Mike Weir gazes upward during second round play at the Canadian Open at St. George'sNathan Denette
Mike Weir's tender right elbow will get the rest it probably needs.
The de facto host of the RBC Canadian Open, whose charity tournament kicks off the week and whose efforts to recruit his peers on Tour to come to his national championship help bolster its field, couldn't keep his ball in the fairway at the RBC Canadian Open.
He finished his second round on a steamy, muggy day at St. George's Golf and Country Club with a four-over-par 74, putting him at six-over for the week and well outside of the projected cut of one-under-par as the field continued to strafe the 7,025-yard Stanley Thompson layout.
Weir refused to use his elbow tendonitis as an excuse, as well he shouldn't: He came into the week ranked 174th in driving distance and 167th in driving accuracy, so his performance at St. George's, where he hit just 10-of-26 fairways was just more of the same in what is shaping up a miserable season for the 2003 Masters champion. But playing out of deep, wet rough with a sore elbow is no fun, and Weir looked like someone who had little of it the past few days.
"I just played poorly. No excuses, I didn't play well," said Weir, who has missed the cut in five of his last seven events and hasn't finished in the top-20 since February.
"I haven't been driving it very well and when you play a golf course with penal rough and you're not driving it well it makes it difficult, it makes the game hard."
He got a tip of the hat from Stephen Ames, the Calgarian who is five-under-par.
"He came in here with an injury and he's obviously still hurting," said Ames, who shot 68 on Friday. "Being weak in your leading arm -- which is his right arm, in his case -- is not going to help a golf swing and hitting in the rough is not going to help a golf swing either. I think he did well going this far because if it was me I might have withdrawn...just for the longevity of my career."
Weir's now in a bind: his game needs work, but will his elbow allow him to put in the time? He's planning to take the following week off before the WGC event at Firestone August 5th, but can only hope he'll be healthy enough to play and play well.
"When you off your game you want to work on it and when you can't it makes it a little harder," he said. "But I'll get home and rest the elbow and get back to work."