Luke Donald (L) and Fred Couples.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The year was 2007 and Bill Paul had serious doubts about the future of the Canadian Open.

The man who had spent more than a decade as the event's tournament director, who arguably has more passion for it than anyone, was quickly losing hope that a major sponsor would step forward ready to write a big cheque.

"There really wasn't a great option -- I didn't know where we were going to be," Paul recalled Thursday. "I can't imagine what company in this country and some in the States that we didn't touch. You wonder, `God, if no one's coming forward what is going to happen? How long can the RCGA run the Open?'

"Then all of a sudden (in) the fall of that year we met with RBC and essentially it was done very, very quickly. From that point on, we got an injection of life -- they wanted to take it to another level."

The bank hasn't stopped investing in golf since.

On Thursday, RBC made its second significant set of sponsorship announcements in as many weeks -- becoming a patron of the PGA of America and signing endorsement deals with Luke Donald, Fred Couples and Morgan Pressel.

The flurry of agreements come at a time when the PGA Tour is struggling to attract sponsors thanks in large part to the global recession that has hit particularly hard in the U.S.

Essentially, RBC is stepping up at a time of need -- just as it did a couple years back when it assumed title sponsorship of the Canadian Open. That wasn't lost on those attendance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., where the announcements were made.

"It's a positive statement about sports marketing, a positive statement about golf," said PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka.

The deal with that organization makes RBC the official bank of the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup -- two of the biggest events on golf's calendar.

Most importantly, it gives North America's sixth-largest bank the opportunity to increase its exposure in markets outside of Canada. This year's PGA Championship will be held at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., while the Ryder Cup is slated for Celtic Manor in Wales.

"It very quickly allowed us to do a major platform in the U.S. and a major platform in the U.K.," said Jim Little, RBC's chief brand and communications officer. "It's exactly how we want to build our brand."

The addition of three more recognizable golfers to the company's stable accomplishes a similar goal. Donald (PGA/European Tour), Couples (PGA/Champions Tour) and Pressel (LPGA Tour) will now sport the RBC logo on their golf bags, giving the bank some presence at a variety of different events around the world.

Those three will form Team RBC along with the other golfers already in the fold -- Anthony Kim, Calgary's Stephen Ames and Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont. PGA Tour rookies Chris Baryla of Vernon, B.C., and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., will also have an RBC logo on their bags this season.

The company's other golf interests include sponsorship of the RCGA's high-performance amateur team and support of Canada's national amateur championships.

Of course, the most significant investment is the one RBC is making in the country's only PGA Tour event. It remains at the core of the company's sponsorship strategy.

"Everything we do in golf has in mind ... does this help build the Canadian Open? Does it help build RBC's brand in golf?" said Little. "Everything we're doing helps the field, helps the tour see us building momentum, helps us look like a leader on the PGA Tour -- all of which are surprisingly important when the agents and players and tournament directors think about who's got momentum in the game.

"Everything we're doing today has a net benefit for the RBC Canadian Open and its future and the way we're going to build that thing out."

Paul, the Canadian Open's tournament director since 1994, agrees with that statement.

"I think there's a huge ripple effect," he said. "Staying involved in golf, being more up front in golf, I think that there's a tie back: `Hey, isn't that the sponsor of the Canadian Open?' It just touches more people, more players -- and by players, not just the actual golfers, but people in the industry.

"I personally think it's the right thing (to do). Jim always told me he wanted to reach beyond this tournament."

The timeline has been sped up considerably by the recession, which presented the bank with a series of affordable opportunities to expand its reach in the sport.

As a result, it has taken the company just a couple years to make a big statement about its commitment to golf.

"The stars kind of aligned when the value equation shifted a little bit in the industry," said Little. "Being value-seekers, we said this was the right time for us to do this."