Weir Ends Season in Fine Form

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Mike Weir isn’t tempted to let momentum carry him into the final couple of official events left on the PGA Tour schedule. He’s shutting it down until he plays in the Chevron World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, just before Christmas.

His final round was a thing of beauty as Weir shot a 63 at the Frys.com Open at the Grayhawk Golf Club Raptor course here on Sunday. His six birdies and an eagle against just a single bogey took Weir from 24th to a tie for fourth to conclude a particularly strong second half in 2008.

“After this week, I’m going to have off until Tiger’s event in California (just before Christmas), but I’m just going to try to be at home. I’m hoping for it to snow hard, so I can get some skiing in before the season starts up in January,” said Weir.

“I’m tired,” he said. “I put everything I had into this week and practiced hard. I’m ready for a break and my family’s ready for me to be home for awhile.”

His performance on Sunday sends Weir into the off-season in a positive frame of mind, his happy thoughts similar to the ones he had last year after winning the Scottsdale event and beating Tiger Woods in front of a national audience at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal.

His victory in the Valley of the Sun last year ended a winless streak of three-and-a-half years that included 87 starts.

“I think it definitely restored some confidence. I was still confident in my game and I was playing well,” recalled Weir, who tied the late George Knudson for most victories by a Canadian on the PGA Tour with the win in Scottsdale.

“When you’re able to do that, come through, it just reminds you that you can still do it when you need to and have to do it,” said Weir.

“It was a much nicer off-season, finishing with a win like that. I did go overseas and play and represent Canada in the World Cup in China last year, but outside of that, it was a nice, relaxing, very satisfying off-season with the way I finished the year with the Presidents Cup and winning here,” he said.

While he didn’t successfully defend in Scottsdale this year, Weir can also enjoy the off-season this year after finishing off with another top-10.

“Today, the conditions were right to go after it. The greens were fairly soft. It was a day, from the position I was in, I really needed to try and attack,” said Weir.

“I played well,” he added. “I had plenty of opportunities to even be lower. I missed probably four or five putts inside 10 feet. It really, really could have been a special round, but it was still a great round, a good way to finish on the last hole with a nice 25-footer (for birdie).”

Weir’s 2008 season began in much the same way as it finished as he finished fourth at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, but that was his lone top-10 until the beginning of June when Weir tied for second at the Memorial.

That finish illustrated that work on his short game was starting to pay off. While the latter stages of this year didn’t include a tournament win or a victory against the No. 1 player in the world, it was sprinkled with some sugar as Weir now had seven top-10s since the Memorial, including four in his last five events.

While the final stages of last season, when he recorded just four top-10s all year, was all about wins, the latter part of 2008 is all about consistency, especially in the FedEx Cup playoffs in which Weir tied for seventh at The Barclays, was runner-up at the Deutsche Bank and tied for sixth at the Tour Championship.

“I’ve been right there,” he said. “I’ve been knocking on the door and you’ve just got to have a few things go your way when you win a tournament and I just haven’t gotten over the hump, but put myself there and that’s a good thing for next year.”

Related Posts:

• Can Weir Come Back?
• Weir Prepares For Uncertain Future
• Weir’s Challenge Is Confidence, Not Swing
• Follow Your Own Advice, Beez
• How’s Your 2011 Season Going?