Weir is in the running for Player of the Year

Without sounding conceited, which isn't his style at all, Mike Weir has made no secret over the past few months that he would love to dethrone Tiger Woods as PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Woods, who has won the award four years in a row and is considered the world's top golfer, is one of five golfers vying for 2003's top honor, akin to the MVP in other sports.

Weir, the native of Canada who makes his home in Draper, is one of the other top candidates, along with Jim Furyk, Davis Love III and Vijay Singh.

All five golfers are among the 70 top golfers in the world on hand for this week's American Express-World Golf Championships at The Capital City Golf Club in Woodstock, Ga., which could very well decide the POY honor.

The winner will receive $1.08 million, which could likely put any of the aforementioned golfers in the No. 1 spot on the PGA Tour money list, plus add another important victory to their totals. There are still four tournaments on the schedule, including the season-ending Tour Championship in November.

Right now all five golfers are within $1 million of each other on the lucrative money list, and an argument could be made for any of the five to be named Player of the Year. A good showing this week could vault one of the five into the favorite position for POY.

Both Woods and Love have won four times on the PGA Tour this year, although neither has won one of the four "majors." Love, however, did win the Players Championship, often referred to as golf's "fifth major."

Furyk has won twice, but one was the U.S. Open and he has more top 10 finishes (14) than the others. Singh is No. 1 on the money list with more than $5.7 million and also has 14 top-10s although in more tournaments than Furyk.

Then there's Weir has won three tournaments, including the Masters.

He also has the best record in the majors with a third at the U.S. Open, a seventh at the PGA Tournament and a 28th-place at the British Open. One problem for Weir is that his victories all came early in the year. He would have been a shoo-in for POY honors if the season had ended in April or May, but he hasn't won since, although he has come close.

History is on the side of Weir and Furyk, because every Player of the Year since 1995 has won a major. The Player of the Year is voted by members of the PGA Tour.