If Ames wins the Master?

[Merlot]

That would be really nice. He would be approachine Mike Weir status. Already a Players win which many call now the 5th major with pretty much the best field in golf.

Anyone rooting for Ames?

[RRyders88]

No, no i am not. he's just not a canadian in my books and i can't stand the guy and his comments. its funny when the guys on tour didn't even know he was "from canada"

[davepratt]

That would be really nice. He would be approachine Mike Weir status. Already a Players win which many call now the 5th major with pretty much the best field in golf.

Anyone rooting for Ames?
Nope. Although I'm happy he chose Canada as his home, he didn't grow up and learn the game here and for me, that's the difference between him and Mikey. He's also renowned for his big mouth and that bothers me.

[davevandyk]

That would be really nice. He would be approachine Mike Weir status. Already a Players win which many call now the 5th major with pretty much the best field in golf.

Anyone rooting for Ames?

Love Ames and am def. cheering for both him and Mikey equally. It depends how you look at the situation, Mike was born and raised here, then moved to the States, while Ames decided to move to Canada and live here. As far as i know they are both Canadians and would love to see either win it!!!

[Golf_Goof]

Nope. Big trap and even bigger teeth.

It bugged the he77 out of me when the Canadian sports media fawned over him when Ames decided to claim Canadian citizenship.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/Millrat1369/ames_stephen050811.jpg http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/Millrat1369/horse_teeth.jpg

[cleveland]

If Ames wins then the Canucks will win Stanley in 2009.

[Richard]

Would love to see Ames win! Imagine choosing to move from warm sunny Trinidad to Alberta, he is a true Canadian!

If Tiger doesn't make a charge then I think Ames can beat anybody left.

Weir is getting it done too, possible to see Weir and Ames paired up on Sunday, that would be interesting.

[cleveland]

If Ames gets 'it' anywhere near Weir the Canucks will win Stanley in '09 and 2010. :D

[Merlot]

Struck a cord with this thread.

At first I didn't like Ames but he is very good and has a excellent move. hopefully keeps his head straight and plays well through the weekend. I like his confidence and he says what he wants most of the time. Often, people don't like that and understandable.

The golf announcers/on course reporters etc... seem to be warming up to him during telecasts. They defintiely respect his talent and capabilities. Specially after that final round in Ponte Verde.

My mother is from Slovenia. Northern part of Yugoslavia and grew up in a town only 70 miles or so from Austria and not much farther away from Trieste , Italy. She is canadian in my mind but not a good golfer.:rofl: Doesn't have big teeth though.

Nope. Although I'm happy he chose Canada as his home, he didn't grow up and learn the game here and for me, that's the difference between him and Mikey. He's also renowned for his big mouth and that bothers me.

Isn't Mike a mormon living in UTAH almost all of the year? Not exactly Canadian. Someone correct me if wrong please. Sorry, just editing as someone mentioned that he may have left so he doesn't have to pay so much in taxes and the taxes he does pay or the bulk go to the USA? Hmmm?

If true, not exactly very Canadian.

A guy moving here from Trinidad, to the cold Calgary no less(when compared to his homeland) when he probably could have moved most anywhere, just to make his sweetheart happy? Sounds like the making of a good canadian to me!

[Golfing in Ottawa]

That would be really nice. He would be approachine Mike Weir status. Already a Players win which many call now the 5th major with pretty much the best field in golf.

Anyone rooting for Ames?

No...........not with Mike Weir at -3 only 1 stroke behind Ames.

GO MIKEY and play like you did in the President's Cup in Montreal !!!

[Merlot]

No...........not with Mike Weir at -3 only 1 stroke behind Ames.

GO MIKEY and play like you did in the President's Cup in Montreal !!!

Seeing Weir become a 2 time Masters champ would be great. I will take either as a fan.

[davepratt]

Struck a cord with this thread.

Isn't Mike a mormon living in UTAH almost all of the year? Not exactly Canadian. Someone correct me if wrong please.

Difference is Mike learned his golf in Canada where the odds of making it to the show are astronomical versus someone from a warm climate. BTW where does mormom enter the equation? I believe Jack Nicklaus is Catholic, but that has never come up.

[Leftygolfer30]

Isn't Mike a mormon living in UTAH almost all of the year? Not exactly Canadian. Someone correct me if wrong please.

If true, not exactly very Canadian.

What a completely ridiculous statement. :cookoo:

What on earth does his place of residence have to do with him being "very Canadian"?

Do you categorize every Canadian born hockey player playing and living in the USA to be "not exactly very Canadian"?

What about Gretzky? Can't really think of anyone more representative of being a "Canadian" around the world yet he doesn't reside in Canada.

[The Troll]

I'd love to see Ames win....in a sport where most of these guys are wrapped so tight to the public eye, a guy willing to say what he thinks strikes a great chord with me.

[Merlot]

Difference is Mike learned his golf in Canada where the odds of making it to the show are astronomical versus someone from a warm climate. BTW where does mormom enter the equation? I believe Jack Nicklaus is Catholic, but that has never come up.

True, doesn't mean much.(Mormon) My bad.:$ I am a christian myself. Just doesn't seem so Canadian to me to leave your country and practice a religion in another country. I am assuming he didn't move to Utah just for the skiing:D .

I believe Mike decided to play golf seriously around the age 16 as he wanted to be a hockey player but realized he was too small. He went to a university in the USA as do most good Canadian golfers and spent winters there playing golf after University.

What a completely ridiculous statement. :cookoo:

What on earth does his place of residence have to do with him being "very Canadian"?

Do you categorize every Canadian born hockey player playing and living in the USA to be "not exactly very Canadian"?

What about Gretzky? Can't really think of anyone more representative of being a "Canadian" around the world yet he doesn't reside in Canada.

Fair enough. Pretty sure I didn't say Mike wasn't a canadian though. Your words are more then I need to understand peoples sentiment. Expatriate is the term. Maybe Mike moved thier for his sweetheart? Trying to understand when exactly Ames, if ever, will be considered a real Canadian? I think he is now.

If someone comes here to be with his sweetheart and becomes a Canadian citizen, isn't that good?

IS it fair to consider him(Ames) less Canadian then people who make it big and leave? Not just for the weather but more cash?
I think the answer is no.

I'd love to see Ames win....in a sport where most of these guys are wrapped so tight to the public eye, a guy willing to say what he thinks strikes a great chord with me.

I would be happy if Weir or Ames wins as a fan of Canadian golfers.

[Golfing in Ottawa]

:) Difference is Mike learned his golf in Canada where the odds of making it to the show are astronomical versus someone from a warm climate. BTW where does mormom enter the equation? I believe Jack Nicklaus is Catholic, but that has never come up.

Exactly Dave !!! Many Canadians identify with Mike because he started off like your typical kid from Canada playing hockey and other team sports.
And to not have the benefit of a long playing season is also a huge achievement.
See "very good" article on Mike from Augusta Chronicle:
http://www.augusta.com/masters2004/stories/040404/pre_weir2.shtml

"Weir's roots are in an area no larger than Augusta National Golf Club. The beach was one block north, where Weir would clear snow off a bluff and drive balls into Lake Huron when he wasn't hitting into a net set up in the garage.."

....."Weir played hockey, like any Canadian boy, and was pretty good at baseball. But it was golf that took root in his soul and inspired visions much grander than his parents had for him. "He had tunnel vision," said his father, Rich. "He'd say, 'I'm going to be a PGA golf player' probably when he was 16. We thought he'd get a golf scholarship and get an education out of it. Maybe he could come back and be the pro at Huron Oaks."........
......"

"Weir made the less obvious choice, opting for the Mormon university with a strict dress code and policies against drinking Coke, coffee or even Canadian beer. Weir is not Mormon. "
"I asked him what made him make that choice," said his mother, Rosalie. "And he said, 'Mom, if I go to any other university I might tend to party. I won't there. I want the discipline.'" He struggled his first year at BYU but soon got comfortable. The young Canadian developed into an All-American by his senior year. He also fell in love with his future wife and with the outdoors lifestyle in Utah - he would settle in nearby Draper."

Now look at the advantages Stephen Ames had growing up in a gated community with golf course, and 12 months of golf in Trinidad & Tobago.
http://www.pgatour.com/2007/tournaments/r011/05/07/ames/index.html

"Ames was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, where his father, who is of English ancestry, worked for Texaco. The family lived in a gated camp that was more like a country club for employees of the oil giant -- complete with tennis and squash courts, pools and a golf course.
""It was nice," Ames said. "It was a good place to grow up. Everything was enclosed away from the rest of the world."

So perhaps this is why your average Canadian relates more with Mikey.....:)

[Merlot]

Mike Weir is not a Mormon by the way. He is Catholic though he did attend BYU and lives in UTAH.

Got that earlier but thanks. We posted at the sametime. Good googleing.:rofl:

As a Canadian I relate to him growing up here. I relate to the same way, as a Canadian that would rather live somewhere else like many great canadian. there are so many of them as mentione dpreviously like Wayne Gretzky. Seems very few 'great' canadians want to stay here, even when they have the financial freedom to do so.

As a canadian who's mother was from another country, I can truly relate to her as she has enough money to live somewhere else but would rather stay here where she had such great opportunity.

I don't think I know what a 'Great Canadian' is?

[Golfing in Ottawa]

As a Canadian I relate to him growing up here. I relate to the same way, as a Canadian that would rather live somewhere else like many great canadian. there are so many of them as mentione dpreviously like Wayne Gretzky. Seems very few 'great' canadians want to stay here, even when they have the financial freedom to do so.

Other than climate............the main reason is TAXES....TAXES....TAXES.....
Prehaps some of the Accountants and Financial Planners on this forum can explain the difference once you are in the very high income brackets.....:D

[Merlot]

Other than climate............the main reason is TAXES....TAXES....TAXES.....
Prehaps some of the Accountants and Financial Planners on this forum can explain the difference once you are in the very high income brackets.....:D

That makes sense. I belieev Utah, like Florida does not have any state income taxes. I don't really need an accountant to tell me that. Seems this is a prerequisite for many being a great Canadian. We pay our taxes for them to grow up here in this great counrty. And what taxes he pays now are to the USA or atleast the bulk of them? That is an argument I wouldn't make but hold water for some.

I don't think that's very Canadian though not that it makes Mike un Canadian. Maybe Ames will move if he wins the Masters and starts making the big bucks? Now that for sure wouldn't be considered very Canadian by many who relate to Weir, correct? Am I starting to get this yet?

Wier defintiely has liked to drink beer in the past. Very canadian adn not very Mormon like. Should have known better just from that..:$

[The Troll]

Prehaps some of the Accountants and Financial Planners on this forum can explain the difference once you are in the very high income brackets.....:D

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :p

[davevandyk]

Difference is Mike learned his golf in Canada where the odds of making it to the show are astronomical versus someone from a warm climate. BTW where does mormom enter the equation? I believe Jack Nicklaus is Catholic, but that has never come up.

you think the odds of a kid from Trinidad are better than a kid in Canada?? :nono: As cold as Canada can be, he still had nearly 9 months a year to play golf and i guarantee a lot more courses, good instructors and all other amenities for golf than a kid in Trinidad does... i can almost guarantee that!!!

I just think people are so stuck on him as a "non-Canadian" simply because there is another choice in Weir to root for...

Don't remember too many people saying Donovan Bailey was "NON-CANADIAN" when he won the Olympics, do you???

[Merlot]

you think the odds of a kid from Trinidad are better than a kid in Canada?? :nono: As cold as Canada can be, he still had nearly 9 months a year to play golf and i guarantee a lot more courses, good instructors and all other amenities for golf than a kid in Trinidad does... i can almost guarantee that!!!

I just think people are so stuck on him as a "non-Canadian" simply because there is another choice in Weir to root for...

Don't remember too many people saying Donovan Bailey was "NON-CANADIAN" when he won the Olympics, do you???

Good points for both sides throughout the thread.

How about Big Ben. He was a super Canadian until he got caught doping.

[Big Shooter]

No, please God (and The Mormons) don't let Ames win!!! ;)

[johnthegolfer]

Difference is Mike learned his golf in Canada where the odds of making it to the show are astronomical versus someone from a warm climate. BTW where does mormom enter the equation? I believe Jack Nicklaus is Catholic, but that has never come up.

Mike played his golf in Utah, too. How is it SOOOOOOOOO much harder to learn golf in our shorter season than if you come from a warm climate? What about all those rather good Scandinavian players? Do you rate Swedes higher than Sergio Garcia because they come from a cold climate?

This is Canada, a nation of immigrants. Ames is as much a Canadian as Weir - Weir is just better at promoting his Canadian lineage for sponsorship (as he has a right to do, and does admirably - he is also an excellent spokesman for Canada). I prefer Ames because he is a straight shooter, willing to tell it like it is. He'd rather be honest than politically correct. We need more of that.

[Merlot]

Meant no disrespect to Dave Pratt. Also, when I said that the thread struck a cord, I didn't mean with you and your post. Kinda meant the ones making fun of his teeth etc... Didn't care to respond to those but to each their own.

I wanted it to be a seperate post and to have a reasonable back and forth about your stance. Thats why I quoted you after then before I wrote 'struck a cord' Usually read most all your posts because they are thoughful in my opinion. Apologies where excepted.

Also got drawn off topic as to what a 'great canadian' is? Most will agree Gretzky or Mike Wier are canadians who are great at a certain sport or the greatest. Does this make them a great canadian? That is definitely up for debate.

I think Margaret Atwood or Tommy Douglas were great Canadians. Just one example. There are many others but most don't play sports but some do or are not written about or talked about most everyday in newspapers and radio.

Moving to another counrty to avoid paying taxes here so you can pay less to another countrie's Gov't seems to detract from being a great canadian. Growing up here in Canada and using your fan base here to Sell the majority of your products here and then funneling the money out isn't my idea of patriotic or Great Canadian if that is the case?

At the sametime I am sure Weir gives money to Canadian charities but this is good business as much as anything else. If it wasn't(tax write offs, goodwill building) then I wonder if the very wealthy people would give much not just Weir? I am sure Mike is a good person but great canadian is a real stretch for me.

It seems like a double standard of sorts or something not fair. Not based on actions. If Ames was more affable with smaller teeth;) he might be better accepted. :rofl: He does admit to being wrong and sometimes saying things that are not well recieved. True or not. Mike Weir won't put himself in that position. In some people eye's that makes him more likeable.

[Bellyhungry]

Ames is Canadian as far as I am concerned. If he wins, I would be happy and proud for him.

[Anthony]

I'd be very happy if he won it..... The fact he has a personality and says what he thinks (right or wrong) is refreshing in golf. I too am a Weir fan, but if he not Canadian, he'd be no different then Justin Leonard, David Toms, Zach Johnson and dozens of others......

What Ames did and has done for Canadian golf is admirable and to think he still has so many detractors is sad. Being an adult to becoming a Canadian citizen, having his wife battle cancer and supporting Canada in so many ways (including his bitter disappointment over the Presidents Cup) makes me respect him all the more....

I am shocked at the detractors on this thread.

[The Troll]

I am shocked at the detractors on this thread.

Me too....these are the types of attitudes that have perfectly qualified professionals from other countries, such as doctors, working as labourers in Canada.

[Golfing in Ottawa]

I'd be very happy if he won it..... The fact he has a personality and says what he thinks (right or wrong) is refreshing in golf. I too am a Weir fan, but if he not Canadian, he'd be no different then Justin Leonard, David Toms, Zach Johnson and dozens of others......

What Ames did and has done for Canadian golf is admirable and to think he still has so many detractors is sad. Being an adult to becoming a Canadian citizen, having his wife battle cancer and supporting Canada in so many ways (including his bitter disappointment over the Presidents Cup) makes me respect him all the more....

I am shocked at the detractors on this thread.

What I am shocked at and the same thing happened on an Ottawa Golf forum thread comparing Weir and Ames is that if we say the average Canadian "relates more to Weir" ie. growing up playing hockey, golf and other sports in Sarnia that immediately the "immigration issue" is raised.
This has nothing to do with that and I am shocked at people trying the flame this thread by raising that "card".
I admire Ames for coming to Canada, marrying a Canadian, contributing greatly to Canadian golf, owning some restaurants in Calgary. Ames has a quirky sense of humour which rubs some people the wrong way, but I know a fellow here in Ottawa who has played golf with Stephen and says he is a great guy.
If you want to discuss immigration than I can guarantee most of us on this forum either had parents or grandparents that immigrated to Canada if not ourselves. I know I did !!

[Merlot]

Go Mike. Go Stephen!:hyper:

[cleveland]

Go Tiger, to the rest....add to your bank accounts,it's as good as done!!;)

[Merlot]

So much for Weir and Ames. Pooped the bed considering where they were after friday. Strong finishes may get them into the top 20 though.

[homerj297]

Ames is not Canadian .... any guy that plays for Trinadad in World Cup Team events is not a Canadian IMO.

Besides that .... he's a horsetoothed JA!

[Big Shooter]

So much for Weir and Ames.


stiffs! :$