No Canadian PGA Championship in 2006

TORONTO, May 24 (Reuters) The Canadian PGA Championship, which lists Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino among its former winners, has been cancelled for this year, the Canadian Professional Golfers' Association (CPGA) said today.

Canada's second oldest golf tournament lost its slot on the Nationwide Tour schedule last December after its sponsors pulled out.

Subsequent attempts by the CPGA to stage the event independently or to find it a slot on the Canadian Tour have failed.

''This was not a decision taken easily or lightly,'' Canadian PGA executive director Stephen Carroll said in a statement.

''The Canadian PGA board of directors was not prepared to put members' funds at risk to simply keep the event afloat in 2006.

''Running the CPGA Championship as an under-funded event or staging a championship not operated in a first-class manner of which everyone could be proud were determining factors in the decision to cancel the 2006 event.'' The CPGA hopes to restore the 95-year-old tournament in 2007.

''We want to make sure the future format is sustainable,'' Carroll added. ''We don't want to be bringing around different tours every year.'' First held in 1911, the Canadian PGA Championship has been a Nationwide Tour event for the last five years.

Canada's Jon Mills won the 2005 title at Whistle Bear Golf Club in his home province of Ontario, a victory that helped him end the season fifth in the money list and clinch his 2006 PGA Tour card.

REUTERS DH RN0225