Most of us are hoping against hope that any Canadian will get in contention this week, and because he has been the face of Canadian golf for more than a decade, perhaps Weirsy more than the rest.
He apparently has returned to the Stack and Tilt guru's Bennett and Plummer in an attempt to return to the player he once was.
He will likely never have as good a chance to win his National Championship as he did at the Abbey in 2004, and I was there to broadcast Fairways that year along with colleagues Scott Metcalfe and Bob Weeks.
He had never done well at the Glen Abbey,never even making the cut but he was at his peak, having won the Masters and T3 at the US Open at Olympia Fields in 2003. He was ranked #3 in the world..
He opened with 68,65 to take a 1 shot lead over Vijay going into the weekend. By Saturday night his round of 70 gave him a 3 shot lead. The pressure was unbelievable.
Scott and I were scheduled on air throughout that Sunday, coming back on after the Jays game around 4pm and were calling the play off a little TV screen Scott had brought from home in our booth in the media center which is at the bottom of the players car park, not far from the 10th green.
We were invited up to the Pengrowth suite for lunch, and we went first to watch Weirsy warm up. He was last on the range, a lone figure in his Sunday black, just striping 3 wood after 3 wood like laser beams into the wind. It was he and caddy Bennan's last moments of solitude, just a hundred yards away from an insanely expectant and massive Canadian crowd. "Every step of the way, every shot, good or not so good, they were cheering me on. There were times when it was so loud, I was almost deaf from the screams"
It was 50 years since Pat Fletcher had won at Point Grey GC in Vancouver, it was the RCGA's 100 anniversary, and we had also lost one of our greats, Moe Norman earlier in the year. The stage was set..
He began in the worst way with a double bogey, but then had 4 birdies and a bogey at 7 to go out in -1 35. He still kept his 3 shot lead after a birdie on 10 as he went into the valley. He made bogey at the tough 11th then again at the par 5 13th before parring his way in.Vijay Singh was hanging around out in 33, he ended up shooting -3 69 with birdies at 16 and crucially at 18, to finish at -9. Mike could only make par on that 18th "On the 72nd hole, the ball just curled to the right in front of the cup" he said later. He also finished at -9 and the sudden death playoff was on starting at 18.
By now Scott and I were doing play by play, one of our greatest days on Fairways and I had the shotlink service from the PGA tour up on the computer so we knew the yardages.
18 was playing downwind and Vijay had been driving the ball right up to the pond, almost 375 yards, leaving himself with just 9 irons in, a huge advantage, and that's what he did on that 1st playoff hole, while Mike's drive ended up in a strip of grass between the two fairway bunkers on the left side
He couldn't have had a stance if he wasn't left handed, but he played an unbelievable 5 iron as I recall to within 25 feet, on almost the same line as the putt on the 72nd. Vijay missed his eagle, now Weirsy for the win.. "I had almost the same line and I expected the ball to take the same turn, but it never did. It stayed out to the left on the high side" The crowd's groan was audible over our headsets in the media centre !
Off to the par 4 17th, festooned with bunkers, I remember Vijay made bogey 5 and Mike had just 5 feet for par to win.. "On the second playoff hole, on the 17th, I expected my putt to break left. I had just seen Vijay's lip out after moving sharply to the right and I thought my ball, from the other side, would do the same thing"
The crowd, indeed the nation stood still.... He missed, he missed !!
That was the knockout punch in my opinion...You couldn't give Vijay who would have been quite happy to see Mike win, that many chances..
Back to 18 for the third playoff hole, and as if the golf God couldn't stand it, the media center was hit by a power black out !! We lost everything, TV, computers, all that was working was our phone line back to the station, but we couldn't see a damn thing !!
Finally the back up generator kicked in and we got a picture back just in time to see Mike who had hit a poor drive, then laid up, hit his third shot into the water.Vijay, huge off the tee again was safely on the green in two, then just two putted for the Championship and became the world's #1 player. He whispered to Mike, "I'm happy to win but sorry it isn't you"
(Singh finished the 2004 season with a career-best nine victories, 18 top-10s, and a record $10,905,166 in earnings and was named the PGA Tour's and PGA of America's Player of the Year. He was also the European Tour Player of the Year)
We were just crushed, and when Mike came into the media center with his IMG rep he was as beat up as I have ever seen him, "In shock" was how Scott described him on air.. He could barely talk, although I do remember him saying he would recover and be back strong again.. In fact he didn't win again until 2007 at the Fry's.
The next day he released this on his website...
No one wanted to win the Bell Canadian Open more than I did.
It would have been a great way to do it, too, with the 100th anniversary of the tournament, 50 years since the Pat Fletcher won and with Moe's passing.
It just wasn't to be. I certainly had chances to finish it off, but I wasn't able to capitalize on them. And after coming so close, it's a tough way to lose. I can't say I didn't have chances to win it. I hit three putts that I thought were going to give me the win. On the 72nd hole, the ball just curled to the right in front of the cup. And then in the playoff, I had almost the same line and I expected the ball to take the same turn, but it never did. It stayed out to the left on the high side.
On the second playoff hole, on the 17th, I expected my putt to break left. I had just seen Vijay's lip out after moving sharply to the right and I thought my ball, from the other side, would do the same thing. As good a player as Vijay is, you just can't give him that many lives and expect to win the golf tournament
I want to thank everyone of you who came to the Abbey or watched on TV.Every step of the way, every shot, good or not so good, they were cheering me on. There were times when it was so loud, I was almost deaf from the screams...
I hope this has helped you remember that most dramatic day in Canadian golf, a day when all the stars we aligned in the sky, but as Mike Weir said later "It just wasn't to be."
Maybe this year ???.....
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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