INNISFIL, Ont. – Tom Stankowski carded a final round 69 to capture the Canadian Tour Championship by two strokes over Wes Heffernan and Graham DeLaet.

Stankowski birdied the final hole to finish the tournament at 16 under par 272 and earned $37,600 along with his first Canadian Tour title.

With his third runner-up of the season to go along with a win at Winnipeg, Wes Heffernan finishes the season second on the Order of Merit with $96,154 and the Calgary native also earned a free pass into second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School.

Steve Friesen closed with a 68 to share fourth spot at 11 under par 277 with John Ellis who finished with an even par 72.

With his T-4 finish, Ellis ended the season on top of the Order of Merit with $113,315 and also earned the Rolex Player of the Year Award and an exemption into the second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School.

Barrett Jarosch closed with a 69 to finish T-6 at 279 with Dale Vallely who shot 70, while Dustin Risdon (73) and Daniel Im (77) finished T-8 at seven under par 281.

Stankowski, playing steady golf all afternoon, took a two stroke lead into the back nine and although Ellis and Heffernan briefly caught him, the Santa Barbara, Calif., native never lost the lead all day.

“This feels great,” said Stankowski. “I proved to myself that I can win at this level and it means a lot to me to come out here and beat some great players.”

“I started off the year really slow and was having trouble making cuts out here. I felt pretty good coming in here but I didn’t really expect to win.

“I was playing with Wes and was able to keep one eye on him all day. I saw John Ellis coming up the leaderboard and I just kept going.

“Coming down the stretch, I was playing well and hit a nice 6-iron into No. 17 to make birdie there. I hit it close but there are no easy putts at that point in a tournament.”

Stankowski ended it in style with a 15-foot birdie at the final hole to seal the two shot win and raised his arms in triumph when the ball found the bottom of the cup.

“I guess sinking those two birdies at the last holes and winning was all meant to be,” he concluded.

“I think all the rain at the start of today kind of affected everyone’s emotions,” said Heffernan, who earned an additional $7,500 for winning the Canadian Division of the Tour Bursary.

“It was brutal at the start with the wind, cold and rain.

“I felt like I had too many layers on and wasn’t swinging very well. I didn’t start off very well and was two over at the turn.

“As the weather got warmer, I took some layers off and started hitting the ball better.

“I made a terrible bogey at No. 7, which is an easy hole. Those are the kind of things that you can’t do on a Sunday, but I think I fought back well.

“I made those birdies at ten through twelve and got back in the tournament, but I couldn’t make the birdies coming in.

“My hat is off to Tom. You always want to see a guy take control of a tournament and that is what he did by those birdies at the last two holes."

Although he finished fourth, Ellis will have nothing but sweet memories of his 2008 season.

He had it to three under on his day through ten holes but played the final eight holes in three over to lose the victory scent.

“This is pretty special,” said Ellis, when asked to encapsulate his season.

“I didn’t play my best golf down the stretch but I figured I had to finish third or better to take the money crown.

"I felt like I was playing for third; not to win a golf tournament, which was very poor of me.”

“I got myself in the tournament for a while but then I started thinking about what Wes was doing and I sort of fell apart with a few bogeys.

"There were too many sidetracks on my mind, I guess.

“When I got to No. 17, I tried to put away what everyone else was doing and focused on winning the golf tournament.”

Ellis, however, three-putted the hole, effectively ending his day.

“To finish fourth here is a real testament to how I played all year,” continued Ellis, who also took home an additional $7,500 for winning the International Division of the Canadian Tour Bursary.

“It is pretty special to put my name alongside some of the best players in the world who have been Canadian Tour Player of the Year.

“When I get to the PGA TOUR, I am going to look back on this season and say that it was a real stepping-stone in my development. I felt like I climbed over a big hill this year and that the PGA TOUR is right there.”

TOP TEN FINAL ORDER OF MERIT

RANK/PLAYER	EVENTS	EARNINGS
1  John Ellis	12	$113,315.00
2  Wes Heffernan	14	$96,154.11
3  Daniel Im	10	$82,954.17
4  Graham DeLaet	12	$66,065.83
5  George Bradford	15	$62,405.06
6  Dustin Risdon	13	$60,406.25
7  Tom Stankowski	14	$50,517.50
8  Adam Bland	14	$47,225.30
9  Andrew Parr	12	$44,295.72
10  Wil Collins	10	$39,915.30

John Ellis and Wes Heffernan earn exemption into second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School