥檓 comfortable on these greens. I was putting well. I hit a lot of putts and a few I shouldn鈥檛 have.鈥�
Forced by the pandemic, this is the second to latest date the Victoria Open has been held since its inception in 1981 and the latest since Craig Stadler won in October of 1984 at Uplands.
The tournament will revert to its regular first-week-of-June time slot in 2022. The prize purse this week is $100,000. It will return to its normal $200,000 level next year.
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒 leads to the Korn Ferry Tour, which leads to the PGA Tour.
The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒 since 2013 has produced 56 PGA Tour players, who have won 11 PGA tournaments, and more than 300 players for the Korn Ferry Tour, who have produced 47 victories at that Tour level.
