I continue on my quest to fill up Sympatico’s golf site with writing from the RBC Canadian Open. Today that includes the annual “can Mike Weir win at Glen Abbey” story (I’ve written a version on this since 2002), and a second feature on players to watch, including Canadians. My pick to click this week? Well that depends a lot on the awful weather that has blown in. You’d think someone like Retief Goosen would be a good fit at the Abbey, even though his play was indifferent here last year. But I still think he might be a good call.
Here’s a taste of the Weir story:
Plenty has been written about the scrutiny Mike Weir is under whenever he returns home to play the RBC Canadian Open.
The adoring crowds ask for autographs at every turn, print interviews and television appearances eat away at his time. It’s almost busy enough that you forget he’s here to play golf in an attempt to become the first Canadian since 1954 to win his national open.
In the past, all of these factors seem to weigh heavily on Weir. All of the time-sucking commitments only added to the heightened expectations the Canadian fans had for the best male golfer the country has ever produced. Weir, a patient, quiet man, often seemed to strain under the pressure of it all. After winning the Masters in 2003, the onslaught at the Canadian Open later that year was unprecedented for anyone not named Tiger. And he seemed emotionally spent following his play-off loss to Vijay Singh at Glen Abbey a year later.
In the last two years Weir seems like a different person at the Canadian Open. He’s relaxed, and has even accepted a starring role, taking on the job of host for the Monday celebrity pro-am. It is busy, for sure, but Weir has found his own way of coping.
