Far be it for a golf columnist to address the looming national crisis should Canada not win more medals before the Winter Olympics end Sunday. But some perspective on what pressure can do to those playing for, or perceived as playing for, their country, seems appropriate.
First, consider what professional golfer Dave Barr of Kelowna, B.C., once said to a Canadian fan following him.
"Do it for Canada," the fellow told Barr as he walked from a green to the next tee.
" 'Do it for Canada?' " Barr said. "I'm playing for myself and my family."
Oddly enough, though, Barr - twice a winner on the PGA Tour and a member of the Canadian teams that won the 1985 World Cup in Jakarta and the 1994 Dunhill Cup at St. Andrews - has been as big a supporter of Canadian golf as one could find. He bled red and white when he represented his country, so maybe his comment was a way of deflecting pressure from himself.
Own the podium?
Barr would never have said something equivalent to the Canadian Olympic Committee's declaration when it started the program of the same name five years ago. The now 57-year-old found it enough to try to own his own game, let alone to feel the nation was depending on him.
"You're not there to be on the podium," Joe Parent, the author of Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game and Zen Putting, said yesterday from his office in Ojai, Calif. "You're there to give your best stuff for yourself, your team and your country."
Parent, a mental game coach, works with many PGA Tour pros. He said the COC should have said: "Own the ice and the snow. The podium will take care of itself."
It's impossible to think about the pressure that comes with representing one's country without remembering Mike Weir during the 2004 Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.
The Bright's Grove, Ont., native and winner of the 2003 Masters held a two-shot lead over Vijay Singh with three holes to play. It appeared Weir would become the first Canadian to win the Open in 50 years.
Weir bogeyed the 16th hole after he three-putted from 10 feet above the hole. Spectators were in a patriotic frenzy as he played the 17th, and they sang O Canada as he walked down the fairway. It was more like Woe Canada within an hour, as Weir lost his lead and Singh won in a sudden-death playoff.
Weir was shell-shocked, but classy in his post-round remarks. He thanked his supporters, and then said: "I think maybe in the end, I was just trying too hard."
Asked if he could feel the weight of the country he answered: "Every shot."
Five Canadian Opens have passed and the drought continues. No Canadian has won the tournament.
Weir did beat Tiger Woods in their Sunday singles match at the 2007 Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club - a significant accomplishment that cannot be discounted when it comes to the good golfers can sometimes come up with when playing for their country. But as big as that was, it wasn't the Canadian Open. It was one day, one match, albeit against the world's best golfer while playing for a team.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'd bet a Canadian Open title would be the authentic gold medal for Weir, or any Canadian golfer. Still, and again, they would never say they plan to own the podium - that is, the trophy that goes with winning the Open.
Speaking of that, the Royal Canadian Golf Association, some of whose representatives have been in Vancouver this month studying and, in some cases, working at the Olympics, would be wise not to come up with any slogan similar to "own the podium." The RCGA already speaks of wanting develop "the best golfers in the world" - a lofty goal considering Canada's population.
Meanwhile, Sport Canada has designated the RCGA as golf's National Sports Organization. Funding for its national teams is based in part on performance in designated events.
Golf will be part of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Weir, currently in Vancouver attending the Games, will be 46 then. Fellow Canadian pro Stephen Ames will be 52. Plenty of talented and much younger golfers will want to make the 2016 Canadian team. What overall strategy will they use?
"Nicklaus never said he was going to own the podium," Ames said the other day from his home in Calgary.
Jack Nicklaus owns 18 major championships. He handled pressure rather well.
We'll eventually learn how Canadian golfers handle the most intense pressure athletes feel - the kind that goes with representing one's country at the Olympics.
How can anyone who hasn't been in that situation grasp or even appreciate such pressure?
rube@sympatico.ca