Mike Weir's latest victory puts him back in the rare company of the best foursome in the world.
In the latest world golf ranking released yesterday, the lefty from Bright's Grove, Ont., moved up two spots to No. 4. Weir trails only Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els in the order determined by a complicated formula based on a player's performance over the past two years.
When Weir defended his Nissan Open championship on Sunday in Los Angeles, he won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour in a little more than 13 months.
Weir briefly climbed to No. 3 in the world ranking last summer before falling to No. 6 by the end of the year.
The victory at the famed Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles was the seventh of Weir's career allowing him to pass Jim Furyk and Davis Love III in the rankings.
With a strong showing this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Weir could narrow the gap on South African Ernie Els, who holds the No. 3 spot.
As top seed in the Ben Hogan bracket, Weir will face No. 16 Rich Beem in tomorrow's opening 18-hole match. Should Weir win his bracket and Tiger Woods win in the Bobby Jones grouping, the two would meet in a semi-final on Saturday.
BUSY STRETCH
Weir will wind up a busy stretch of five tournaments in six weeks at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., as one of the favourites in the elite 64-player field.
The event has not been kind to top seeds, however. Two years ago, three of the four top-ranked players in their brackets suffered first-round defeats, including the overall top seed, Woods.
With the $864,000 US Weir earned on Sunday, he moved up to fourth from 15th on the PGA Tour money list with a 2004 total of $1,371,867. His career earnings stand at $14,217,074, ranking him 18th in tour history.
The Nissan victory has renewed the debate of whether Weir or Phil Mickelson is the best left-handed player in the game. In a poll by the U.S.-based Golf Channel yesterday, Weir had outpolled his rival with 69% of the votes.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Golf/PGA/2004/02/24/359249.html
In the latest world golf ranking released yesterday, the lefty from Bright's Grove, Ont., moved up two spots to No. 4. Weir trails only Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els in the order determined by a complicated formula based on a player's performance over the past two years.
When Weir defended his Nissan Open championship on Sunday in Los Angeles, he won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour in a little more than 13 months.
Weir briefly climbed to No. 3 in the world ranking last summer before falling to No. 6 by the end of the year.
The victory at the famed Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles was the seventh of Weir's career allowing him to pass Jim Furyk and Davis Love III in the rankings.
With a strong showing this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Weir could narrow the gap on South African Ernie Els, who holds the No. 3 spot.
As top seed in the Ben Hogan bracket, Weir will face No. 16 Rich Beem in tomorrow's opening 18-hole match. Should Weir win his bracket and Tiger Woods win in the Bobby Jones grouping, the two would meet in a semi-final on Saturday.
BUSY STRETCH
Weir will wind up a busy stretch of five tournaments in six weeks at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., as one of the favourites in the elite 64-player field.
The event has not been kind to top seeds, however. Two years ago, three of the four top-ranked players in their brackets suffered first-round defeats, including the overall top seed, Woods.
With the $864,000 US Weir earned on Sunday, he moved up to fourth from 15th on the PGA Tour money list with a 2004 total of $1,371,867. His career earnings stand at $14,217,074, ranking him 18th in tour history.
The Nissan victory has renewed the debate of whether Weir or Phil Mickelson is the best left-handed player in the game. In a poll by the U.S.-based Golf Channel yesterday, Weir had outpolled his rival with 69% of the votes.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Golf/PGA/2004/02/24/359249.html
