Montreal's Canadian

Work in progress: Weir has been employing a new type of swing for nearly a year.
Photo: Darren Carroll

Notwithstanding his results this year, Weir maintains that he feels comfortable with his altered swing. "I don't even think about my swing when I'm out there anymore," he says. "I'm just playing golf. That's nice."

The day before the first round of the Deutsche Bank, Weir visited Royal Montreal, a signal of how important the Presidents Cup is to him. He wanted to see the changes Rees Jones had made to the course since the 2001 Canadian Open. Weir liked what he saw, did a small media scrum immediately after his round -- he can't come to Canada without writers and television reporters wanting to grill him -- and flew back to Boston. The bulletin boards at mikeweir.com were humming during the tournament.

"If I could ask Mike one question," one regular wrote when Weir fell from contention during the third round, "I would say, 'Mike, how does it feel to know that you will never win again and that you are tagged a choker?' " Bulletin boards are ferociously intense and can verge on the malicious. Still, that post, while extreme, is a measure of how personally Canadians take Weir's career.

"What bothers me more than anything," Weir's brother, Jim, says, "is when people say that Mike is resting on his laurels, that he sits on his couch at home when he's not playing. They say he's doing too much away from the course, that he's set financially and that he doesn't care. There's nothing wrong with people having opinions if they get their facts right, but they're dead wrong. He's working harder than ever."

Weir has continued to work hard during his layoff. He'll be in a pressure-packed situation during the Presidents Cup, but he welcomes the opportunity. Weir would happily take on Tiger Woods in the Sunday singles were Player to put him there. "Absolutely, I'd be ready for that," Weir says. "He's the best player. You want to play the best player. It would be great if it pans out that way."

Whether or not Weir plays Woods, his presence in Montreal should fire up his team and the spectators. As Player said when he announced Weir as one of his picks, "If we didn't have a Canadian on the team, I can assure you, in my opinion only, the series would be quite flat amongst the Canadian people. And I'm sure the Canadian people are going to be relieved. I had questions every week, 'Are you [picking] Mike? Are you putting him in?' "

Canadians were indeed relieved, although there was plenty of controversy about Player's choice. The South African had said earlier that it was his responsibility to field the best team, and that he wouldn't pick Weir only because he was a Canadian. Weir was 20th on the points list of players eligible for the International team when the qualifying period ended Aug. 12 at the conclusion of the PGA Championship. His fellow Canadian Stephen Ames was in 16th position, one of nine golfers ahead of Weir. Still, Player picked Weir, the player Canadians love. They respect Ames, a naitive of Trinidad who became a Canadian citizen in December 2003, but they adore Weir. And they expect him to perform. They certainly don't hold it against him that he is a long-time U.S. resident. Weir and his wife, Bricia, and their two daughters live near Provo, Utah, where the couple graduated from Brigham Young.

"When I won at Augusta, maybe that's the way Canadians thought it had always been for me, that I was always winning," Weir says. "But it took me a long time to get to the PGA Tour. I had to go through Q school six times before I made it. I felt like I had some talent, but it took a lot of hard work. I still feel I'm doing well, even if I haven't won in a few years. But that's the nature of the game. One small thing can happen and things change. Your confidence and your swing can erode quickly."