Pair of Canadians set pace in Maui

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KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Mike Weir spent most of December unpacking boxes as he moved his family into a new home in Salt Lake City. Stephen Ames, on the other hand, left his digs in frigid Calgary on Dec. 20th to take his brood on vacation in Hawaii.

Mike Weir. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

As Ames put it, though, "golf is getting in the way" for both PGA TOUR veterans, and the two Canadians -- the first a native, the second a convert -- find themselves in the final group on Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Weir sets the pace at 8 under after a bogey-free 67 that included the first eagle of 2008. Ames matched Weir's score on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort and finds himself tied with Jonathan Byrd, one stroke back, in the TOUR's season-opening event.

"Yeah, that's odd," Weir admitted. "We're probably the least ready for it as far as practice round, Stephen in Calgary and me in Salt Lake. I asked Stephen earlier in the week and he said he hadn't done much at all, either. Maybe there's something to that."

Weir recalled taking nearly three months off prior to the start of the 2003 season. He made his debut in Phoenix, finishing 10th, and then won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Two months later, he slipped his arms into a Green Jacket.

On Thursday, just minutes after hearing the "Star Spangled Banner" played on a ukulele, Ames hit the opening drive of 2008. He was introduced by Joe Torre, the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and applauded by a group of Canucks similarly on vacation.

Weir entertained a sizeable gathering of Canadians, too, and they're not here just because the loonie has gained so much ground on the dollar. He and Ames are sure to be the center of attention when they tee off at 1:15 on Saturday afternoon.

"I guess the winters are pretty bad in Canada," Weir said with a smile. "There are more Canadians down here than normal. We should have a pretty good day tomorrow."

Weir certainly was the toast of Canada four months ago when Royal Montreal hosted the Presidents Cup. He was the leading point-getter on the International Team and took down Tiger Woods in the marquee Singles match on Sunday.

Stephen Ames. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

Weir looks back on his fourth Presidents Cup with a interesting mixture of relief and satisfaction. And the 2003 Masters champ drew confidence from his solid performance -- picking up his first win in three years just two weeks later at the Frys.com Open.

"It really was in the back of my mind for the last couple of years," Weir said of the international competition. "Probably in my career I'm not going to have a chance to play on a Presidents Cup team in Canada again. By the time it goes around to Asia sometime and probably Australia and South Africa before it gets back to Canada with the U.S. in there, I'll probably be well into the (Champions) Tour.

"I almost feel a sense of relief, to tell you the truth. The things I've done so far in my career, and then to have that was pretty special. I feel kind of, I would say relieved is the word, that the whole thing is behind me and I feel pretty relaxed."

Canadians had something else to cheer about two weeks after Weir's win in Arizona as Ames captured the Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart. His victory in the final event of 2007 was Ames' third on TOUR.

Ames, whose father is of English ancestry and mother of Portuguese descent, actually was born in Trinidad & Tobago. His wife, Jodi, was a flight attendant from Calgary, which prompted the move in 1991 and eventual decision to apply for citizenship seven years later.

Ames doesn't quite enjoy the almost universal adoration in Canada that attends Weir -- yet. He's always felt accepted in Calgary, though, and Ames says he's made considerable inroads across the rest of the country in the years since he took the oath.

No "ehs" for him, Ames still lapses into Trinidadian lingo -- particularly when he speaks to his parents or brother, who used to caddy for him and is also a golf pro. He has become an avid hockey fan, though.

"Overall it's a great country to bring up kids and have a family,' Ames said. "It has so much to offer, and meeting Jodi was, I'd say, a proverbial blessing in disguise. Moving from Trinidad and coming to Canada, it's been a great step for me and my career and obviously our family. ...

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"You know, I try to give them both sides of both cultures, which is I think a good thing. I think you should see all parts of the world and how everybody else lives and then maybe you'll appreciate what you have."

The two Canadians have something else in common -- both have altered their swings considerably over the last two years. The payoff came in those late-season victories and appears to be continuing this week.

Ames went to Orlando in October with a similar mindset as he has now. He simply wanted to work on his game and he ended up winning the tournament. He followed that with his second straight LG Skins Game title over Thanksgiving week.

Asked whether he had ever thought about going to Augusta on "vacation," Ames didn't miss a beat. "I'm planning on doing that, yes -- actually all the majors," he said.

And he's anxious to see if the mindset continues to pay dividends over the weekend.