Masters champ returns to Utah

With his Canadian tour over, Masters champion Mike Weir began the Utah phase of his victory tour Thursday with a proclamation in his honor at the State Capitol and a two-hole golf exhibition at the "Capitol Golf and Country Club" with Gov. Mike Leavitt and Lt. Gov. Olene Walker.

Wearing a blue blazer instead of his Masters green jacket, the Draper resident was honored inside the Capitol with his wife, Bricia, by his side. The governor also declared that May 12, Weir's 33rd birthday, will be "Mike Weir Day" in Utah.

Then Weir took off his blazer and tried matching shots with Leavitt and Walker on a makeshift course on the Capitol front lawn. The left-handed Weir was forced to use right-handed clubs and did a decent job on his chip shots, although the small gallery would have preferred to see him hit from his natural side.

Afterward Weir spent a few minutes with the local press and discussed his whirlwind life of the past few days, which included stops in his native Canada.

Although Canada claims him as a national sports hero and Weir is proud of his Canadian heritage, he made it clear how proud is to be considered a Utahn.

"I love living here," he said. "I can't imagine living anywhere else. I have a ton of friends here, my kids were born here and I have a tremendous amount of support."

Weir says he often gets asked when he's out on the PGA Tour why he chooses to live in Utah, where it's cold in the winter and he can't practice all year.

"I grew up in Canada, I'm used to the cold," is Weir's reply.

"It's not a big deal to me," he said. "I get to do other things here. The great thing about Utah is I get to ski and fish and so many other things outside of golf. That's a healthy thing for me."

Weir acknowledged he was "still a little numb" after winning one of golf's most prestigious prizes and that he was having a little trouble sleeping as he goes over shots at Augusta in his mind.

He said he was confident going into the tournament and that he dreamed what it would be like, being in contention on the back nine at Augusta. He gave credit to his sports psychologist, Rich Gordin, who works at Utah State University and who has helped him for the past five years.

Weir called his six-foot par putt on No. 18 to get into a sudden-death playoff with Len Mattiace, a "career-defining moment for me" and said that Mattiace had called him earlier Thursday to congratulate him again.