The ongoing struggles of Mike Weir
1443.
That’s the current world ranking of 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir. Of all 34 ranked Canadians, Weir sits 34th. It’s been a stunning fall from grace for the Brights Grove native who climbed golf’s highest mountain in April of 2003. Golf is known for one-hit wonders; guys who have a good week or two, win a big tournament and are never heard from again, but Weir was different. His five PGA Tour wins prior to putting on the green jacket, and the two victories after suggest that Weir was not supposed to disappear into the ether.
Weir spent 106 weeks in the top-10 of the World Rankings, peaking at number three for five weeks in 2003, behind only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Even now, despite not winning a tournament in nearly five years, Weir remains in 18th place in all-time career earnings at nearly $27 million. His lingering injury concerns, most notably a torn ligament in his right elbow that prematurely ended his 2010 season, have been a major driving force behind his struggles. He started the 2011 season on a major medical exemption, but didn’t earn enough money to retain his PGA Tour card. At this point, he’s relying mostly on sponsor invites to get into events. He’ll always be able to play in the Masters by virtue of his 2003 victory, and you’d have to think that he will always be invited to the Canadian Open, but outside of those tournaments, Weir’s going to have to earn his starts.
This week, Weir is playing in the Reno-Tahoe Open, one of the Tour’s “B” events. Most of the game’s biggest stars are of course in Akron for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a tournament Weir hasn’t been eligible to play in since 2010. Two years ago, Weir had fallen considerably in the World Rankings to 90th. Fast forward to the present day and in that two year time frame, Weir has dropped a staggering 1353 spots further. Since last playing in the WGC-Bridgestone in 2010, Weir has played 29 events. He’s made three cuts, with his best finish a T52 in Spain earlier this year. The other events? Twenty-four missed cuts and two withdrawals.
At 42 years of age, it was only natural that Weir would begin to slow down, but some of the stats paint an ugly picture for Canada’s most famous golfer. These stats are updated through the Canadian Open last week, compared to his 2003 season.
- Zero rounds shot under 70 through eleven events this season compared to 23 rounds under 70 in 2003.
- On measured holes, he’s lost 30 yards of distance off the tee.
- 38% FIR vs. 63% in 2003.
- 43% GIR vs 65% in 2003.
- Par 3 Birdie or Better: 9.6% vs. 17.2%
- Par 4 Birdie or Better: 10.1% vs. 17.9%
- Par 5 Birdie or Better: 24% vs. 46.5%
- Scoring Average: 75.96 vs. 69.89
- Scrambling: (48%) vs. (62%)
- Avg. Distance after going for it: 85yds vs. 25yds
Weir was never a big hitter, but the loss of thirty yards off the tee, combined with the par-5 birdie or better average are probably the most alarming stats. Most pros make their move up the leaderboard because of par-5’s, and Weir clearly has lost the ability to do that. His trademark accuracy has also left him, as he’s dropped 25% and 22% in fairways and greens hit.
In his pre-tournament presser at the Canadian Open, Weir mentioned that he’s really looking towards next year and that any quality golf played before that would just be a bonus. Is he still hurt? He claims he isn’t, and that it’s just a matter of getting more reps on the course. The track record for most golfers after the age of 40 is not good, so Weir is already fighting an uphill battle even if he has a clean bill of health. Since winning the Frys.com Open in 2007, Weir has only finished in the top-10 fifteen times, and hasn’t had one of those top-10’s since the Humana in early 2010.
It’s not impossible that Weir finds it at some point, but the chances are getting slimmer by the day. I mentioned earlier that he wasn’t a one-hit wonder, and I do believe that. However, golf also has tons of stories of incredible highs and dizzying lows over an extended period of time. David Duval, Steve Stricker, John Daly, and potentially Paul Casey are just four examples of recent golfers who have succeeded and struggled with consistency.
Currently, Weir doesn’t have any tournaments listed on his site past the Reno-Tahoe Open. He may think he’s close to regaining his form, but without the tournaments, we may never find out.
AdamSarson.com 
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