Spoke for a half hour with Mike Weir this afternoon. He sounded surprisingly upbeat, though I think some of that has to do with finally understanding what has been holding him back. Weir said he saw a doctor in Greensboro last Thursday after shooting 67 who urged him to shut it down for a few weeks or risk a more debilitating injury. Weir played one more round and missed the cut by a single shot.
“It is the competitor in me,” he says. “I just wanted to keep playing, but maybe in retrospect what happened is better. You always want to play, but maybe having time off will help me out.”
Weir said he’s going to use the downtime to consider numerous options — including discussions with his coach, Mike Wilson. He said the injury, which likely started in the weeks leading up to the British Open, kept him from extending his swing through the ball. He added he’s felt hesitant about swinging hard for a number of weeks for fear of further injuring his right elbow.
“You can’t play golf like that on the PGA Tour,” he said.
He added he understood where Wilson wanted to get him to with his swing, but the injury limited any progress.
“I know what he was trying to do,” Weir said. “I just couldn’t extend the way I needed to.”
He said it is odd to be reflective on his year at this point, but given the fact he’s not likely to hit a ball until October at the earliest, that’s exactly what he’s been doing: “It is odd to look at the whole picture in August. But I know when I start hitting shots in a couple of weeks I’ll have pages and pages of notes on what I want to do.”
More of my interview with Weir is included in a column I wrote today for Sympatico that will be up this afternoon.
I think Weir needs to take a good long break to get healthy and hungry, and then come back fully committed to Tour golf. Perhaps commit to a busier practice and playing schedule for two years.