DARRYL DYCK
Tiger Woods won't be the only one making his 2012 PGA Tour debut at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this year. Mike Weir says he is targeting next month's tournament as his PGA opener following his recovery from elbow surgery.
In the latest blog entry on his website, Weir says Pebble Beach is a realistic target given his progress over the past month.
"I've been practicing regularly and even playing full rounds," wrote Weir. "This weekend, I'm hoping to put things to another test by playing three consecutive days. That should give me an indication of how close I am to being able to play again on Tour."
Weir underwent elbow surgery last August to repair a damaged tendon in his right elbow following his withdrawl from the RBC Canadian Open. Recently, the golfer from Brights Grove, Ont., has increased his workouts from hitting little wedge shots off a tee to full swings and playing the odd full round.
"So far, when I've played, there hasn't been any pain. I've been sore after the round, which is to be expected," said Weir. "But I still want to be careful. There's no sense coming this far in the rehab and then doing something silly and suffering a setback."
Weir says he's not looking beyond the Pebble Beach tournament until he's certain how much time he'll need to take off between events. The Masters champion reiterated he plans to fill out his schedule with several European Tour events after taking up his Tour card in 2012. However, he likely won't make his European debut until June at the earliest.