After years of carrying the flag all alone, Mike Weir has some Canadian company poised to make a weekend run at a major golf championship. Weir manufactured a tidy round of even-par 70 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club at Southampton, N.Y., yesterday to maintain his one-under-par standing, just off the top-10 after 36 holes of the United States Open. The past few years his name has become a leaderboard staple in the major events.

This time, though, he was joined on the fringes of contention by Stephen Ames, the Trinidadian transplant and longtime Calgary resident who became a Canadian citizen this year. Ames tied the low round of the tournament with a 66, flirting with the course record of 65 much of the day.

Combined with the round of 74 he shot on opening day, Ames is at level par, just seven shots off the lead at the mid-point.

With the field now sorting itself out into those who can and those who can't win the tournament, both Canadians are well into the go-zone. Given the harsh conditions at Shinnecock that are expected to make par a very good score today and tomorrow, if either or both Weir or Ames is able to get deeper below par, they will be very much in the hunt.

"I like my position," said Weir, who is playing his sixth Open and hoping to improve on his third-place finish of last year.

"I'm in red numbers and probably five or six out of the lead. All you can ask for is to be in contention on Sunday. If I play a decent round (today) that's where I'll be."

Ames, playing in his third Open, has never even won a regular PGA Tour event, but he has six top-10 finishes in his past eight events, amassing $1.74 million US in earnings already this year.

"A lot of it is the Nike driver I'm using," Ames said. "And maybe, at 40, I'm finally maturing. I don't know. I'm just playing golf."

He also believes he's ready to win, even though he has never been in the weekend pressure-cooker at a major.

"I think I only missed three fairways," he said. "That's the main thing at the U.S. Open: Get the ball in play. Even at that, I left a few shots out there because I had some three-putts that cost me.

CONFIDENCE

"I've had that confidence that I can win for about two months now. I think it's showed in my play. To me, it's just a matter of time before I break through."

Yesterday he backed that conviction with matching nine-hole scores of 33. When he came to the ninth green, his 18th hole of the day, he needed only a par to match the course record but three-putted for bogey.

"I've never been here (in contention) before," he said. "It's all new. I'm just going to take it in stride and see what happens. To me, this is all experience."

Weir has been in this position many times and his bulldog attitude reflects the tenacity that will be required today and tomorrow.

In both his first two rounds, he weathered rough patches and made the all-important bounce-back birdies that kept his rounds from going off the rails.

On Thursday, he opened with a pair of bogeys but battled back to finish at one-under. Yesterday he double-bogeyed the sixth hole, bogeyed the seventh but then came right back with a stabilizing birdie at the eighth. He finished off his second round with three birdies on the back nine to claw his way back to even par.

Now the fun begins.

The golf course most certainly will play harder today and tomorrow. Maybe the wind will blow. The diabolical minds at the USGA will find corners to hide the flags and put birdies at a premium. Collars will get tight.

And, in the end, someone will reach down deep and grab this championship as his own. Right now, there are realistically about 20-25 players in the mix.

And, for the first time Mike Weir has some Canadian help just as the heavy lifting begins.