Weir contending again on Champions circuit
On a sunny Tuesday morning in southern Arizona, on the grounds of the Omni Tucson National Resort, home this week to the PGA Tour Champions’ Cologuard Classic, Mike Weir was strolling to the hotel gym for a rigorous workout when he passed Bernhard Langer, walking the other way toward the golf course to practise.
Langer is the tournament’s defending champion and is currently atop the 50-and-over circuit’s money list at 63 years of age. He has led that ledger five times, with 41 victories and 11 major championships. This after the German star won the Masters twice and played in 10 Ryder Cups during his presenior days. A true toiler with a reputation for winning on Sunday evening and being the first man on the range at the next stop Monday morning.
“He’s the man,” Weir said. “I’ve always looked at Bernhard as one of the guys I’ve looked up to over the years, even on the PGA Tour. His discipline, his work ethic. I think his well-rounded game that he’s created for himself. Overcoming putting difficulties and finding a way to get it done no matter how it looks, there is a lot to admire about Bernhard Langer, without a doubt.”
And without a doubt Weir is having a blast competing against friends like Langer, Jim Furyk, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara once again.
This week marks his 12th start of the doubled-up 20202021 PGA Tour Champions season and it has been a nice ride, with four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up to Phil Mickelson in Virginia in October.
Before making his senior debut July 31 at The Ally Challenge, where he tied for 27th, Weir expressed confidence in the state of his game. It had shown signs of life in two Korn Ferry Tour events earlier in 2020, and the shorter courses on which senior events are held figured to put more short irons into his hands on approach shots.
Through all of Weir’s mighty struggles, induced by injuries and swing changes and not having the horsepower to contend on monster ballparks, his wedges and putter never betrayed him. They were the tools that led him to eight big-league wins, including the 2003 Masters.
But Weir said those trusty weapons have been shaky thus far. They were neglected somewhat while he worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing with coach Mark Blackburn, which has ridded him of ugly driver woes that plagued him during his last several seasons on the PGA Tour.
The efforts have him 11th in PGA Tour Champions driving distance, and never did he rank that high during his heyday. But Weir three-putted three times that Sunday when Mickelson outdueled him at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic, and some wedge shots down the stretch left him farther from the hole than he should have been.
Still, that week was exactly what Weir had been longing and it validated what he had been feeling about his prospects during practice rounds at home. To be in the hunt, to feel those competitive juices again, to admittedly enjoy it more than he had in the past, and to
know Canadian golf fans were pulling hard for him, as they always have.
“The fans have been so great to me over the years, from back in the Canadian Tour days to PGA Tour days,” he said. “They’ve been so loyal and so fantastic to me, I want to give them something else to root for. I’m as driven as ever and want to get back there.”
In addition to shoring up his short game, Weir said he is focused on getting off to better starts. When he finished fourth at the Pebble Beach stop in September, three shots out of a
playoff, Weir opened with 73 and was nine strokes off Jim Furyk’s first-round pace. With many events just three rounds, including this week’s, Weir knows he can’t be sluggish out of the gate.
But he has time to figure it out. Though eligibility on the PGA Tour Champions is harder to solve than a Rubik’s Cube, Weir’s career money earnings and PGA Tour wins basically mean he doesn’t have to worry about his status for a few years.
Plus, his solid first half has him 20th on the circuit’s money list, and the top 36 qualify for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. So while Weir may not match Langer’s endurance, he’ll be out there fighting for titles for the foreseeable future.
“I want to keep my game sharp here for as long as I can,” Weir said. “Maybe not as long as Bernhard has done it but hopefully until I’m mid-to-late 50s I can still have the power in my game. If I can maintain the power that I currently have, and sharpen up my short game, I think I can still do some really good things.”