Weir lends hand 10 years after stunning Tiger
Though he’ll always be remembered for his dramatic win at the 2003 Masters, Mike Weir’s next most important victory as Canada’s greatest golfer came a decade ago this fall.
That’s when Weir, representing Canada as a member of the International team at the Presidents Cup, outdueled world No. 1 Tiger Woods to the delight of the home-soil audience at Royal Montreal. By winning the final two holes of a highly anticipated Sunday singles match — by beating the then-mostly-unbeatable Woods — suffice it to say Weir earned a new level of respect among his countrymen and peers.
As Woods said that day, tipping his hat to his opponent: “He had to carry an entire country on his shoulders.”
So it’s significant that Weir, the first Canadian to play in the Presidents Cup, will later this year become the first Canadian to be among the International leadership group. On Tuesday Nick Price, the Internation- al captain for the 2017 event, named Weir as his fourth captain’s assistant. Ernie Els, Tony Johnstone and Geoff Ogilvy had previously been named to the role for the matches, to be played at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., Sept. 28 to Oct. 1.
“One of the things we’re trying to do on our side for the Presidents Cup … is to make sure we’ve got (assistants) who, in the future, are going to be captains,” Price told reporters in Palm Harbour, Fla. “And there’s no better example than (Weir) … Mike has a great passion for the Presidents Cup … I’m just so happy to have him on the team.”
Price, of course, is an important figure in Weir’s career. As Weir retold the story Tuesday, it was only after watching Price flush shot after shot on the practice range at a Canadian Open in the early 1990s that Weir, then slogging through the Canadian Tour, realized he would need to reengineer his swing to compete on the world stage.
“There was a whole new level of professional golf that I hadn’t really experienced yet,’” Weir told reporters Tuesday. “That was an eye-opening experience.”
So is international golf. And Weir, now 46, certainly is in possession of hard-won wisdom worth sharing. Competing in five Presidents Cups from 2000 to 2009, the lefty from Brights Grove, Ont., was arguably the International team’s most reliable performer over that span. It wasn’t simply Weir’s 3-1-1singles record that stood out. His 58-per-cent winning percentage for all matches is the highest in international team history among players who’ve competed in at least five events.
“It’s been a few years since I’ve been a part of the team, but I’ve always looked forward to being on the sidelines,” Weir said. “My experiences in the Presidents Cup have been phenomenal.”
While the U.S. has only failed to win the Cup twice in 11 runnings — there was a lone International win in 1998 and a tie in 2003 — this year’s event figures to have competitive potential. The U.S, captained by Steve Stricker, figures to be the favourite as usual, likely headlined by world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 5 Jordan Spieth.
Still, two of the top four players in the world rankings are Internationals, No. 2 Jason Day of Australia and No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama of Japan. Other International players include world No. 8 Adam Scott (Australia), not to mention three South Africans currently ranked inside the top 30, Branden Grace (No. 18), Louis Oosthuizen (No. 27) and Charl Schwartzel (No. 28).
Other Canadian representation isn’t guaranteed. The top 10-ranked International players in the world, plus two captain’s picks, make up the team. Canada’s Adam Hadwin is currently ranked 26th in the International pecking order, ahead of Mackenzie Hughes (31st) and Graham DeLaet (37th).
Even if a Canadian gets there, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to reach the heights Weir attained.
Though Woods has since been reduced to a shell of his former self, 2007 found him still in his peerless prime. Woods owns a 10-3-2 career record in singles matches in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup combined. In other words, Weir is one of just three men who can claim to have beaten Woods one-on-one in one of golf’s two most prestigious team events. Retief Goosen and Costantino Rocca are the others.
“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” Weir said then.
Come this fall, when Weir offers his guidance to members of the International team on the 10th anniversary of his big win over Woods, the golf world will have occasion to remember it again as well.