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« For Immediate Release, Bury It On A Saturday In August Edition | Main | PGA Final Round Clippings, Vol. 1 »
Monday
Aug132007

With All South African Family Friends Already Qualified, Player Tabs Weir To Ensure President's Cup Exhibition Status

Convinced that his 2005 selection of No. 22 points man Trevor Immelman vaulted the family friend rising star to even greater success, International team captain Gary Player expects to boost gate receipts resurrect the career of Mike Weir by adding him to the President's Cup team.

Mike, as we know, won the Masters, and has been a very, very good player throughout the years, very, very good match player. Even though he didn't finish in the Top-10, you know, it's a different story when you're playing match play and medal. And Mike is a real -- he's a terrific competitor. He's really a fighter, and I've got tremendous confidence in him. He's a wonderful -- you couldn't ask to have a better team member than Mike. If you don't put him in, he doesn't sulk. If you put him in, he always says he's willing to play anybody. As a captain, you know, it's always a difficult position because you can't satisfy everybody, even though you're trying your best. But he is a terrific team member.

And being played in Canada, if we didn't have a Canadian in the team in my team and playing in Canada, I can assure you in my opinion only, the series would be quite flat amongst the Canadian people. Mike is a hero in his country, deservedly so. And I'm sure the Canadian people are going to be relieved, because I continuously had questions every week: "Are you putting Mike, are you putting him in?" And I said, we have to wait till the end obviously.


Jack Nicklaus rounded out the American squad with Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan. I'd make a joke, but the state of American golf just isn't very funny anymore.

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Reader Comments (25)

Glover has had three top ten finishes this year with a T4 at PODS Championship as peak performance. Are you saying that he doesn't deserve to make the team?
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterHawkeye
I'm saying that if the best we can do is a player who peaked at the PODS Championship with a T4, the state of American golf isn't very strong. He's a fine player, great American, friend of charity, etc... but after our top 3, we don't many really great players.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterGeoff
I was kind of thinking along the same lines, yes. Does he do bible study?
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterHawkeye
I like Lucas a lot, but that's a joke. Jerry Kelly springs to mind.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterRM
Player made the right choice in choosing Weir, for the reasons he enumerated.

Don't be so hard on the old guy, Geoff. :)

Besides, I'm sure neutral parties (initials T.F. and T.V.) may have provided helpful counsel in the matter. :)
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterTuna
"I don't know if Woody will bring golf or bang himself in the head"

Love that quote by Nicklaus.

I said I wouldn't watch this thing, but I might be compelled to if Woody flips out and does something awful. :)

08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterTuna
Didn't Ames just contend in the last two majors and nearly make the team on points?
08.13.2007 | Registered CommenterGeoff
Ames--I agree he should have been the pick. I don't know about Weir this season...could Player have picked both Canadians?
08.13.2007 | Unregistered Commenter86general
Give me a break. Picking Weir was a no-brainer. It shouldn't even be up for debate. It'd be like holding the President's Cup in Thailand and not picking Tiger.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterUp and Down
Here's the Wiki listing on Ames:

Ames was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago and is of English/Trinidadian Portuguese descent, and much of his family resides in the Caribbean.

I would guess that the PGA Tour asked the nets to list him as from Canada (where he has since moved) in an attempt to hype up our friends north of the border, in the event that Weir didn't make the team. But I would guess that's a pretty tough sell...at least tougher than Weir is.

I agree...Ames is a much better pick from a competitive standpoint...but that isn't really what the branding of the Presidents Cup is all about, is it?
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterDJ
Well, U&D, that's never a problem for Tiger because he always makes the team. Weir didn't qualify because he hasn't been playing all that well, evidently.

But I agree he's a hero, and they should get him in there. I'm just not sure Ames should have been passed up. Nick O'Hearn was chosen instead...

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/245778

08.13.2007 | Unregistered Commenter86general
Well, speaking as a Canadian...you go with Ames. Mike hasn't been playing well all year thanks to injuries and a swing overhaul. Yeah, he's a bulldog in match play, but attitude doesn't mean a lot when you're hurt. Keep Ames out of Tiger's way and he's going to make more of an impact...
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterReverendTMac
Let's all agree on one thing, at least. Hunter Mahan is an excellent pick.

And I'd love to see Tiger & Woody Austin in a four-ball...

Ames hasn't done much this year. He has no wins, and only 3 top 10's. (And he's 60th in fedex cup points despite playing in 18 events already)

I would have picked Allenby, Romero, Baddeley, Pampling, or Tim Clark ahead of both Weir and Ames.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterJoe
Romaro would have been the perfect pick. Under the wing of Cabrera on Friday and Saturday...
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterDJ
Joe,
Yes, all of those would have been better, I was just thinking like Gary Player and assuming you had to take at least one Canadian to get people to show up! Not that Ames is really Canadian!
08.13.2007 | Registered CommenterGeoff
Seriously, I love the Mahan pick. A gamer. A battler. Remember, uh, there is some match play involved? Who's a better match-player?
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterChuck
Ames is a Canadian citizen.And with 3 top tens he's
almost as good as Lucas Glover!
Agreed,based on season's play neither Weir nor Ames
should have made it.But if one had to be picked - and,
politically,one did - Mikey has the lock on the vitally
important endorsement file up here.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterSisyphus
Ames married a Canadian has lived here for several years and considers himself a Canadian. Weir was born and raised in Canada but hasn't really lived here since he went to BYU.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterWayne
On their recent playing record, Ames would indeed have been the better choice over Weir.

However, it goes deeper than that. Weir is far and away a bigger golfing hero in Canada than Ames could ever be. The President's Cup in Montreal is probably going to be the most important golfing event in Canadian history. For months, Weir's name has been plastered all over Canadian media in conjunction with publicity about the event. It just makes sense to have Weir on your team, and give the home crowd a big rooting interest in your team which may lift the other team members, too. So from that standpoint alone, choosing Weir was also the best choice for the team as a whole.

Besides, Weir is a good player. He'll lift his game for the PC, watch and see.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterTuna
Everyone knows, however, that the President's Cup is going to be a mere afterthought because of the Race for the FedUp Cup. . .
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterSmolmania
The International team looks stronger than the U.S. team, and much deeper. Course, I often thought the U.S. had a stronger Ryder Cup team than Europe, only to see Europe steamroll over the Americans.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterJohn M
Weir is the right move by Gary. Can you imagine a Presidents Cup in Korea without KJ Choi? In Fiji without Vijay? In South Africa without Ernie? in Argentina without Angel?

Mike is a national hero in Canada, and the Montreal crowd will now be jazzed in their support of the Cup matches. Without Weir, there would not only be little fan excitement, the Tundra writers would be blasting Gary, Finchem and George Bush for not including a local, eh?

Stephen Ames might have filled the quota for a Canadian, but he's not nearly as inspiring as the little lefty.

Ultimately, it's a good branding positioning leveraging synergy thingy.
08.13.2007 | Unregistered CommenterRick
I just want to point out how hard it is going to be for Weir to handle the pressure of playing in Canada. Remember what happened to Padraig Harrington in the Ryder Cup last year in his home country-- he lost all 5 of his matches!
08.14.2007 | Unregistered CommenterJoe
My Canadian golf friends say that Ames is not a fan favorite. According to them, support for Ames vs. Weir would be akin to support for Tom Kite vs. Arnie.

Weir should play every session, and the crowds will root crazy mad for him AND his partner.
08.14.2007 | Unregistered CommenterCBell

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