It may well be the end of the road for Mike Weir as a fully-exempt member of the PGA Tour.
The 40-year-old from Bright's Grove, Ontario will probably need a top-five finish at this weekend's Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, or face losing his fully-exempt PGA status.
Should he lose that status, he will still be able to play in about 10-15 PGA events per year, but he may not be able to choose all of his events in advance.
Weir missed time last season with a torn ligament in his elbow. He chose to rest and rehabilitate the injury instead of undergoing surgery, and eventually finished 151st on the PGA money list - outside of the top 125 players who automatically retained their 2011 Tour cards.
The eight-time PGA winner was granted a major medical exemption to play this season, but the requirements of the exemption allowed Weir five tournaments to make up the approximately $227,000 in prize money between his placement and the No. 125 ranking.
The 2003 Masters champion has earned just $10,788 through four events this season, and has missed the cut three times.
Should Weir fail to make up the difference this week, he will be mostly limited to playing tournaments based on sponsor's exemptions. In addition, the amount that he has earned this season has pushed him back up from No. 151 into the Top 125-150 ranking range, which opens up more opportunities for him to play based on field availability.
As a Masters champion, he has a lifetime exemption to play at Augusta National each April. He can also play the Frys.com open in October as a former champion. And he would certainly be granted an exemption to play at the RBC Canadian Open, should he not be in the Top 125-150 range.
Weir also holds two one-time exemptions that can return him to full-time status in 2012, as a player who stands in the Top 25 and Top 50 all-time in earnings with nearly $27 million in official money over his career.
After winning the Masters, Weir peaked at fifth in the world rankings. He is now at No. 226.
(pic and story courtesy Canadian Press)
8 comments:
Mike Weir got lucky for four days and has been capitalizing on it ever since. He won and everyone made a big deal of it. Has he ever been top 10 in another major? I don't think so.
Less attention on Weir and more on the Weyburn kid.
On TV golf looks easy. I play and can tell you it is not an easy game.Just when things seem to be on track, the golf Gods bring you back to earth!! Wier had an injury that takes time to heal. Additionally the head game take some time as well. I suspect he is done and will never attain premier status again. Pity.
Mike Weir did not get "lucky". He won the Master's, which is likely the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. He also has 8 PGA Tour wins to his name... Not 100% sure of the numbers, but I bet there aren't very many guys currently playing that have more than 8 victories on their resume. And yes, Weir has been in the top 10 a total of 9 times in majors since winning the Masters, so he did remain competitive after getting "lucky". Weir is the best golfer ever to come out of Canada, so let's give him some props for that.
Chris
Lucky for 4 days? Whatever dude - you know nothing about golf...
Mike Weir is Canada's golfing king and deserves respect for his Master's win, and his 7 other tour victories...
He wasn't lucky for sure and we all know that... even the person who posted otherwise. However, he is S@#$@tting the bed pretty bad right now. The only other seasons that have been this bad by golfers of his caliber are Craig Perks, David Duval and John Daly. Actually, Weir's season is even worse than their worst...
How do you rate him then? He has been amazing and he is absolutely crap right now and that is a FACT. Call it what you want, peg it up to what you feel is right... regardless of which, he is better (way) than all of us.
Rutledge and Spittle (Canada's senior tag team)
:-)
Hey Anonymous....you don't win the Masters by getting lucky for four days....that's an insult to him and it pretty much sums up your knowledge of the game....zero.
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