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TSN Senior Reporter

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It never fails. Whenever the RBC Canadian Open rolls around, I get lots of fans who ask me the same two questions: when will the tournament get a better date and why can't we attract the big names?

The first one isn't that tough to answer: likely never. Of course it all depends on how you define "better." Realistically, due to weather, the Canadian event can only be held in a window that goes from say June to mid-September. So let's say that's a 15-week period. In that period, there are three majors and a WGC event.

So right away, you're down to 11 weeks.

If you don't want to be before or after a major, that eliminates five of those weeks (one has already been counted as it's a WGC). You're left with six.

Three more weeks in that time frame are currently taken up by FedEx Cup playoff events. Three weeks remain.

Oh and Jack's tournament, the Memorial, isn't moving so you have two weeks.

The only dates, then, that work are this week, which is the Quicken Loans hosted by Tiger Woods, and the week of the Greenbrier Classic. So should you just ask one of those tournaments to just get out of the way for the Canadian Open?

Also, if you look at the fields for both of those events, neither one would be better in terms of star-power from the lineup at Glen Abbey last week. The only significant difference would be that both tournaments did have Tiger Woods.

So if the thinking is that a better date would mean a deeper field, there's no evidence to support it. It's far better to rely on the deep pockets of sponsor RBC, which has the likes of Jason Day, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar and Ernie Els under contract.

Which leads to the second question about big names playing. While there is a PGA Tour rule that prevents paying appearance fees, it's easy to circumvent as RBC's strategy illustrates. Many tournaments do it, using different strategies, which means there can be a bidding war for the services of top players.

In the old days, when Imperial Tobacco sponsored the Canadian Open, it used to hold a pro-am on the Monday of Open week. Players were paid to play in that shoot-out and, oh while you're here, why not play the Canadian Open?

The point is that these days, if your tournament is on an inconvenient week at a course that may not appeal to all, then the only way to get players may be dollars.

Now next year will be an exceptionally difficult one for the national championship. Although not official, word is the schedule will go Open Championship - RBC Canadian Open - PGA Championship - Olympics. That may mean losing a few players although Jason Day, who will likely play for Australia in Rio, has already stated he will defend his title at the Abbey.

There is also talk that the PGA Tour might institute a rule requiring players to compete in every PGA Tour event once every four or five years. But that's been on-going for some time now and doesn't seem to have much in the way of traction despite it being a good idea.

So add all this up and it's easy to see the path taken by Golf Canada with the RBC Canadian Open is a solid one. Take the date you have and do the absolute best you can. Best in class, is the way Golf Canada's CEO Scott Simmons has referred to it.

Be happy with what you have, because it can always be a lot worse.