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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 23, 2008Mike WeirOAKVILLE, ONTARIO NELSON SILVERIO: We welcome Mike Weir to the RBC Canadian Open media center. Thanks for spending a few minutes with us. You got a chance to take a look at the course today. Why don't you tell us about conditions out there. MIKE WEIR: Well, the course condition is good. Just obviously with all the rain it's very wet. It's playing fairly long with not much roll out there. You know, the player who does the best this week and wins is going to be driving it in the fairway, because the rough is thick, and with it being wet, you're not going to bounce it very far. So that's the key out here is keep that ball in the fairway. But from a month ago when I came out here, the greens have really come around. Some of the valley holes a month ago were a little suspect, some of the greens. But they've come back nicely. NELSON SILVERIO: Talk a little bit about the state of your game so far this year. MIKE WEIR: Yeah, in the last few weeks it's been good. I've been playing well and seem to be really swinging nicely this week. So yeah, looking forward to it. Q. As disappointing as that finish may have been back in '04 here, can you look back on that now and say by far that was your best showing here was a second place finish, and when you think a lot of the cuts you missed here, can you look back on that now and be proud of what you accomplished here? MIKE WEIR: Well, yeah, I finally played the golf course well. I never played very well here at all, and I finally figured out a way to score around here. I do feel more comfortable around this golf course than in years past. So yeah, obviously I would have loved to have won that, but I played really well that week. Q. You talked about playing the course well. I was wondering how your game has evolved because this course never used to fit your eye. So how have things changed? MIKE WEIR: Well, I think just evolution of my game. When I first started playing here I wasn't very good (laughing). I was struggling on the Canadian Tour. When I first played here, I played here as an amateur, and the six seasons I spent on the Canadian Tour was because I wasn't good enough to be out here. It's been an evolution of trying to get better. My first few years on Tour I think I was decent, but I feel like I'm a better player. That's the way I approach the game. Every day I wake up, I'm trying to find a way to get better. The answer to that is just, I think, an evolution. Q. Can you speak a little bit about what you're going through right now with Bennett and Plummer? I heard something in the media circles that you're kind of using parts of what they're advocating and other parts that you're not. Do you just want to clarify where you're at with that? MIKE WEIR: I'm right where I need to be with it, really. Those guys I think have gotten better as teachers the last couple years that I've worked with them, and I've got a better understanding of their method, and I use what I need of their method. I think what they do is fantastic. I think they're great teachers and they've helped me a lot. Q. Playing in front of the home crowd and the added pressure that comes along with that, is it always a good thing for you, or sometimes can it be like a hindrance to your game and trying to stay focused that way? MIKE WEIR: Well, it's never a hindrance to my game. It's special. I mean, 2004 was really special. Whenever I get a chance to play at home, this being closer to home than maybe Montreal or when I play out west, I've got a lot of friends and family, I get a lot of support from people. It's pretty -- I'm in a unique position. I've always said that, compared to other players out here. To have that kind of support is fantastic. I count my blessings for sure. It's great. Q. The Canada Day, was that the first time you had been back since 2004? MIKE WEIR: Yeah, when we were here a month ago. Q. When you played in that case, and you're going back, does what happened in the final round, do you run that through your mind, or is that just in the past now and you're just looking forward, or how do you relate to that experience? MIKE WEIR: When I play any hole I try to remember all the good shots I've hit. I remember from the first time I played here is when I shot 80 the first round and I shot 71. I think I made eight birdies the second round with a 71. I had two triple bogeys and a couple other bogeys and eight or nine birdies. So when I go around, I said to Brennan, hey, remember I chipped in here or I made this putt here. I don't think about, I missed that one there. I think about things that I've done well around the course, and I think that kind of builds good things going forward. I don't really think about the other. Q. So you're able to actually just take the highlights of that final round in 2004 as opposed to the other little bit? MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I don't even think of the final round. I think it's a culmination of the way I played the hole well ten years ago, four years ago, whenever it's been, and I try to remember I played it really well. That's what I do when I go to Augusta or any golf course I've played a lot. I try to remember those good things. I don't think about any of the bad stuff. Q. Is your mindset any different coming into this tournament than it is any other events you're competing in? And if that's the case, is that an advantage or a disadvantage at all to a Canadian golfer? MIKE WEIR: I think for me I approach it maybe more like a major championship than maybe a regular event on the TOUR, so my mindset is a little bit different. I think it's an advantage for me now, I've played it so many times. It's a little bit of a disadvantage for the younger players coming here. It's their one main event. I remember playing the Canadian Tour and playing as an amateur, and it becomes such a big deal, and it's hard to play when you do that. Being an old veteran now, it doesn't really -- I think it's maybe more an advantage. Q. After a week in extreme conditions that you played last week, what dangerous or unwanted things get into your golf swing, and are they hard to get out? MIKE WEIR: Well, fortunately I've been swinging great the last three days. I've been really swinging well. I think the things you've got to iron out when you get back after hitting so many shots leaning into the wind, keeping the ball down, cutting your swing off a lot, is I work on my alignment because it's so -- when you play in big crosswinds you're aiming 40, 50 yards off the fairway on some shots when it's blowing that hard. Sometimes your lines get off a little bit. So it's just getting your alignment good, at least for me, getting my alignment, ball position, all those kind of things. You're playing the ball so far back. Those little things you try to undo early in the week before you get started Thursday. But yeah, Monday when I got out to St. George's I was just trying to recalibrate before getting going. Q. With the conditions you had last week, 40-mile-an-hour winds, do you think you could play a golf course on the PGA TOUR in those conditions where you can't hit the ball along the ground and run it in? MIKE WEIR: That would be hard. With that strong a wind, that would be -- sometimes we only have, like you said, one option, flying the ball there. You'd see layups on par-4s and things like that, so it would be hard. Q. Have you ever played conditions like that on the PGA TOUR? I know you've played some cold and windy conditions, but anything approaching that? MIKE WEIR: No, nothing like that, especially not four days in a row, and not with a heavy wind like that that was consistent. We've played Augusta sometimes when it's been really blustery but it's really unpredictable, kind of swirls around in there, 25-mile-an-hour gusts but not 40 steady wind where you kind of knew -- you look at your tee sheet and you look at the course routing map and you know which way the wind is blowing. So there wasn't any guesswork which way the wind was going, that's for sure. You could figure that out. But for four straight days it didn't stop at night or anything, it just kept humming all the way through. I've never seen anything like it. Q. As long as you're healthy and playing as a golfer, is the Canadian Open always an event you'd play, or is there any circumstance you could see yourself not playing it for one reason or another? MIKE WEIR: Not unless I was injured, I'd never miss it. Even if I was injured I'd like to think that I wouldn't miss it. This is really important to me and it's important to all the Canadian guys. It's been something I've watched since I was a kid and dreamed of winning and -- dreamed of playing in first and dreamed of winning. Every year that comes around you get excited that the opportunity is there and you never want to miss that. Q. I think it's understandable why people would want naturally to see a Canadian champion at this event, but realistically with how difficult it is to win any PGA TOUR event, is it almost like catching lightning in a bottle for everything to come together the right week for either you or Stephen or one of the other top players? MIKE WEIR: Well, it's hard. Like you said, it's difficult to get your game together to win an event and things all have to come together. Unless you're Tiger winning all the time, it's hard to do. It is a little bit like lightning in a bottle. You hope things jell, you hope your stroke is good, you're rolling it well and putting well and chipping well. To win on the TOUR now you can't have one aspect of your game off. It's very hard, especially for a player like me who's not -- I can't overpower a course, and longer guys can be missing some fairways and still have wedges. If I miss fairways I'm hitting 6-irons in and I'm not going to win doing that. I have to be really on my game to win out here. I think most of the Canadian guys, there's not any J.B. Holmes that I see, Canadian guys in the field this week, that can really overpower a course and miss some fairways and still get away with it. Q. A lot was made at the Presidents Cup last year, especially after you beat Tiger, what it might do to build your confidence. At the time you seemed to deflect it, that it wasn't a big a deal. Looking back, has it made any different over the past few months? MIKE WEIR: Well, no, I'm not saying it wasn't a big deal. To beat him was great, but my game -- I think I was feeling good going into that. But yeah, I definitely carried momentum the rest of the year after that, no question. But I guess when I get -- has it carried on now from that? I guess I don't think about it now when I'm playing. I think where it helped was right after it. Right after it, that confidence I played with in Las Vegas after and had a good week and won the next week, and I think there was definitely confidence from The Presidents Cup leading in, not only the match I played against Tiger, the whole week. I felt like I played great all week, and I think that carried on the rest of the year. Q. You mentioned that you were at St. George's on Monday. Is that the first time you've played the golf course? MIKE WEIR: It was, yeah, first time. Q. What were your thoughts? MIKE WEIR: I thought it was very good. I think there's a few little subtle changes they might need to do out there. There's some pretty severe greens that would be unfortunate if you couldn't put the pins over there if the greens were TOUR speed because there's some pins you couldn't use, no way. But I think it's going to be a great venue. That's the reason I wanted to play Monday is so when guys ask me about it, I can give them an honest perspective and tell them what it's all about. It was good to get a few of the other guys out there and hopefully spread the word around. Q. Toronto is kind of the place to be right now. We've got some big names in tennis, David Beckham is in town, guys like yourself, the Eagles are playing. Do celebrities like yourself take an interest in a week like this, or what do you do to your downtime in a week like this? MIKE WEIR: My family is coming in today, or I'd love to go watch a tennis watch. I was hoping to go tonight but I have an early time tomorrow, but maybe -- my daughters like tennis. I'd love to go watch tennis. I'm a big fan of Roger and Rafael Nadal and all tennis. I mean, I love all sports, I'll watch anything. But those guys are in town and I'd love to see them live. When I played in Australia I used to go to the Australian Open quite a bit. When we played the Aussie Masters, as soon as I was done with my round, there was four or five of us, we'd go watch all the night matches and watch the Aussie Open. It was a major so it was a pretty cool atmosphere. So I love it. Q. As much as you'd like to win the tournament, if it's not going to be you, as someone who cares about the tournament, what does it mean for the Canadian Open to have as a defending champion an ambassador, Jim Furyk as two-time champion? MIKE WEIR: Well, it's great. Jim is a class guy and he's a great champion of this event. Obviously he's won the U.S. Open and won a number of events. He's such a steady player. You know, he's just great to have as a champion in this event. I can't say anything more about him. He's just a great guy. Q. What are your memories of '04? You think back about the galleries that followed you, the huge crowds. You were really the one Canadian that had the chance. Take us back through those great feelings and even the feelings of the disappointment after it all kind of came down at the end. MIKE WEIR: Well, what I remember is that everybody was -- obviously everybody was very excited. I was in contention, and Canada was playing for the gold in the world championships. So there was a different atmosphere than a normal golf tournament. I think everybody was ready for a little bit of hockey, too. There was a lot of hockey jerseys out there. But it was a special feeling. I'm not going to recant how -- or recall how disappointed I was. I was, I was really disappointed. What can I say? I've had plenty of those in my career. That was right up there with a number of them. But you live and learn and go on. That's four years ago. I don't think about it much anymore, and I'm going to try to win this week. Q. I know you compete with the golf course and your mental state, but do you ever look at the leaderboard sometimes and see a Stephen Ames sometimes and say, I want to beat that other Canuck? MIKE WEIR: Well, sure, you want to beat everybody. And if he's up there, I want to beat him. I'm sure he wants to beat me, along with the other guys. But if I'm not doing well this week you'd love to see another Canadian up there, and Stephen being the quality player he is, he's going to have a good chance this week. If it's not me, it would be great to see him do it or Jon Mills, or Bryan DeCorso has played well this year. It would be great to see somebody do it. There's going to be somebody at some time do it, whether it's my generation, the guys that are here right now or the next crop of young guys that are coming up. It would be great for the game in this country if one of us can do it. Q. You spoke a second ago about the contours at St. George's and the green speeds. You spoke about TOUR speeds. Do you think the greens always have to be at TOUR speed? Why not play the golf course and the greens the way the designer meant them to be, slow up the greens a little bit and use the contours? MIKE WEIR: I would have no problem with that if they did that at St. George's. I think that's the only way to do it on some of the holes out there. I even thought the greens were a little fast over at St. George's for the contours and the wind. That's why balls were blowing off the green. On that seaside -- Q. St. George's in Toronto? MIKE WEIR: I'm sorry, Birkdale, that's what I meant. Yeah, Birkdale. I mean, if they were a little slower you probably wouldn't have the problem and the delays. When I putted them on Monday and Tuesday in the practice rounds over there, they were a good speed. When they said they were going to speed them up, with the contours over there, I kind of raised an eyebrow like if we get some strong winds we're going to have some of that. St. George's would be the same. If you speed those greens up, you just limit the pin positions. I think there was about five or six greens that were very severe, 3 and 4 in particular I remember and then a few on the back. And then if you have 12 or 13 on the Stimpmeter, some of them are unplayable. To have them a little slower would be okay. Q. Do you think last week they should have invoked a local rule, which I think they can do, that maybe if you address the ball and it moves, with the wind so high that what can you do? MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it would be too bad. I was watching Greg, and I'll use him in particular. I remember watching him, he had a one-foot putt and he backed off and he was standing behind watching it. I was like, you've already addressed it, go up and mark that thing. I don't know why he was -- because that would have been a penalty, and that would have been a shame on a one-foot putt that the wind blows it and it would be a stroke penalty. But that's kind of what you were dealing with last week. I don't know, can they do that, invoke a local rule? I don't know if they can override the rules of golf and do that. But maybe they can, I don't know. But I think if the greens would have been just a touch slower, maybe we wouldn't have had that. Q. Can you reiterate kind of how the weather and the course conditions are going to affect how you approach the course this weekend and the next coming days? MIKE WEIR: Well, I think for all of us with the course playing longer, the approach shots on the greens, you'll probably see some shots closer to the hole than maybe you might have in past Opens here, because when the greens get firm and fast here, it's tough to get into some of these pins. But when it's very soft like this you can pretty much take dead aim at the pin and you're just kind of playing point-to-point golf. You hit your drive here and you fly it there and it's just stopping. Where when it gets firmer and faster out here, you have to play for a little bounce or a little roll and the ball releasing on the greens. I don't think we'll see much of that tomorrow. Hopefully it will dry out a little bit on the weekend and it'll get a little firmer. But when I say, it's just point A to point B, that's the kind of golf it's going to be tomorrow for everybody. Q. Stephen Ames was saying yesterday that he feels a lot of the fans and some of the players on the TOUR still don't sort of accept him as a Canadian because of circumstance. But my question to you is, A, do you consider him, quote-unquote, a legitimate Canadian? And B, do you guys feel like you have a rivalry with each other even away from this tournament during the year? MIKE WEIR: What I'll say about Stephen is he's -- yeah, he's Canadian. He does the right thing, and he supports his country, supports the game here and comes to do a number of his events and his event, the Stephen Ames Cup. I think he's done a great job since he's moved here and married Jodi and blended right in. Is there a rivalry? I think with every player out here there's a rivalry. Yeah, so I think there's probably some. I'll leave that at that. I want to beat everybody out there, him included. NELSON SILVERIO: Mike Weir, good luck this week. Thanks. End of FastScripts |
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