Special week for Weir, Ames, Martin, Burns; Canadians weigh in on playing in home-country Rogers Charity Classic
• Stephen Ames, 61, Vancouver — Wins: 4 PGA Tour; 2 European Tour victories; 1 Korn Ferry Tour, 9 PGA Tour Champions. Notable: T5 in 1997 Open Championship; Tee-time: Friday, 12:20 p.m. (Hole 1), with Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jiménez
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Ames: 'It would be nice to win. Obviously, it would mean a lot. I might retire after that — I'm only kidding. It would be nice to put a little notch on my belt, for sure. The one and the Canadian Open, it would be awesome for that to happen.'
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• Gordon Burns, 51, Holland Landing, Ont. — Wins: N/A; Notable: T16 at Dick's Open; Made 5 of 6 cuts on PGA Tour Champions. Tee-time: Friday, 12:20 p.m. MT (Hole 10), with Brendan Jones and Charlie Wi
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Burns: 'It means the world to me. I'm thrilled. I'm going to do my best to prep and keep the game going. It feels good, so I'm going to do my best not to get overwhelmed by the moment and just go with it.'
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Martin: 'I wouldn't say it's a dream come true, because I've played a couple of PGA events. It just shows the way I'm living today that I'm doing the right things. The work I'm putting in and the way I'm thinking out there is a lot different than it used to be. I'm going to be nervous … but I'm just going to go enjoy it.'
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The four-pack is down one from the amount of Canadians participating in last year's event.
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In 2024, it was Weir, Ames, Burns, Steve Blake, of Calgary, and Alan McLean, of London. That tied the biggest contingent of Canucks to play in the Rogers Charity Classic.
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A fivesome was also on hand for the 2022 edition — Weir, Ames, McLean, David Morland IV, of North Bay, Ont., and Dennis Hendershott, of Brantford, Ont.
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'Yeah … we have lots of talent up here,' Weir said. 'We got a lot of good players on the PGA Tour now and guys contending and some wins out there. So I think going forward, there will be more and more.
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'I think it speaks to what Golf Canada has done with their development program, too. I think they've done a nice job with that. Yeah … just as a whole it's great. You know … when I was coming up in the ranks, there wasn't as many Canadian, and now there's a lot more, a lot more guys that can do well out there and win.
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'So it's a great time for golf in Canada right now.'
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'Come out and watch,' added Weir. 'Us old guys can still play, and it's a little more friendly atmosphere. I mean … there's not as many people as maybe a PGA Tour event, so you can get up close to the players and see a lot of great golf.'
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