Those Taking Ames are Way off Target

Am I the only one who can't believe all of the uproar about Mike Weir's selection to the President's Cup team? I know they're celebrating out East, but why is everyone in the West bitching about Stephen Ames not getting the nod ahead of Weir?

International captain Gary Player made the choice, saying he was basing it on history, not just recent history. He cited Weir's performance at the past 3 President's Cups, the fact that he has won 7 times on tour and there's that major that Weir won as well. I think they call it the Masters.

But all day today I hear people whining about the fact that Ames isn't on the squad. They throw out all of the stats from this year; the money list, the world rankings, the comparative performance in the majors and scream, "INJUSTICE!!".

But this is anything but a penalty stroke on Player's part. The bottom line is this: both Weir and Ames had an opportunity to play themselves onto this team and neither did it. The top 10 international players automatically qualify, and both finished well out of the top 10. Ames was 16th while Weir was 20th. So if you want to complain that Weir hasn't played well enough to tee it up in Montreal this Fall, then use the same argument for Ames. I don't hear anybody in Canada talking about Andres Romero, the kid from Argentina who nearly won the British Open and was the 12th ranked player among internationals. If you want to cry about Weir being on the team, use Romero as your poster boy for getting screwed, not Ames.

And you actually believe that "Eastern bias" or marketing of the event came into account, you're on the pipe. Gary Player isn't from Toronto, he's from South Africa. And as for ticket sales, Tiger Woods was going to pack the place even if there wasn't a Canadian competing. Get real.

I would have been fine with Ames getting picked just as I'm fine with Weir. Personally, I actually am more partial to Ames than Weir as a person. But this is the reason the captain has some discretion. So that his hands aren't tied after the top 10 and he can take whatever factors he feels are important into account.

Gary Player had a choice to make and he made it. I'm pretty sure he's more concerned about winning this tournament more than selling tickets. Canada should be happy that there's a Canadian on the team, not complaining about the Canuck that was selected.