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Source: The Canadian Press

Anthony Kim has joined the European Tour for next season, leading what is expected to become a migration of high-profile American golfers to spend more time playing in lucrative tournaments overseas.

The 23-year-old Kim, who has shot up to No. 8 in the world rankings, paid the mandatory 2,000 British pound (C$3,998) fee for membership but will depend on invitations for any event he plays in, the European Tour said Wednesday. He is scheduled to play at the HSBC Championships in Shanghai from Nov. 6-9.

The tour said Camilo Villegas of Colombia had also paid the dues to become a member, meaning both players can feature in next season’s Dubai World Championships, a US$20-million tournament that will replace the Volvo Masters from 2009 as the season finale to determine the tour’s leading player.

“Anytime you get players from the calibre of Camilo and Anthony into the tour, it’s great. It’s an asset, it’s good for golf, it’s good for the European Tour,” Sergio Garcia said.

Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Phil Mickelson and have also talked about playing more in Europe next season, and Garcia said he expects several other PGA Tour players to seize on the moneymaking opportunities offered overseas.

“Some of the tournaments we play in the Middle East … are bigger than the ones they play in the U.S. You get good players there, so world rankings points increase,” Garcia said. “At the end of the day, that’s what the big players do it for.”

Over the last six months, Kim has emerged as one of golf’s brightest young prospect with victories in the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National at Congressional, along with a starring role in the United States’ victory at the Ryder Cup. Kim had begun the year at No. 75 in the world.

The 26-year-old Villegas is ranked seventh, meaning eight of the world’s 10 best players will feature in Europe in 2009.

“If you want the tour to grow and get to the level that it deserves, there’s no doubt that you need those big players,” Garcia said from the Volvo Masters.

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Tags: Camilo Villegas, Latest News, Mike Weir, PGA Pros by admin
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By: Toronto Sun

There absolutely is no truth to the rumour that Mike Weir predicted a 58 in yesterday’s final round of the Frys.com Open at the Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor course.

That number would have put Weir into the history books and won him the tournament for the second year in a row. His lighthearted remark described the way he was feeling, combined with the spectacular conditions in the Valley of the Sun.

“I didn’t predict it,” Weir said with a grin. “I said: ‘I’m going to go after it.’ I didn’t predict anything, but I was going to try.”

Weir’s style all along never has had anything to do with boasts. When he has hit the peaks of his career, it’s always his clubs talking and they were doing just that after Weir came into the last round seven shots off the lead and tied for 24th.

Yesterday, he recorded six birdies and an eagle against just one bogey to finish with a seven-under 63. It wasn’t enough to successfully defend his 2007 Frys.com championship, but it was enough to send him into the off-season in a positive frame of mind.

“(Yesterday), the conditions were right to go after it. The greens were fairly soft. It was a day, from the position I was in, I really needed to try to attack,” said Weir, who tied for fourth.

“I had plenty of opportunities to even be lower. I missed probably four or five putts inside 10 feet. It really, really could have been a special round, but it was still a great round, a good way to finish on the last hole with a nice 25-footer (for birdie).”

Weir won’t play again until the Chevron World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, just before Christmas.

“After this week, I’m off until Tiger’s event in California, but I’m just going to try to be at home,” said Weir, adding that he isn’t tempted to try one more event after the 63.

“I’m tired,” he said. “I put everything I had into this week and practised hard. I’m ready for a break and my family’s ready for me to be home for awhile.”

His performance yesterday did provide a spectacular finish, but not as spectacular as last year when Weir came down the stretch with a win against Woods at the Presidents Cup and the victory in Scottsdale, which ended a winless streak of three-and-a-half years.

“I think it definitely restored some confidence. I still was confident in my game and I was playing well,” recalled Weir, who had gone 87 starts without a win before tying the late George Knudson for most victories by a Canadian on the PGA Tour with his triumph in Scottsdale.

“When you’re able to do that, come through, it just reminds you that you can still do it when you need to and have to do it.

“It was a much nicer off-season, finishing with a win like that. I did go overseas and play and represent Canada in the World Cup in China last year, but outside of that, it was a nice, relaxing, very satisfying off-season with the way I finished the year with the Presidents Cup and winning here,” he said.

It appeared that Weir would bolt from the gate in 2008 when he finished fourth at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, but that was his lone top-10 until the beginning of June when Weir tied for second at the Memorial.

That finish illustrated that work on his short game was starting to pay off. While the latter stages of this year didn’t include a tournament win or a victory against the No. 1 player in the world, it was sprinkled with some sugar as Weir now has seven top-10s since the Memorial, including four in his last five events.

While the final stages of last season, when he recorded just four top-10s all year, was all about wins, the latter part of 2008 is all about consistency, especially in the FedEx Cup playoffs in which Weir tied for seventh at The Barclays, was runner-up at the Deutsche Bank and tied for sixth at the Tour Championship.

It’s enough to send him into the off-season into a positive frame of mind, especially since dialing in his wedges and improving his putting over the last few months of the season.

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Tags: Latest News, Mike Weir, PGA Pros by admin
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By: Golf World: Week in Pictures

Defending champ Mike Weir tees off the par three 8th hole during the final round of the Frys.Com Open held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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The Mike Weir Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network supported by the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada have joined forces to create something never done before – a concerted national effort to raise $10 million for children’s health care through golf and related activities.

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By: Jeff Simon, East Valley Tribune

It was Mike Weir’s last round of the 2008 season, so he was going to go for it.

Weir was even throwing around the number 58 on the practice green before Sunday’s final round of the Frys.com Open at Grayhawk.

“I didn’t predict anything, but I was going to try,” Weir said.

The defending champion equaled the best round of the day with a 7-under-par 63. His four-round total of 266 had the Canadian finishing tied for fourth place.

“I had plenty of opportunities to even be lower,” Weir said. “I missed probably four or five putts inside of 10 feet. It could have really been a special round.”

Weir made eagle on the short par 4 15th hole when he chipped in and capped the tournament off with a 27-foot birdie putt. Now he’ll spend time with the family and preparing for ski season at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort in Utah.

EXPIRED EXEMPTION?

Despite his woes on No. 18, Davis Love III improved his standing in the PGA Tour’s money list thanks to a strong finish. Love entered the week at No. 125 on the money list and has to stay there or improve to be fully exempt on the tour next year. His exemption for winning the 2003 Players Championship has expired.

Love bogeyed the final hole in both the third and fourth rounds. During Saturday’s third round, his tee shot buried itself in the edge of a bunker and he had to dig into the sand to find and identify his golf ball. With the unplayable lie, Love was forced to take a one-stroke penalty and drop his ball farther back in the fairway sand trap.

BABY ON BOARD

Like Weir, this was Aaron Baddeley’s final tournament of the season and with a 66 on Saturday and a 65 on Sunday, Baddeley had his ninth top-25 finish of the year.

Now it’s preparation time for Baddeley and his wife Richelle at their home in Scottsdale. They are expecting their first child in two weeks. He will spend the time at home learning how to be a dad.

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Tags: Aaron Baddeley, Latest News, Mike Weir, PGA Pros by admin
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