Presidents Cup: Mike Weir on why ‘it’s our time’ for International team to shock Team USA

Canadian golf great Mike Weir leads the International team against the USA in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club; Weir has played in five and has been a captain’s assistant in the last three; watch the Presidents Cup live on Sky Sports Golf from September 24-29

It’s such a great honour to be captain of the International Team, especially when it is being played in my home country.

As a player and captain’s assistant previously, my experiences in this team event have been some of the most memorable of my career.

When I was appointed captain nearly two years ago, it was something I did not take lightly. I’ve been in a good space with my own game and more importantly, my life to accept this role, and I’ve been doing everything that I can to make this special for our team. I’m super honoured to have this opportunity.

I’ve tried to learn from all our past captains, from Nick Price to Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman, and build on what they’ve incorporated to make our team better prepared. They’ve been a big part of the Presidents Cup over the years and you know, Ernie is one of the best matchplay players of all time.

I’ve picked insights from all of them that we can implement for our team strategy. It’s invaluable information, and I’m glad Ernie and Trevor are part of my team as captain’s assistants, along with Geoff Ogilvy, Shigeki Maruyama and Camilo Villegas.

The Presidents Cup matches are pressure-packed and push players to play their best every day during the week. The matches test you, not only your physical game, but your mental game too. Then you get to take those experiences forward into your career and individual game, and it really helped springboard my golf career.

I know everyone speaks about our team’s record in the Presidents Cup where our only win was back in 1998, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how many years it has been since we last won. All I am thinking about are the things that we’ve done well and the things that we will keep doing to increase our chances at Royal Montreal.