www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 6, 2006 - 25 Weir, Ames hoping to break Canadian drought at Open Mike Weir and Stephen Ames will again headline a list of Canadians that hope to end their country's long drought at the Canadian Open. Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, and Ames, winner of the 2006 Players Championship, were among the 15 Canadian golfers confirmed as of yesterday to compete in the national open tournament. No Canadian has won the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher fired a four-round total of 280 to claim the 1954 title at Point Grey. Two years ago and the last time the Canadian Open was contested at Glen Abbey Golf Club, Weir came close to breaking the streak of futility. The Bright's Grove, Ontario native held a three-stroke lead on Vijay Singh entering the final round before Singh, the top-ranked player in the world at the time, rallied to force a playoff and defeat Weir on the third extra hole. This season, Weir has made the cut in 18 of the 20 tournaments he's competed in and ranks 26th on the PGA Tour's money list. He also fared well in majors this year, placing sixth at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open while tying for 11th at the Masters. Ames is also enjoying a successful season. The Calgary resident stands 14th on the PGA Tour's money list with nearly $2.4 million in earnings, thanks largely to his victory at the Players Championship in March. Other highlights this year include a fourth-place showing at the Bank of America Colonial, a seventh-place outing at The Honda Classic and an 11th-place finish at the Masters. Joining Weir and Ames will be fellow PGA Tour players Ian Leggatt of Cambridge and Jon Mills of Oshawa. Other Canadians to tee it up will be Nationwide Tour players Jim Rutledge (Victoria), David Morland IV (Aurora) and David Hearn (Brantford), Brad Fritsch (Manotick, ON), Danny King (Milton), Richard Scott (Kingsville, ON), Todd Halpen (Calgary), James Lepp (Abbottsford, B.C.), James Love (Calgary), Alan McLean (London) and Victor Ciesielski (Cambridge). OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO SO CLOSE: Two years ago, Mike Weir (above) nearly became the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since 1942 when he lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh at Glen Abbey. Six exemptions were to be given to Canadian Tour players following last weekend's Canadian Tour Championship at the Horseshoe Resort Highlands Course in Barrie, as the top six on the Canadian Tour money list would earn spots directly into the Canadian Open field. Names of those six players were not available as of Tuesday afternoon. "We are very proud to welcome each of these Canadian golfers to the Canadian Open," said Bill Paul, Royal Canadian Golf Association tournament director. "These players are representative of the depth of talent we have in Canada and they are all looking forward to competing at our national open championship. I know they will be favourites with the fans at Hamilton Golf and Country Club." OAKVILLE BLADES ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS GAME NIGHTS · FUNDRAISING SPECIAL EVENTS · COMMUNITY RELATIONS oyster perpetual yacht-master steel and yellow gold The Oakville Blades are looking for volunteers to assist the team this season in their fundraising activities and community support programs. In addition, we are also looking for students who need community service hours to fulfil their educational requirement. Should you be interested, please contact the Blades at...905-337-3361 ext 236