Weir will face Woods if called upon when Canada hosts Presidents Cup
September 1, 2007
MONTREAL (CP) – Bring on Tiger, says Canada’s Mike Weir.
Speculation has already begun on singles play matchups for the Sept. 27-30 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal and that includes pitting the lone Canadian on the International team against U.S. ace Tiger Woods. “Absoutely, I’d be ready for that,” Weir said Thursday. “He’s the best player. You want to play the best player. It would be great if it pans out that way.”
International team captain Gary Player will make the call when the top 12 Americans face the best from the rest of the world except Europe in the biannual team event, which will be held in Canada for the first time.
Player named Weir and Nick O’Hern as his captain’s choices for the squad, while the other 10 qualified through their world ranking.
This week, Geoff Ogilvie of Australia said that with home country backing in the galleries, Weir would be a good pick to face Woods. He said O’Hern, who has beaten Woods twice in match play events, was another good bet.
“Nick’s beaten him twice, Sabbo (Rory Sabbatini) – obviously there’s a little rivalry that’s stirred up,” said Weir.
“But I’m sure Gary will just see who is playing the best that week. It’s golf. It changes for everybody every week. So whoever’s playing best that week will probably be paired against Tiger.”
Sabbatini was said to have called out Woods earlier this season when he referred to the world No. 1 as “more beatable than ever,” a quote the South African insists was twisted out of context by the media.
The 12 singles matches are the highlight of the four-day event after three days of four-ball (two against two in best-ball play) and foursome (two against two playing one ball each) competition.
Players are already talking about who should team with who, said Weir, who sees Trevor Immelman, A.J. Choi or O’Hern as likely partners.
“Nick Price and I always played well together as a team because we’re similar players,” said Weir, who will be in his fourth Presidents Cup. “We both hit the ball straight – not long, but we’re in play all the time.
“In foursomes, that’s important. That’s a good pairing rather than one guy who hits long and one who hits short. But there are a lot of factors, like some guys use different golf balls.”
Weir engaged in a little espionage at the host course before flying out to Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship, which starts Friday.
The Bright’s Grove, Ont., native shot 67 in a practice round on the Blue Course at Royal Montreal in cool, wet weather – much like late September – gathering information he can pass on to members of the International team.
The tree-lined, 7,171-yard, par-70 course has been revamped in some areas since it last played host to the Canadian Open in 2001.
“It was more for me, but I’m sure I’ll give my guys a heads-up on a few things,” Weir said. “I just wanted to see it.”
“I haven’t been here in six or seven years. I wanted to see where the targets are and where the balls are ending up.”
He liked what he saw.
“The driving areas are better now,” he added. “A few changes on the greens seem to be pretty good.
“They’re not up to speed yet, but I like the changes. It’s not going to be set up like a Canadian Open, with deep rough. They want some scoring. So I think it’s going to be a good golf course.”
Most of the questions Weir gets from teammates about the Presidents Cup involve the weather, but they also ask about traffic and getting to and from the course.
“It’s mostly logistics, because you don’t really get a chance to go out at night,” he said. “The schedule is mapped out for us. not like at a regular tournament. The team does everything together.”
It was Weir’s lobbying after his 2003 Master’s victory that led to the Presidents Cup coming to Canada, so it was a relief when he was named to the squad even though his ranking had slipped to 20th among international players.
Now Weir can concentrate only on golf. Currently 85th, he will need a good score in Boston to stay in the season-ending FedEx Cup race.
The Presidents Cup was first held in 1994 using the same format as the Ryder Cup, which has the U.S. against Europe. While the Americans easily won the first two tournaments, the International team won in 1998 in Australia and the 2003 event in South Africa was a 17-17 draw.
Other members of the International squad are Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Ratief Goosen, Angel Cabrera and Stuart Appleby.
They will face a U.S. squad led by Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson.
Weir played his round with caddy Brennan Little, former caddy Dan Keough, who currently manages his clothing line, and Brad Pelletier of agent IMG.
Source: metronews.ca
Posted in Golf News
