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Think of the shape or arc of a golfer's career. Except for players such as Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, it's usually less of a straight line up than a zigzag full of peaks and valleys. That's certainly true for Canada's two most prominent players, Mike Weir and Lorie Kane.

Weir, 36, will start the Nissan Open in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Thursday. He won his seventh and last PGA Tour event three years ago this Sunday. Kane, 42, will start her season Thursday in the 54-hole SBS Open in Oahu, Hawaii. Oddly enough, she took the last of her four Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour wins this very weekend six years ago at the Takefuji Classic.

Everything was moving in the right direction for these two accomplished players when they last won. There was no reason to think they'd go backward, but that's happened. Still, Weir and Kane believe they can win again. Golf will destroy the tour player who doesn't believe that.

Weir is going through extensive swing changes after switching coaches last fall and has said it will take time for him to integrate the changes. Just now, he's in the middle of a stretch during which he's playing five consecutive tournaments. The final one will be in Thailand.

So far, the results are decidedly mixed, although it's far too early to conclude that Weir made the wrong move in changing teachers and approaches. Weir tied for 48th place in his first tournament this year, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic a month ago in Palm Desert, Calif. He took a week off and then tied for 32nd at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Next came the AT&T National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif. Weir had finished tied for third place in 2006, tied for second in 2005, tied for fourth in 2004 and tied for third in 2003. He missed the cut last week by two strokes.

Maybe Weir will find some better form this week at the Riviera Country Club, a shotmaker's course that he loves. Weir won the Nissan in 2003 and went on to win the Masters. He successfully defended his Nissan title the next year, but it's been a drought since then in the win column. Surely he needs a solid tournament to gain some confidence.

That's also true for Kane. She finished 42nd last year on the LPGA Tour money list, worse by 21 spots since her first full season in 1997. Kane, whose popularity in her native Charlottetown is as high as ever, recently moved from her home in Titusville, Fla., to the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando. She lives beside the practice area. "I needed a place to practise," Kane said before she left for this week's tournament. "I had to drive from my house to practise in Titusville, and I wasn't motivated to do it."

Sorenstam, Kane's friend and the player she once believed she could challenge for No. 1, lives at Lake Nona. European professionals Justin Rose and Ian Poulter have homes there. Teacher David Leadbetter lives at Lake Nona, although his teaching academy is across town at the ChampionsGate Golf Club. The respected head pro and teacher Gregor Jameson is headquartered at Lake Nona, and Kane chatted with him before she decided to make the move.

"You watch these young players come out with no fear," Kane said, "and you question if what you're doing is right. Now, I want to have fun at the game again. I've always done things in five-year increments. I gave myself five years to see if I could make it out there, and I found I could. The second five years haven't been so good, especially the last two or three years."

Kane said the next five years on the LPGA Tour will be "awesome," with Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak playing well, and younger players such as Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel pushing them. Kane wants to be in the mix again.

Kane and Weir mean to alter the descending lines on the graphs of their respective careers. But the game's winning right now. By no means has it delivered a knockout punch, but it's definitely winning.