Mike Weir - Part 5 (The Presidents Cup and Champions Tour)

Music playing  00:00

Mike Gonzalez  00:15

So, just to remind our listeners that 2024 Presidents Cup will be contested at Royal Montreal Golf Club, which is celebrating this year it's 150th anniversary.

Weir, Mike  00:27

Yeah, yeah. Oldest club in North America, they had quite a celebration this summer. Yeah, it's a beautiful club, great membership, has a beautiful clubhouse for hosting the event. They're a great club. They've really done a great job. And they've been really helpful with us and accommodating with us. And, it's a big ask for the membership to have a big event like that. And they've been very accommodating.

Mike Gonzalez  00:52

Well, it's a big ask, but they said yes, once before, of course that was 17 years ago in 2007. And we don't have to talk a lot about the competition other than the fact that there was a pretty good singles match that event involving Mike Weir.

Weir, Mike  01:08

Yeah, it was a fun match that day. We were getting beat pretty handily going into the singles. But I think, you know, in our team meeting that happened on Saturday night with Gary, and we saw the pairings that came out for the singles. I think we all looked across and thought if we can just get a point, you know, we all knew that we could beat our guy that we were playing against. And I remember thinking to myself, me, in particular, I thought if I can get the crowd going here and somehow get up on Tiger and create some momentum for our team, that's what was going through my mind on Saturday night and give ourselves some hope. And I got off to a great start against him, he came roaring back and I was able to win at the end. But for me, it was just very memorable, like the way the crowd was for me. And, yeah, it's a great memory. But still it's a team competition. And I remember feeling that elation on the 18th green after I won the match. But then quickly, it turned to looking at the board and seeing the rest of the matches. And we weren't going to win so then it became kind of dejected and my sense of elation of beating Tiger was over really, because I'm all about the team.

Mike Gonzalez  02:37

Well, I mean, you went 3-1-1 that competition. I've got to suspect that this being your fourth Presidents Cup, even though you were experienced, being at home, I would suspect the pressure you felt was a little different than the first three.

Weir, Mike  02:51

It did. Being a captain's pick at home in Canada. I, of course, had the utmost respect for Gary Player and wanted to show that I was worthy of the pick so I was glad, outside of even the singles match against Tiger, I played well the rest of the week. And in team competition, it was I think the other match I had two wins with Ernie. Ernie and I always paired up well together. And I guess I did lose a match there somewhere. But Ernie and I really paired up well together that that week as well.

Mike Gonzalez  03:21

So your co Captain experience, course you worked with these captains; Nick Price in 2017, Ernie Els 2019 and then Trevor Immelman, most recently in 2022. Can you think of things specifically that you're drawing from one or more of those guys, as you go into your own captaincy?

Weir, Mike  03:38

I think the thing that I've learned is you just have to be yourself. I think those guys they didn't change who they were and their approach. You know, Trevor's a detail guy and that's how he was. Ernie is as well, but his confidence and his aura about him, I think made him a great player and also a great leader. He's a calm, leader. He's passionate for sure. And I think what I learned is you just have to be yourself.  I think that's the biggest thing I learned. I mean, I'm a very detailed person. So I'm trying to get, you know, all the T's crossed and the I's dotted. So when the competition actually does start, I feel prepared in everything. I feel like I've done everything behind the scenes to, I don't want to have any regrets. So all that's taken care of, so I can just be myself and clear the path for the players to do their best. Like I've done everything for them and now it's their job to go out there and play and our job as captain and assistant captains is to put the pairings together the best we can. And, I tend to be kind of a quiet person, but I'm quite passionate as well. And so there'll be some talks in there that I'll give and it'll just come from the heart. I'm sure there'll be a little bit of preparation there. But a lot of mine is from just the passion I have for the game and yeah, just being authentically myself.

Mike Gonzalez  05:14

Yeah. Well, good luck to you as you as you lead the international team in that competition

Devlin, Bruce  05:19

It'll be a great tournament. I think.

Weir, Mike  05:21

I do too. We have a lot of guys playing really well. Right now, a lot of wins have happened lately, amongst our international guys, and it's exciting. 

Mike Gonzalez  05:31

It's gonna be fun to just see some of these guys just sort of pop off the page at you that maybe weren't at top of mind, but all of a sudden, boy.

Weir, Mike  05:39

Oh, yeah, we have Ryan Fox from New Zealand who won the BMW Championship on the European tour. Minwoo Lee is  really making a strong showing for such a young man already. I was looking at the list this morning of the top 16 eligible right now. There's five Canadians in the top 16. I mean, there's a lot of choices. There's gonna be some tough choices for me in those six picks and but exciting stuff. A lot of good play. Erik van Rooyan from South Africa just won on the PGA Tour. Camilo Villegas just won an inspiring win recently. There's a lot of guys doing some great things.

Mike Gonzalez  06:16

So we've talked about your PGA career and talked about the majors. Talked about team play. At some point, if you are like most guys, you get in your mid late 40s and you may have a little bit of timeframe to bridge to get to that next career, which is going to start at age 50. What was your experience with that?

Weir, Mike  06:36

That bridge time? 

Mike Gonzalez  06:37

Yeah. 

Weir, Mike  06:38

That bridge time was probably the most difficult time of my life, to be honest with you. It was not only professionally, but personally it was, you know, to be honest, it was very difficult time going through divorce, having teenage girls dealing with that, my game was not very good. And, you know, I was kind of caught between, like, I knew the effort I needed to put into my game to kind of get back but realizing my girls need me a little bit more. So I took a little bit of a step away for a while and took care of things at home first, and then started to try to build my game back and kind of in my mid to late 40s started playing some more events and trying to, with the eye on the Champions Tour, started trying to build my game back as soon as my girls started feeling better about things. And, I felt like they were good.

Mike Gonzalez  07:33

So you get to age 50. You go out on the Senior Tour. Of course you get to see a bunch of old buddies again, and the competitive juices start flowing again. Tell us a little bit about your first two or three year experience on the Senior Tour.

Weir, Mike  07:47

It's been great. I mean I think it's eye opening in some ways, still the level of competition that the guys are playing. The the work that players put in. These guys still work really hard at their games. The big difference I tell people is obviously the distance that the guys hit compared to the regular tour. But outside of that all the skill areas of the game are on par with the regular tour. I mean, you put Steve Stricker's short game against anybody or Bernard Langer against anybody in short game, you're not going to out-short game those guys. So skill level is still really high. So but it's a lower key atmosphere. It's funner. It's lighter. There's not 100 guys on the range and agents, coaches. You can talk a little bit before you go out, you're actually chatting on the range a little bit before your tee time where that never happened my last few years on the PGA Tour. So it's really fun and good to connect and have a little bit more camaraderie and a little bit more levity than the regular tour.

Mike Gonzalez  08:55

So, I know it's hard to predict. But how long do you think you might do this on a regular basis? And then what's next for you?

Weir, Mike  09:04

Well, I'm still driven and motivated. I still want to play. I mean, this year will probably be much like this year, I played probably five or six less tournaments this year than normal. Next year probably be the same, maybe even more with the Presidents Cup year. 

Mike Gonzalez  09:18

You're gonna to be busy. 

Weir, Mike  09:19

Yeah. I might play 16 to 18 events where if I played 22 or 23 was kind of maybe my first year.

Devlin, Bruce  09:29

You better go back and play on a good Golf Course you won on though?

Weir, Mike  09:33

Yeah, yeah, I get to play there and in Houston, and

Devlin, Bruce  09:38

You know who built that Golf Course?

Weir, Mike  09:41

Did you build that? 

Mike Gonzalez  09:44

He sure did.

Weir, Mike  09:45

I didn't know that. No wonder I did so well on that.

Mike Gonzalez  09:49

That was the 2021 Insperity that you won by two over Daly, Petrovik and David Toms.

Weir, Mike  09:57

Yeah, yeah, that was Fun. It was a it was actually very, very exciting back nine. I was right around John Daly, we were kind of tied and on that par 5, fourteen I believe over the water

Devlin, Bruce  10:17

 13 

Weir, Mike  10:18

13, 13 sorry. John was in the group in front and I hit a really good drive out there and I'm waiting in the fairway and I see him knock in a 40 foot eagle putt and the crowds going nuts and I proceeded to follow it up with a five iron to about two feet for my own eagle after he walked off the green so that actually really fun. And you know, really played well the next the next few holes. Played some great golf down the stretch to get that win so, that 18th hole's a tough hole.

Devlin, Bruce  10:48

You've got to play pretty good those last four or five holes.

Weir, Mike  10:51

You do. You've got to stand up there, I stood up there with a, I guess I at the time I was tied for the lead. And I didn't know John had hit it in the water on 18 with his second shot. But I stood up there and hit a striper right down there on 18 and left myself an eight iron, you know, hit it 20 feet or something. So it was fun. You know, it's fun to get yourself back in the mix. And yeah, can I see myself continuing to play for a while, you know, especially with that one guy, Tiger Woods who could be coming out here pretty soon. That'll be hopefully exciting to compete against him again. He looks like he's moving well, and he wants to come out there and at least win those Champions Tour majors. And maybe dabble in a few other events. So that'd be great to see him out there too. 

Mike Gonzalez  11:38

There probably was a time, wasn't there, maybe 15 years ago where at least the word on the street was he'd never consider playing as a senior. And now I think his mentality has changed hasn't it?

Weir, Mike  11:51

You hear that quite a bit where guys?, I think that was the thing Jack and Arnold told him,  he told Arnold that "I'm not going to play that Champions Tour" or Seniors Tour, whatever it was called back in the day. And Arnold said, "well, that's fine, I'm still going to be playing. So if you don't want to show up, it's fine." Sure enough, when Jack turned 50, he played the majors and played some others. But you know, until you lose that drive, and that competition, golf is a game you can always work towards and keep learning and getting better. You see Bernard, you know, he's always working on something and feels like he can improve at 67 years old. That's pretty cool.

Mike Gonzalez  12:30

That's incredible. Well, at some point, let's just assume, because everybody goes through this, let's just assume you do lose your drive and ambition. And now it's time to go to plan B, What's plan B for you? Do you know yet?

Weir, Mike  12:43

I thought about a little bit. I have a great foundation, that I'm very proud of what we've done there. I think I probably would do a little bit, I've talked to my girls and my wife about doing a little bit more traveling where I'm not taking the clubs with me and exploring some different places around the world that I'd like to see. That's something, but I think the kind of person I am, I'd want to do something. I don't know what that would be. I do enjoy giving back. So maybe it would be coaching or consulting with players as they kind of work towards their own professional dreams. I've always thought like, Professional Golf has kind of lacked that where tennis in particular, they use a lot of former players, a lot of the current players use, you know maybe an expert server or volleyer, and they bring in a McEnroe or they bring in, I mean Djokovic has Goran Ivanisevic help him with his serve and you hear all these things, different players, and golf has kind of lacked, that . There's a few more guys now, consulting, that were former players, but I think that'll be the evolution of golf going forward is former players helping out a little bit more because of their experience.

Mike Gonzalez  14:00

I think you'd make a great mentor of some sort for young up and coming players, not necessarily an agent or anything like that, but just the aspects that you think you would enjoy.

Weir, Mike  14:11

Yeah, and I think I would enjoy that. I love being in this position I am in with the President's Cup. When I've been one of the assistant captains and watching these young guys reach their potential is very exciting for me. When they perform under pressure. When Tom Kim stood up there, on that 18th hole there in Charlotte, with the U.S. team pulling their carts behind, and he laced a two-iron in there from about 220 yards to 15 feet and knocked that putt in right in front of them. I mean, I was just so excited for him, you know that. Boy, that's a step, you're talking about these little steps, that's a little step that he can use in his own career when he gets in contention in a major championship. And I just love seeing that. So I would really enjoy helping somebody along and seeing their progression and building their confidence up.

Devlin, Bruce  15:03

So, Mike, you wouldn't get the criticism that Mr. Trevino has already offered on many occasions by saying that if the guy can't beat me, why would I listen to him? You wouldn't fit that bill so,

Weir, Mike  15:22

I wouldn't fit that bill. 

Devlin, Bruce  15:23

You'd have a big supporter in Lee Trevino saying, "Hey, you better listen to what Mike Weir has to say."

Mike Gonzalez  15:29

The other thing I'll just touch on, Mike, I think you were there weren't you at the Canadian Championship this year with that exciting finish?

Devlin, Bruce  15:36

Oh, boy. 

Weir, Mike  15:36

Yeah, that was incredible this year at the Canadian Open. Nick Taylor doing what he did. Yes, I was back at my friend's house watching it on TV which was only 15 minutes away from the Golf Course, because I had finished earlier in the day. And I'm like, something special might happen here. I better go back out to the course. And sure enough, I got back there right when he was teeing off on 18 and was able to watch him come up there. Oh, it was just great. It was a great scene. Great for Canadian golf. Great for him. Couldn't happen to a better guy. Nick's a great guys Happy for him.

Mike Gonzalez  16:12

One of the great golf highlights of the year, worldwide. We want to come back to the Mike Weir Foundation. But before we do, Bruce, of course, you go through the list of awards and accolades that have been bestowed upon Mike Weir. It's quite a list.

Devlin, Bruce  16:27

You bet. 2000, 2001, 2003 Lionel Conacher Award given to Canada's top male athlete, that was pretty nice.

Weir, Mike  16:38

That was nice.

Devlin, Bruce  16:41

Also, appointed as a member of the Order of Ontario in 2003. And then, went a step higher in 2007, was appointed Member of the Order of Canada. So you and I have something in common. We have something in common. Mine's not in Canada,  mine is in Australia.

Weir, Mike  17:03

What did they call it, did they call it the Order there as well?

Devlin, Bruce  17:06

Same thing? Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez  17:08

You're probably looking up at it right now Bruce aren't upiu?

Devlin, Bruce  17:10

Yeah, it's right there.

Weir, Mike  17:13

Yeah, cool.

Mike Gonzalez  17:13

Well, the other thing that was was pretty cool was being awarded the 2003 Lou Marsh trophy, which I guess is now called the Northern Star Award. Is that right? 

Weir, Mike  17:23

Oh, I didn't realize they changed that.

Mike Gonzalez  17:25

I didn't either until I just refreshed my research on you, because at least two years ago, when we talked to you about it, I wasn't aware of that. But that's awarded annually to Canada's not just male athlete or golfer, it's Canada's top athlete for all of sports, which is which quite an honor. Larry Walker, Sid Crosby, Steve Nash, Joey Votto. Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Ben Johnson, just to name a few. That's pretty high company there.

Weir, Mike  18:01

Yeah, it's a great award and those are great names. We have a lot of great athletes in Canada. And I think maybe I was the first golfer. So that was pretty special. Because I've always looked at it as an athletic endeavor. You know, I've always treated it as like being an athlete first and golfer kind of secondary. So that was big for me.

Devlin, Bruce  18:24

Top them all off the Mike with the 2017 induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. That had to be a thrill for you.

Weir, Mike  18:32

Yeah, that was a thrill. You know, that was a great ceremony. And my current wife, Michelle is when we first started dating. So, I don't think she knew what she was getting into. She got get to see what, what Canada was all about. She came up to the ceremony and my parents and of course, my kids were there. It was, it was really cool.

Mike Gonzalez  18:53

So, we'll come back to the Foundation. Bruce was always intrigued with anybody who was in the wine business. Of course, at some point, you had a connection to a wine business that I guess probably contributed something to the Mike Weir Foundation, but tell us about your Foundation, how long has it been in existence? What kinds of things do you focus on in terms of your support?

Weir, Mike  19:17

Yeah, the Mike Weir Foundation, I guess I'll go back to my early days on the PGA Tour. It goes back to playing in Memphis. And the tour had six or seven of us go to the Memphis Children's Hospital there. And that was my first really introduction to what goes on when a child has maybe a rare form of cancer. Not only what what the child has to go through but what the parents go through, the whole process. And I was at an age there that, my first daughter had just been born and lucky enough to be healthy. And it just made me think like, what would I do if our family was was struck with this. And so I thought if I'm ever positioned to have a foundation, that's where I want to put my attention. So I started with the annual trip, a lot of children's charitable contributions. We'd host golf tournaments to help raise money for various things. We were involved with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals for a long time. I believe there's 12 or 13 of those across Canada. And every year for a number of years, we'd do an event at a different city where a Children's Miracle Network Hospital was. For whatever they needed. A certain hospital might need new incubators or something, and we'd do a golf fundraiser to raise some money to get new incubators, or the kids might need a new game room because a lot of the kids, when they're going through treatment, they have a lot of downtime, and they might need a new Playstation. Or they didn't like the color of the room, they want the room painted differently, or whatever that might be. So that was an affiliation we had for a long time. And then recently, we've been more involved with children's mental health. And this year, we opened, in my hometown of Sarnia, because of there was nothing available there for kids who are struggling, so we opened a mental health facility in Sarnia, where kids can, you know, the system in Canada is a little bit behind where if the kid's in crisis, they have to make an appointment, it might be a couple of months or longer until they can get into see one. And that's just not acceptable. And this is a facility that if someone's struggling, the parents or them themselves can go right in, talk to somebody right away, have a place to get some food. We opened a place called Weir Active, associated with this facility where a lot of mental health, if you can get a kid active, that's a big thing. So these two facilities are really big in our community. And so we just had the grand opening the summer,and it's going well, so far

Mike Gonzalez  21:51

Well that's great. I think you're serving a need too that I think COVID probably exacerbated a little bit don't you think?

Weir, Mike  22:00

No doubt we there was a big spike in mental health in general, but children's mental health, for sure.

Mike Gonzalez  22:07

Well, congratulations. Good for you. 

Weir, Mike  22:10

Thanks. Yeah. Proud of that one. 

Mike Gonzalez  22:13

Well, Bruce Devlin, as you know, we always wrap up with our guests with our three final questions. And I always defer to the elder statesman.

Devlin, Bruce  22:22

Well, my first question, Mr. Weir is if you knew what you know now, when you first started to play professional golf, what would you have done differently?

Weir, Mike  22:38

Well, that's a great question. What would I do differently? I think, Boy, I don't know what I would have done differently. I think what I knew at that time,

Devlin, Bruce  22:55

No, now you're a lot smarter now, though back then. Now you're taking what you know now back then.

Weir, Mike  23:02

Oh, I'm taking what I know now back then. 

Devlin, Bruce  23:03

Yeah. What would you have done differently?

Weir, Mike  23:08

I would have prioritized my practice a little bit differently. I think back then, because I was just digging it out of the dirt so to speak, there was all these countless hours of maybe not as focused practice and what I really needed to work on.

Devlin, Bruce  23:24

 Not as much productivity. 

Weir, Mike  23:26

Yeah, not as much productivity. I think I would have gotten through it a little faster, with a little bit more organized, and what I actually need with the knowledge I have now on what I really need to work on, so I think my time management would have been a lot better. So that would have been, I think that would probably been the big one. It would have been a lot more productive practice. 

Devlin, Bruce  23:46

Yeah, Mike.

Mike Gonzalez  23:47

You're not the first guest that has come up with that one, by the way. 

Weir, Mike  23:50

Oh, really? Okay. 

Mike Gonzalez  23:51

Yes. Same thing about just being more focused and as you said, just a planned out practice. Because they realized for example, some after they had kids, they realized that they needed to get a lot more efficient with their time. 

Devlin, Bruce  24:06

Yeah. 

Weir, Mike  24:07

Yeah. 

Mike Gonzalez  24:08

And that's what they fell back to. Yeah. All right. Second one. You get to do one golf shot over in your professional career, one mulligan. Can you think of one that would have really made a difference?

Weir, Mike  24:21

One Mulligan. I think one that comes to mind is, well two that come to mind. First one that came to mind was that U.S. Open 2006 at Winged Foot on Saturday. On the 18th hole, the pin was tucked left up on this little shelf and I was playing really well and I attacked this pin with a seven iron. Hit a beautiful shot right at it. Just took a bit of a hard bounce and went into the back bunker and there I was short-sided. Flopped it out but it was like running away. The closest I could keep it was 40 feet. I three-putted from there and made a double bogey. And looking back, if I were to play a little bit more conservatively taking my chances on a 30 foot putt or something, I would have had a lot better chance to win that U.S O.pen because I was really playing well that year of 2006. And the second one would be the Canadian Open in 2004. The 16th hole I may have been one shot ahead I believe going into a hole. Hit a great drive eight or nine iron right over the pin. I had a downhill slippery putt. And in my head I thought if I make this 15 foot or 16, 18 footer or whatever it was, there's no way anybody could beat me because the  17th and 18th holes a par five. And I got a little aggressive with that first putt and it ran three feet by and I missed it coming back three or four feet by and I missed it coming back and three putted. So if I had that putt to do over again I would have just hit it with the proper pace. Just goes to show you when you're a little overconfident sometimes and it can show up to bite and I end up losing in a playoff to Vijay that year. But that putt, if I would have just cozied it down there, maybe things would have been different.

Mike Gonzalez  26:18

Yeah. Well, I can tell you on that shot at Shinnecock and Bruce correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Mr. Hogan would have scolded him for that. 

Devlin, Bruce  26:24

Yes, he would have .

Mike Gonzalez  26:25

Attacking that pin with a seven iron

Weir, Mike  26:27

Yeah, yeah, that was one I was feeling so good. And it was such a beautiful shot. I mean, it couldn't have landed and I thought any better. Had the right touch to it, but still landed hard, U.S O.pen green it landed a little harder and just got into the back bunker, which was a no no.

Devlin, Bruce  26:43

Okay, last question. How would you like Mike Weir to be remembered?

Weir, Mike  26:52

Oh, wow. I would like to be remembered. I guess I'd like to be remembered as a tough competitor. But I think more importantly, I think I want to be remembered as a good father to my kids. And someone that was good around his friends. that had a big circle of friends and family that was most important to me golf. I want golf to be, golf's very important, but secondary. And that, I think that's more important to me than what I did on a Golf Course

Devlin, Bruce  27:32

Mike and I will remember something and that is the time that you spent with us today. It's been our pleasure to have you Mike Weir and thanks for your time and play good on the Senior Tour buddy.

Weir, Mike  27:47

Appreciate it Bruce. Mike. Thanks. Appreciate it guys.

Mike Gonzalez  27:50

Thanks for getting back to us to tell the rest of your story.

Weir, Mike  27:54

That was fun. I appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez  27:57

Thank you for listening to another episode of FORE the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word and tell your friends. Until we tee it up again, FORE the Good of the Game, so long everybody.

Music playing  28:16