Weir urges fans to bring the ruckus
International captain wants Royal Montreal to be enemy territory for U.S. at Presidents Cup
On the Friday of the 2007 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club, International Team member Stuart Appleby ventured back onto the golf course after he and Vijay Singh had put a 5-and-4 licking on the powerhouse U.S. duo of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.
The Americans had taken a commanding 5 ½ to ½ lead the day before, but the Appleby and Singh victory was the third full International point of the Friday session, which had the square-jawed Australian excited to cheer on his teammates in an effort to close the gap more. He climbed into a grandstand that was mostly empty and held his country’s flag high above his head. The look on his face as he swivelled his head from side to side suggested equal parts bemusement and disappointment.
Appleby didn’t get much support from the crowd and he quickly slinked away, his cheerleading attempt aborted. That Presidents Cup may have been a home game for the International Team technically, but until Mike Weir’s singles match against Tiger Woods on Sunday, it was anything but in reality. Folks came primarily to see golf’s biggest names in person. It didn’t seem to matter that they played for the visitors.
“In 2007, when it was there, Tiger was playing, I think fans were excited to see him and I felt like the fans were fantastic, but they were very cordial to the U.S. side,” said Weir, captaining this year’s International team for the matches that return to Royal Montreal in September.
“We want them to be a little bit louder and a little bit more raucous than the past.”
From the start, the Presidents Cup has been more lopsided than a solo see-saw session. Only once have the Internationals — comprised of golfers hailing from anywhere but the United States and Europe — emerged victorious. That occurred in 1998 in Australia. The two teams halved the 2003 matches in South Africa, while the Internationals came agonizingly close in 2015 in South Korea, with the one-point American win decided by the final Sunday singles match. What those three editions had in common was a host course that took the U.S. players outside of their comfort zone. Montreal, in North America’s Eastern time zone, won’t do that, which means ensuring full and boisterous support is top of mind for Weir.
“It’s something we’ve put a lot of thought into. We continue, amongst our team, to talk about that, that home-course, homecountry advantage,” Weir said. “We’re trying to engage a lot of the fans around the country … We’re leaning on the Montreal Canadiens organization, tapping into their fan base … We want the whole country to be involved, to be engaged.”
Weir has long been among golf’s most pleasant men, but he’s a gamer if there ever was one, a guy who played his best in some heated moments. One of the most successful International Presidents Cup players of all time, Weir wants Royal Montreal to become true enemy territory for the Americans. Like Marco Simone in Rome was during last year’s Ryder Cup — rowdy without becoming unruly.
“You use the Ryder Cup for an example, when the U.S. goes overseas to play, it’s a totally different atmosphere than when they’re playing at home,” Weir said. “And traditionally in the Presidents Cup there hasn’t been that much of a contrast and that is our challenge, to make it more so.
“Hopefully through our social media channels, hopefully through our connection with the Montreal Canadiens,
the hockey crowd, letting them know that you need to get behind our guys and make them feel supported and through that is making the other side feel a little bit uncomfortable …
“Our International side is all about respect, too. We don’t want it to be over the top but we want it to feel like the crowd is really with us.”
Weir and the Internationals have a few things going for them in that regard. For starters, despite the inevitable strength of the American team, none of its players possess the stardom and massive fan following that Woods and Phil Mickelson did in 2007. (The Presidents Cup is a PGA Tour entity so LIV players aren’t eligible).
As well, Canadian golf fans have shown just how loud and proud they can be during the last few Canadian Opens, particularly last year when Nick Taylor emerged victorious in one of the most thrilling tournaments in recent PGA Tour history. And on that note, Weir will have multiple Canadians on his squad to galvanize the galleries.
Even if none make the team on points — Taylor is currently the only Canadian in an automatic spot but six rank inside the top 22 in the standings — Weir will surely use his half-dozen captain’s picks to ensure the Maple Leaf is well represented on his 12-man squad. After all, there is nothing Canadian sports fans love more than beating Americans.
“I think if two, three, four Canadians make the team, it will generate that much more excitement,” Weir said. “It’s not Team Canada, it’s an international team, but the more Canadians we do have on the team the better for the fan support. It will just create a different buzz. It will create more energy.”
That and a proper sporting atmosphere might even lead to an upset.