Mike Weir ...

[Ref]

Time to finish off the career doing the posh coutry club thing.

Perhaps a chance at a miracle comeback if it is in the cards, or maybe a shot at some glory on the senior tour.

Maybe Tiger will loan him one of his friends with benefits too keep him warm during the winter months.

It's been a slice, so to speak, Mike!

 

[Malibook]

Weir will still get into another 10 or so more tournaments this year with conditional status for being in the top 150, sponsor's exemptions, and 5 other tournament exemptions for being in the last President's Cup, plus of course he can always play in the Masters.
If he doesn't crack the top 125 this year to earn a card for next year, he can use one of his 2 exemptions for being in the top 25 (12th) of the career money list to get a card for next year and still have 1 more left.
Weir should have plenty of cash and he still has plenty of time to find good form.
Weir had another good President's Cup just 1.5 years ago and he is coming off a bad injury and long layoff.
I wouldn't write him off yet.

 

[maurice93]

Malibrook - What are the tournaments he gets in due to his presdident cup status - would it any of two remaining WGC's (Doral, Bridgestone) and Sawgrass?

I was discounting that status and assumed he would not be able to get in any big events this year other then the Masters. Obviously with top 150, sponsor exemptions and past winner status, he should have no probelm getting into almost the same number of tournaments he normally gets in, but they would be lower tier events.

 

[maurice93]

i think he is done like dinner. His game has falling so far over the past few years i don't see him getting it back anytime soon.

Perhaps - he has two full years after this one where he gets full card status. Using an injury exemption this year for his five first events probably helped him get into at least 20 tournaments this year, and he gets an extra year.

He will very likely never be a top tier player that gets to play in all the majors and the WGC events, but I think at this point he is probably looking to become a PGA journeyman where he can keep his card from year to year, throughout the next 5 years. Think Corey Pavin.

 

[Malibook]

Malibrook - What are the tournaments he gets in due to his presdident cup status - would it any of two remaining WGC's (Doral, Bridgestone) and Sawgrass?

I was discounting that status and assumed he would not be able to get in any big events this year other then the Masters. Obviously with top 150, sponsor exemptions and past winner status, he should have no probelm getting into almost the same number of tournaments he normally gets in, but they would be lower tier events.

No WGC or Player's but these are some nice events.

Little-known exemptions from Presidents Cup will give Weir five additional tournament entries.
Weir can play in the following tournaments: Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 24-27, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando; The Heritage, April 21-24, Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, S.C.; Crowne Plaza Invitational, May 19-22, Colonial Country Club, Ft. Worth, Tex.; Memorial, June 2-5, Muirfield Village Golf Club, June 2-5, Dublin, Ohio; AT&T National, June 30-July 3, Aronimink Golf Club, Philadelphia.

 

[2canchew]

It was my understanding that Mike would have to finish in the top five or loose his card, 121 isn't 5th

 

[shack]

It was my understanding that Mike would have to finish in the top five or loose his card, 121 isn't 5th

He has indeed lost his full time playing privileges.

Read post #28.

 

[friendz4evr]

He is not the first one to have lost his touch. Tiger is still looking for his, and David Duval is just coming back years after losing it. Same with Vijay Singh. Mike changed his caddy and coach and messed up his stroke and strategy.

 

[maurice93]

No WGC or Player's but these are some nice events.

Little-known exemptions from Presidents Cup will give Weir five additional tournament entries.
Weir can play in the following tournaments: Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 24-27, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando; The Heritage, April 21-24, Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, S.C.; Crowne Plaza Invitational, May 19-22, Colonial Country Club, Ft. Worth, Tex.; Memorial, June 2-5, Muirfield Village Golf Club, June 2-5, Dublin, Ohio; AT&T National, June 30-July 3, Aronimink Golf Club, Philadelphia.

Those are nice events. All top third events (exluding Majors, WGC, Playoffs)

It really made sense for him to use his injury exemption this year as he got the first five events of the year "Free", and those Pres Cup exemptions which will no longer be available to him after this year I presume.

5 First Events
5 President Cup Exemptions
7 Sponsor Exemptions
Masters

That is 18 tournaments -- he could get past champion filler spots at some lower tier events to round out his schedule.

He could also try to qualify for the US Open in sectionals.

For those wondering, losing your full time card, means you simply can't just sign up for any full field event anymore. And he is not ranked high enough to get into most majors and World Championship events anymore.

But he can play in seven tournaments as a sponsors exemption (unless that number has changed). And he is still a high enough profile player that directors will be interested in having him in the field in those mid range events.

Malibrook did they ever change the rule for the "Atwal" case last year. If Weir gets into the top 125 by the time the playoffs come around will he be able to participate even if he lost his card during the year?

 

[Malibook]

I think that limit of 7 sponsor's exemptions is for amateurs and members of other tours.
Look at how often John Daly seems to play.

Weir is playing in Puerto Rico this week.

Not sure about the specifics with Atwal and whether anything has changed.

 

[maurice93]

Atwal won a tourney last year in late August and worked into the top 125, but was not invited to the playoffs because he no longer has card he had lost after an injury exemption. It seemed like they were going to change the rule.


Here is how the exemptions work:

http://www.pgatour.com/r/player_exemptions/index.html

Looks like Weir has unlimited opportunity at sponsor exemptions #11(but of course he has to be selected), he has used up what was available to him at #21, and weaker events always have some spots under #30, and with his number of career wins, Weir would be high on that list.

It is odd that the highest priority in full fields is the winners of PGA Tour or US Open prior to 1970 have lifetime exemptions. Guess they cleaned that up later. Theoretically, Arnie or Jack, or Dow Finsterwald, or a whole bunch of middling players from that era, can play every event they want and stink iit up.

 

[maurice93]

David Hearn is now tied for third, one stroke behind Mickelson and Verplank. He has made a nice turn in his career after it took a bit of a dive for a few years after he got his card in the mid 2000's, and struggled on the tour.

I can't stand Phil, so it would be nice to see Hearn stand up strong against him tomorrow.

 

[friendz4evr]

I hope Mike Weir is fully recovered from his latest injury to be able to play in the Masters. Someone I could cheer for.

 

[shack]

David Hearn is now tied for third, one stroke behind Mickelson and Verplank. He has made a nice turn in his career after it took a bit of a dive for a few years after he got his card in the mid 2000's, and struggled on the tour.

I can't stand Phil, so it would be nice to see Hearn stand up strong against him tomorrow.

A $200,000 cheque will go along way toward helping Hearn keep his card for next year.

 

[maurice93]

Updated Mike Weir 2011 Stats:

Rankings out of 184 players who have played minimum number of rounds:

Scoring Average = 74.93 (Ranked LAST, next closest is 73.29, tour average is 70.9)
Driving Distance = 268 Yards (Ranked LAST, next closest is 270, tour average is 287)
Driving Accuracy = 42.55% (Ranked LAST, next closest is 45.2%, tour average is 60%)

All this has resulted in 1 made cut out of 12 events and only $10,788 in earnings.

The combination of shortest hitter and least accurate is a deadly combination. Not only has he struggled, he has become by far the worst regular on the PGA Tour. Its hard to fathom how he became so bad this quickly.

Today he shot a +8 on 36 holes in US open sectional qualificatier - missed qualifying for the US open by 15 shots.

As a fan of Mike, its sad to see. I was not expecting him to be great this year coming off injury and age, but I thought he could have a journeyman season (around 100th on tour). Perhaps he should take an extended break away from the tour for the rest of the year after the Canadian Open.

He still has two yearly exemptions after this.

 

[maurice93]

A $200,000 cheque will go along way toward helping Hearn keep his card for next year.

Congratulations to David Hearn for retaining his tour card with a solid Tied Fifth finish today. He moves up to 108 on the money list, and is almost 100% assured of being in the final top 125. He could be the only Canadian in the top 125 at year end.

Graham DeLaet will not keep his top 125 status, but I assume will get some injury exemption -- not sure. Hearn and DeLaet had been the first Canadians (not named Mike Weir or Stephen Ames) who had made it to the tour... and stayed on the tour for a long while. Ian Leggatt may have retained his card sometime early in the 2000's.

Stepen Ames will have to work hard to get in the top 125. He is at 131. He will be able to get a one time Top 50 Career Moeny Earner exemption next year. He is 36th on the All Time Earnings List at 19.2 million, which is a credit to his long time as a successful journeyman.

Matt McQuillan is 143rd on the money list - he is about $148,000 away from his card.... he needs a good finish or two down the stretch.

Chris Baryla is 219th on the Money list -- with total cash of $68,000 despite being the fourth longest hitter on tour. Poor cadde.. He joins Mike Weir in the contest for worst golfer on the PGA Tour.

To give you an idea of how bad these two were this year... of the 185 golfers who qualified with enough rounds (seems the lowest is 49 rounds), the worst scoring average was 73.04 by Derek Lamely. Chris Baryla played 41 rounds and shot 73.34. How bad was Mike Weir this year? In 34 rounds his average was 74.52 -- a full 1.48 shots worst then Lamely.

Weir finished the year with a driving ditance aveage of 269 (abysmal by tour standards)... but worst yet his accuracy was even worse at 42%. He had some horrible snap hooks this year.

 

[shack]

I think Canadian tennis had a better year than Canadian golf.

 

[maurice93]

I think Canadian tennis had a better year than Canadian golf.

Don't follow tennis, but with no top 100 Canadians in golf it certainly seems plausable.

It started out positive with 6 players with cards (although Weir didn't really have this status he was going to get in alot of tournaments).

Hearn will definetely be happy to retain his card. That had to be his goal.

McQullan will probably happy to be top 150 and have some status next year. He was not even thar great on the Canadian tour in 2010, but played way over his head (based on his career to that point) in two Q-school stages to make it to the tour. That type of rookie (coming out of nowhere at Q-School) usually has much less success on the Tour and don't even smell near the top 150.

Baryla and Weir have to be disappointed with their performance... DeLaet and Weir disappointed with injuries. Ames is just getting old at this point.

What happened to some of our hyped youngsters? Matt Hill, from Bright's Grove, was the top NCAA golfer a few years back, and has had no success. Nick Taylor, also had a good amateur career, and had a very strong 2009 US Open as an amatuer (top 10 IIRC). Its very hard to take the next step -- simply playing as well as you did before will not be enough to even get on tour.

And Adam Hadwin is a mystery. The guys seems to step it up on the Big Stage -- has a top 5 finish, and three top 40 finishes in his other PGA Tour events. But he can't seem to get status anywhere, and he has been average on the Canadian Tour this year.

 

[shack]

And Adam Hadwin is a mystery. The guys seems to step it up on the Big Stage -- has a top 5 finish, and three top 40 finishes in his other PGA Tour events. But he can't seem to get status anywhere, and he has been average on the Canadian Tour this year.

He is 1 stroke out of the lead after 3 holes in the final round today.

 

[shack]

Hadwin has faded a bit, but 3 Canucks are now in the top 10. Hearn and Hadwin T-6 and McQuillan T-10. See if they can finish strong.