The Last Word
With all the attention on John Daly, Canada's Mike Weir looks to steal the spotlight as he prepares to defend his Nissan Open title tomorrow.
By KEN FIDLIN -- Toronto Sun
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- The fitness trailer is parked where it always is, handy to the PGA players' locker room.
It has become as essential to the Tour in the new millennium as Happy Hour in the men's lounge was a generation ago.
And a good thing, too.
Imagine how many of the fitness nuts on Tour might have gone into cardiac arrest at the news that John Daly and Craig Stadler won tournaments on the same weekend.
What are the odds of that?
Oh, the Nautilus machines and the LifeCycles and the medicine balls and the free weights are all still getting lots of action, but another weekend like last and that trailer might be gathering cobwebs.
Okay, maybe not.
Mike Weir, whose idea of a walk on the wild side is to indulge himself by staying up to watch his beloved Detroit Red Wings in overtime, just laughed when it was suggested he might want to re-think his health and fitness regimen.
Weir is here to defend his Nissan Open championship at one of the fabled old golf courses, Riviera Country Club, where all the old movie stars used to come out to play.
Weir's game is a testament to strength and fitness and hard work and, while he has a soft spot for Daly, he isn't planning any major changes in his fitness program.
"That was great for John," Weir said.
"I was really happy for him."
A year ago this time, Weir was in the midst of the run of his life, having won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, with bigger things to come at Augusta. Ironically, though he hasn't yet broken through this season, an argument can be made he has been striking the ball tee-to-green more purely in 2004 than in 2003.
It has been on the greens where Weir's performance has fallen short. Putting has always been one of his strengths and, just recently, he's seeing signs of a renaissance.
"The final round at Pebble I really started putting a lot better," he said. "It's always touchy to putt there when they're a little bit wet and bumpy, but I made a number of really nice putts there. It has given me a lot more confidence."
En route to his Nissan victory here last year, Weir came from well off the pace on Sunday to track down Charles Howell and beat him in a playoff.
One of Riviera's many unique features is the 10th hole, one of the great risk-reward propositions on the Tour. It is a 315-yard, par-4 with a tiny alleyway to the green between the yawning bunkers that invite players to try to drive it.
BUNKER WOES
Howell tried to drive the green in the playoff and got mired in a bunker. Weir laid up, hit it close and made birdie to win the tournament.
"The first two days, I hit driver and made a bogey and a par. The next three times, including the playoff, I laid up and made birdie every time," Weir said. "I won't be hitting driver there any time soon."
As is the case at many tournament venues these days, Riviera has added some length this year to try to combat the technological boom. Three of the final four holes have been lengthened.
"It's just the way it is," Weir said. "For the most part, the changes are just a way of trying to keep up with how far people are hitting the golf ball."
Weir is going to play this week and again next week at nearby La Costa in the Accenture Match Play championship, then take three weeks off before playing the Players Championship, BellSouth and the Masters on successive weekends.
In the meantime, he has some weighty decisions to make. Like, what to serve at the annual Champions dinner at Augusta National during Masters week. Tradition dictates that the reigning champion hosts the dinner and dictates the menu.
Weir is close to making some decisions.
"I have a buddy of mine from Sarnia who I grew up with, I've known him since I was six years old and he owns a restaurant," Weir said. "He's putting together a few ideas and we've been faxing ideas back and forth and we'll probably have it wrapped up in a couple of weeks."
Whatever it is, you can be sure it will be healthy stuff, no matter what Daly or Stadler might think.
