Courtesy: AP

History was made at the Canadian Open yesterday during final round action.

Jim Furyk leaped past Vijay Singh with an ace on the par-3 4th hole and rode a string of birdies to victory.

Furyk defended his title and became the first back to back winner in 56 years (Jim Ferrier did it last, way back in 1950-51, when I was still in diapers).

And it's a good thing there was some history at this tournament. At least at this golf course. Because the Canadian Open won't be coming back to Angus Glen for a long, long time.

Throughout the week, the players were unsure about Angus Glen North, a Doug Carrick design from the early 1990s when Carrick was designing with wide fairways.

The pros simply found the course too easy. Even Davis Love's vaunted changes for which the Royal Canadian Golf Association paid a great deal of money, didn't deter the players from shooting low numbers.

The rough was thick, sure, but for two days the greens were very receptive. When the greens began to dry out and the wind blew with some energy (once - on Friday), scores rose.

I noticed while walking the course yesterday morning that the rough along the 9th fairway that had swallowed Gavin Cole's ball completely on Thursday morning, allowed Joey Sindelar's ball to sit up nicely.

In other words, the rough had been cut down. Pin placements were in very tricky positions on Sunday however, but even with that, there were plenty of final round scores in the mid 60s; Furyk himself shot 64.

But history was made and two of the top ten players in the world (the only two at the tournament) finished one-two on Sunday.

So be it. It is a shame, though, that in recent years, the Canadian Open has been a tournament where journeymen come out on top more than not. That's great for their careers and confidence but it's also indicative that the Canadian Open, the third oldest tournament in golf, just doesn't have the right stuff anymore.

What to do? I think some of the finest Canadian Opens were staged at Glen Abbey, the Nicklaus-designed course outside Toronto that was owned by the RCGA for many years.

The course was created to be a championship layout from the start. Now it resides in the hands of a corporate golf company, ClubLink.

Glen Abbey will host again next year, but its role now is that of any other corporate public course.

I believe the RCGA needs to develop and own several courses across the country that are capable of testing the best of the best in the world and that are primarily designed to host the Canadian Open, first and foremost.

This way, the Open can be cycled across Canada allowing golf fans in different parts of the country to come out and watch.

It will also recreate a tournament that once attracted the top names in the game and re-establish the Canadian Open as a must-play, must-win event in the world of golf.

It's hard to recall that the golf world regarded the Canadian Open as an unofficial "major" not that many years ago.

It's high time it regarded the Open that way again.