Yes, Hamilton G&CC is a magnificent venue and a distinct step up from the RBC Canadian Open’s longtime home of Glen Abbey GC. And the PGA Tour’s finest are pretty much universally impressed by the 1915 Harry Colt design—as they should be.

But make no mistake that the primary draw this year is not the tournament golf course; it’s the tournament date. Instead of following the Open Championship, which forced players to fly back from overseas to tee it up in the Canadian Open, RBC’s coveted new spot on the calendar now places them the week before the U.S. Open. And although next week’s event is some 4,300 kms southwest at Pebble Beach Golf Links, most of the the best players in the world are in Hamilton because it is their custom to play their way into Major championships. The ones who aren’t, such as Tiger and Phil Mickelson, prefer to take this week off.

I asked Rory McIlroy, making his first-ever Tour start in Canada, if he would be here even if the tournament were at Glen Abbey:

“Probably—yes,” he declared.

Brooks Koepka? “Ya, I would’ve still been here (if it were at Glen Abbey). I just like playing the week before. Building rhythm. That’s all I’m looking for here,” the world’s No.-1 ranked player said. “I’ve left feeling confident in 30th, 40th place before at Memphis going into the U.S. Open, so the result doesn’t really matter (here).”

So in case you missed it, that would be Brooks comparing the third-oldest continuously running event on the PGA Tour—a 115-year-old national championship—to the St. Jude FedEx Classic. In other words, this week in Hamilton is a lovely tune up. Four practice rounds for next week’s main event.

At least you have to respect his honesty.

Even Justin Thomas’ last-minute inclusion was to knock the rust off his recent game. “It was obviously a late add,” Thomas noted yesterday. “It wasn’t exactly in the plans, but I definitely need to get a little bit more reps going into the (U.S.) Open.”

World No. 2 Dustin Johnson, who would be here regardless as an RBC brand ambassador player, echoed the value of the tournament’s new date. “Yeah, the field is a lot stronger this year. I think RBC moving to the week before the U.S. is a great move for them. And it’s a great week to get a lot of really good players, because they like to play the U.S. Open.”

Rory, for his part, did paid respect to the heritage of this week’s event. “Obviously this isn’t just a preparation week,” he observed. “This is a very prestigious tournament—one of the oldest in the world that I would dearly love to be able to add my name to. I’m fully focused on this week—but (do so) knowing that if I play well here and have good control of my ball and my distance, that it will serve me well going into next week.”

Are spectators and TV fans just happy to see such a stellar field, regardless of the motivation of those attending Tour stars? Absolutely. So kudos to RBC and Golf Canada for their persistence in seeking a better position on the calendar and to RBC for its well-earned respect and gratitude from the PGA Tour when the Tour decided to rejig the schedule to better position the season-ending FedEx Cup. RBC may have become too important a corporate backer for the PGA Tour to have not accommodated RBC’s request for a date change.

While the quality of the RBC Canadian Open rota will, it would appear, not be the deciding factor in attracting name players, classic courses like Hamilton G&CC will at least leave a good taste in the mouths of players as we move forward—and hopefully convince a few to consider it a bit more than “U.S. Open Warm-Up Week.”

While it’s unfair to compare Hamilton—one of Canada’s true classics—to Glen Abbey, most players and caddies I spoke to over the years never understood the supposedly bad reputation the Abbey had in the media. I always suspected it was rather overblown by some journalists. Indeed, what we now know is that three of the top players in the world would all have been here anyway if this week’s tournament was situated 40 kms east.

So it was never about Glen Abbey. It was about a PGA Tour schedule where four Major championships, the Players Championship, the odd World Golf Championship, and the requisite rest and preparation in between, matter most.

It was, in fact, always about the date.