Mike WeirPhoto illustration The Globe and Mail. Source photo Andrew Redington/Getty Images/Getty Images
Mike Weir ended 2023 on a high note. On Nov. 19, he married his long-time companion Michelle Money in a private family ceremony in Hawaii beside the Pacific Ocean.
The greatest male golfer Canada has produced met his wife-to-be, a former contestant on The Bachelor, in 2016 and proposed last January during a trip to New Zealand.
The only Canadian to win the Masters, Weir accepted the green jacket at Augusta National in 2003 from the previous year’s winner, Tiger Woods. That same year he finished third at the U.S. Open and reached third in the world rankings.
Weir won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour and remains the lone Canadian man to win a major event. He grew up near Sarnia, Ont., and now the 53-year-old competes on the PGA Champions Tour. He finished 34th in the season-long standings for senior players last year and has one victory and six seconds since he joined that circuit in May, 2020.
Come September, he will be the International Team’s captain at the Presidents Cup when the match-play tournament is contested in Canada for just the second time. The event, which features 12 international players against 12 from the United States, began in 1994 and has been held 13 times. The only previous one in Canada was in 2007 at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, which will play host again in 2024.
Weir played in five Presidents Cups and was the International Team’s non-playing captain’s assistant on three occasions. He is the first Canadian to be handed the role of captain.
“I am very excited about it,” Weir says. “Right now we could have two, three or four Canadians involved and that would be wonderful. It shows that Canadian golf is stronger than ever.”
While he gets to choose the team, he realizes that beyond that he will have little control. For him, playing is probably easier than watching. “It gets a little out of your hands once the players tee it up,” Weir says. “A lot of stuff is out of your hands.”
Weir is best known for that Masters victory and for beating Woods in match play in Montreal at the 2007 Presidents Cup but he has diverse interests and is breezy in conversation.
He is a follower of Aston Villa in the Premier League, wanted to be a hockey player in his youth and remains an ardent fan of the Detroit Red Wings. (Maybe this year, Mike …)
“They are exciting to watch now,” Weir says of the resurgent NHL team. “They are starting to look like a playoff team.”
I caught up with him by phone recently in Utah, where in the winter he skis a bit, trains and practises his swing on his own in-home simulator.
What is your favourite virtue?
I treat everybody with respect and treat everybody as an equal.
What is your chief characteristic?
Determination.
What is your main fault?
Perfectionism. [He laughs]. I constantly tend to try to do everything just right. I mean, I will probably never get my golf swing to look exactly the way I would like it to be. My sport tends to lend itself to perfectionism and it can be maddening and consume you. You can hit a perfectly straight drive off the tee, and at the next hole you can’t.
Who is your favourite author?
Anthony Doerr. Right now I am reading All the Light We Cannot See and I recently read About Grace and enjoyed that, too. I really like his writing style.
Who is your favourite hero in real life?
I will use a golf hero here. I have loved Jack Nicklaus ever since I was a kid and I have gotten to meet him and his family and they are all wonderful. He was one of the two greatest golfers of all time. [He considers Tiger the other.] When I was 12 he came and played an exhibition round at our club in Sarnia and I got to meet him. And later that year I went to watch the Canadian Open and got his autograph and stuff.
Who is your favourite fictional hero?
Yoda. It sounds silly but I like his wisdom and he is a mentor and I think mentorship is a big thing. He is also a man of few words but they have great impact.
What is your greatest extravagance?
In my 30s, I always wanted to have the latest and greatest car. But at this stage of my life I really don’t have any. I don’t collect things. I drive a truck. Things that I once wanted to have don’t fulfill me any more.
What is your greatest regret?
There are certain situations from my life where I wish I had handled things better. Hopefully you learn from things. I was immature.
How do you feel about the state of Canadian golf?
It definitely seems to be growing, especially on the women’s side of things, which is awesome. Golf Canada is doing a great job on the grassroots side.