THE PRESIDENTS CUP

November 30, 2022

Mike Weir

Bell Center

Media Scrum

Q. As captain, it must be a nice problem to have seeing the way the sport has evolved in Canada and the good players coming.

MIKE WEIR: Yes, it is. You know, there's a good chance the way the guys are playing, we could have -- last year in Charlotte we had two. That was the most. When I was playing there was only one. So now we had two, and then we have some guys right out of the gate winning, and there's a good chance there could be more, so that's very exciting.

Q. Also Royal Montreal, obviously it's not going to be the same course, but it's going to be a challenge for both sides I imagine?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, the golf course, they're going to make some changes and adjustments. Today's players are quite long, as we know, so they're making the proper adjustments, and it's a great match play course. Yeah, given September, mid to late September, the weather could be a factor, and the course will play that much longer.

Q. Any chance the Team Canada jerseys will return for the wives since we have the shield now?

MIKE WEIR: Hey, you never know. That could be a thing. We'll definitely have some Canadian themes in our team room.

Q. What things have you learned from past captains?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I think it's just watching the behind-the-scenes things that the captains go through and the wives, like watching Ernie Els, Liezl work, and Sue Price and Carmenita Immelman. There's a lot of work they have to do behind the scenes in supporting them.

Then for us, it's just evolved so much. The analytics team, being involved with the golf course. It's not just that one week and putting the pairings together. There's a lot that goes into it, meetings for the captain to go out on the TOUR to see who's the upcoming players and watching them and watching them in practice rounds. I don't think that was happening in my days. The captains weren't really doing that, so there's a lot more to it now. I've learned that watching behind the scenes and what the guys actually do.

Q. There was a lot of barbecue at Quail Hollow. What are you expecting in Montreal?

MIKE WEIR: Well, you know what, food is an important thing for our team and our culture. That's a great thing. We're going to try to find the best Korean chefs, Japanese sushi, South American food, of course Canadian food. We're going to have it all in our team room. We want the guys to feel comfortable. We want them to get nourished the way they want, especially before the round and after the round.

Just being here in this building yesterday and watching the team and how that is now, they get off the rink in the morning skate, they go in, they get a protein shake, they get a meal right away. It's a big part of today's athlete, and golf is no different.

Q. Who calls you and tells you you're the captain? Was it Trevor? Was it a variety of people? What's the process to say, hey, you're doing this, it's your job now?

MIKE WEIR: I think it's a variety of things. I think knowing that it was coming to Montreal, talking with Ernie and Trevor and knowing that this was lining up pretty well for me at the stage of the game it is for me, it just made the most sense. So it was a culmination of all of us and obviously with the commissioner, with Jay. That's where it all was.

Q. What did Ernie start that you guys keep talking about building on now? Seemed like that was kind of a watershed moment for the team.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it's this shield, this shield that we have. As I said on stage there, we were a culmination of guys coming from all over the world trying to come together for one week. Now we feel like we're all part of the same team. There's just a different camaraderie. I think even weekly on the PGA TOUR, the guys try to find each other and play practice rounds together.

I think it just brought us closer. I think it was a really innovative idea that Ernie came up with and Liezl, and it's worked really well, and guys have bought into it. It's just been great for our team.

Q. I always love the stories of captains reaching out to coaches in other sports to pick their brains.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah. That's right.

Q. Any hockey guys that you particularly would like to reach out to?

MIKE WEIR: I think you're exactly right. I think guys -- I've got a few guys in mind. I haven't reached out to anybody yet. I wanted to get through this announcement. That's something that -- look, I've never been a captain before. I've been part of the teams, on the assistant side. I've watched, as I said, Pricey and Ernie and Trev do their thing.

But we're golfers, and we try to learn from those that have done it before, and leaning on hockey coaches, in Utah where I live, maybe the basketball coach, picking the brains of some guys that have done it a long time, more about leadership, learning about that, watching Martin even just for the few minutes I was down in the team room yesterday, there's a lot to be learned there.

Just the extra time he spent with some of the other guys on the ice after practice was over, some guys that weren't even suiting up, those are things that I'm going to try to implement. I'm going to try to get out to a lot more events. I'm going to try to -- guys that are even maybe further down the list to boost their spirits and boost their confidence so they can maybe make a run. All those things I've been thinking about quite a bit here the last few weeks.

Q. Is Michelle excited?

MIKE WEIR: She's very excited, yeah. She's an integral part of this. She's always been very supportive of me and me of her. There's a lot to do for the women. They're a big part of the team, too. They support. There's a lot of ups and downs in the course of one week. It's such an emotional roller coaster, the Presidents Cup, and when you're up, you're up, but if you have a bad day, you need your spousal support to lift your spirits for the next day because you can't get down. If you have a bad day, the next day you've got to get up and get ready because a half a point could be crucial. A point could be huge. We've got to keep the spirits up, and the wives are a big part of that.