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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 23, 2014Mike WeirILE BIZARD, QUEBEC THE MODERATOR: We welcome Mike Weir to the media center here at the RBC Canadian Open. Obviously Royal Montreal is a special place for you with one of the defining moments of your career with your singles win at the Presidents Cup. Talk about what it's like being back here at Royal Montreal and some of the memories you have from that event. MIKE WEIR: Sure. Yeah, 2007 was obviously very special. You know, I was telling some of the guys that it was a disappointing week for our team, and being part of a team that's what it was all about. Sunday was definitely special for me playing Tiger that day and playing so well. I have great memories as I walk around the golf course of that day and of the week. I haven't been back since, haven't played the golf course since, so it was good to refamiliarize myself with the golf course again and just remember what you have to do out there. THE MODERATOR: This week is obviously pretty special for all Canadians in the field but yourself especially. Tell us a little bit about what it's like trying to play for the national title and competing in front of a large number of fans here this week. MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I think this is my 24th Canadian Open, so I've been at it a long time. But every time you come back, it's special. This is such a special event for all the Canadians in the field, and myself in particular, it was the first professional event I watched as a kid live. I still remember that pretty vividly actually, doing a junior clinic with Andy Bean and Tom Kite and being one of the kids on the range that got to walk up there and get close to those guys. That really spurred my interest in professional golf. Yeah, but for all of us Canadians this is a special week, a lot of new faces, which is great to see. It's great to see so many Canadians in the field and so many great players coming up the ranks. Q. You just referenced the golf course and sort of reminding yourself of what you need to do out there. What is it you need to do at Royal Montreal to succeed? MIKE WEIR: Well, for myself, keep it in the short stuff off the tee and in the fairway, which I just got done with nine holes, I felt very good about that. And I think putting is going to be key this week. I think you're going to see some good scores. I don't know if you'll see four great scores every day, but now with the softer conditions‑‑ it was kind of getting that championship feel with the firmness of the course yesterday and starting to dry out, but this has set us back just a little bit. First couple days probably will be some really good scoring, and I expect that as the weekend goes on it'll play a little tougher. Q. Has the Canadian Open changed for you over the years? Do you have a different feeling coming to it now than you did maybe 10, 15 years ago? MIKE WEIR: No, I think it changes. I look at the first time I played, I qualified as an amateur when I was in college, a 19 year old amateur, and Monday qualified and beat‑‑ I forget who I beat in a playoff to get in, and that experience was‑‑ I was so nervous, my first professional event being the Canadian Open, that it was a little overwhelming. And then through the years I've been the focus of attention and not so focus of attention sometimes, so it definitely changes every year. This year I'm excited about my game. I'm ready to play and compete. So yeah, I think it changes every year, the feel, a little bit. Q. What would it mean for you to have this tournament played on a course that you've designed? MIKE WEIR: Well, that would be‑‑ I'd be really excited about that, very happy about it. I think the golf course can handle it. I think the way that that Laval sets up, it's a very challenging course around the greens. I think we could do some really exciting things and make it a very challenging Open, a very exciting Open and an Open that opens it up to the whole field. I think not one particular player would have a big advantage like some golf courses do. And I think it would just be‑‑ for myself I'd be really excited to see it go there. Q. Obviously you're one of the players here this week who knows the course the best. What are the key holes on this course? MIKE WEIR: The key holes? I think the finish of the golf course is very strong, right near the end. 16, 17, 18, with some of the pin placements and the way the greens are designed, there can be some tough pins there. 18 is just a difficult hole. Around the front side, the stretch of 4, 5, 6, those are some difficult holes, but then there's some scorable holes, too. Again, I think early in the week here with the soft conditions, I think you'll see some good scores, but hopefully it firms up a little bit and the greens will get a little firmer and it'll make it a little more difficult. Q. It's been 60 years since a Canadian won this event, and the last time it was done it was here. Does that surprise you that number, 60 years for someone to win the national open? MIKE WEIR: It does surprise me, yes. It's hard to believe that it's been 60 years. Yeah, I mean, the more‑‑ as I was saying earlier, we have more players in the field, I think more capable players in the field now, and with that, the odds increase. I think we'll see that going forward. It's going to end at some point, so hopefully if it's not myself another Canadian gets it done this week. It would be a nice streak to get over so we don't have to talk about it anymore. Q. What have you told some of the younger players about dealing with the pressure of carrying the maple leaf flag into a tournament like this? MIKE WEIR: They haven't really asked me much about it. The guys‑‑ I was always interested in picking the brains of the guys that were established TOUR players on TOUR, and I don't want to sound like the preachy father or older brother always telling them what to do. If they come up and ask me, I will definitely try to lend a hand and give them the best knowledge I can, but I'm not going to go seeking it out. I don't think that's the proper way to do it. Q. And what would you tell them in that situation, though? MIKE WEIR: What would I tell them? Yeah, I think every player is different. There's guys coming up the Web.com, there's amateur players, there's some of the guys off the PGA TOUR Canada. I know for myself when I was playing PGA TOUR Canada, Canadian Tour, it was such a big event. You're playing for $100,000 purse and then all of a sudden you're playing for millions of dollars, and it's your national open, and you put too much pressure on yourself, and I know for myself I was overworked by the time Thursday came around, so I would tell them probably to stick to their normal routine, what they do in a normal tournament and not try to overwork, and that's a tendency. That's a tendency when you get to a major championship when you're a pro on the TOUR, you see guys overworking in majors, and those are things you learn as you go along that I notice myself when I played my best in the big tournaments, it's when I backed off my practice schedule and con served my energy, and I was well rested and ready for the week because it's such a grind. That's what I would tell them is manage your time a little bit. Q. There was a meeting this week between Golf Canada and the Canadian Olympic committee. Do you still give Rio much thought at this point, and if you had a chance to compete there, do you think about how that would be? MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I'd love to have that experience of playing in the Olympics. It's one of the only things out there that all of us haven't experienced. To be part of an Olympic team, I love watching the Olympics, been to a couple of them to watch live, and I think it's great team camaraderie. I'd love to be part of Team Canada. Yeah, it's important to me going forward, so it's on the radar for sure. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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