By his own admission, Mike Weir doesn’t have many
expectations for this year’s RBC Canadian Open. He’s coming in off a
year of struggles that’s seen him miss 10 cuts in 10 starts and fall to
1,438th on the Official World Golf Ranking. Weir is now the 34th-ranked Canadian on that global list; many Canadians would have a hard time naming 33 other Canadian professional golfers.
But Weir is still positive, still confident as he approaches the first tee for the 22nd time at the RBC Canadian Open.
“The state of my game hasn’t been very good at all,” he stated. “It’s been poor. But I’m a worker. That’s what I do.”
It was one year ago this week that Weir’s already
struggling season was ended when he tore a tendon in his elbow trying to
extract a ball from the tangle of hay that doubled as rough at the
Shaughnessy G&CC in Vancouver. The surgery that followed sent Weir
to the shelf for seven months.
He returned at Pebble Beach after working mostly by
himself but never seemed to find a groove, only breaking par twice in 21
rounds. Three months ago, he hit re-set and hired Grant Waite to coach
him, which he said has been paying dividends.
“Grant, being a former player, I think that’s one good
thing. He knows a lot,” said Weir. “He’s a very smart guy and he’s able
to just relay kind of what I need at the time. And he knows that this is
going to be a process.”
By process, Weir means time. As in 2013. It will take that
much time but at the very least, the lefthander is seeing some light at
the end of the tunnel. And for the first time, it’s not an approaching
train.
In practice rounds this week, Weir has seen some good
shots and some not-so-good shots that have rattled into the trees. As
has been the case all year, the driver is the club giving him the most
trouble.
“It’s so up and down right now,” he stated. “I’ve played
some really nice rounds where I string a bunch of good holes together
and then I fall back into some bad habits I’ve gotten myself into.
“So hopefully I can just string some of the better ones
together, because my good ones, I’m hitting a lot of great shots. And my
bad ones are bad. I gotta keep shaking those ones out.”
To be sure, the last year hasn’t been easy on Weir. He’s
posted some almost embarrassing numbers, been the subject of ridicule on
web sites and seen his career flounder. He’s been reduced to looking
for sponsor exemptions after losing his status. But through it all, he’s
stayed positive.
He’s peers want nothing more than for Weir to return to
form. He is exceptionally well liked on Tour and that was evident
yesterday in comments from a couple of other pros who share the same age
of 42 with Weir.
“I went to the grocery store yesterday and a guy wished me
well in the tournament,” said Jim Furyk, who won the tournament the
last time it was at Hamilton, “and in the very next sentence he said,
‘But I think this is the event Mike Weir pulls out of it and wins.’ I
said, ‘I'll be honest with you, I hope you're right. I think it would
be great.’ It would be a great story. I wish him well, and I know how
hard a worker he is, and I believe he'll play better and start playing
well again.”
“Mike is a grinder,” said Open champion Ernie Els, “and I
know he's working hard, and I'd love for him to get back to we know how
he can play. So hopefully it happens this week.”
Weir appreciates the support of not only his fellow
players, but the fans, who followed him in a large gaggle during
Wednesday’s pro-am.
“I never get to the point where I think I’m not going to
do this anymore,” Weir said, “because I love the game and I love working
at it and I love the challenge. I’m still motivated and positive that
I’m going to get this figured out.”
Eight years ago, Weir came within a couple of inches of
winning this tournament. This week, he said he’d like to make the cut so
he can get in four competitive rounds. It’s a long road back, but he’s
prepared to walk it.
