Weir and Ames unable to end Canadian title drought

MARKHAM, Ontario, July 30 (Reuters) Mike Weir and Stephen Ames were unable to end Canada's 53-year title drought at the Canadian Open on Sunday, with neither player able to crack the top-25 on a leaderboard light on big-name players.

Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, was viewed as a legitimate contender coming off his eighth-place finish at the British Open last week.

But the Canadian left-hander barely made the cut and was not able to carry any momentum from his four-under par third round, finishing with an even-par 71 yesterday.

That left Weir five-under for the tournament in a tie for 34th place and 11 shots behind Jim Furyk, who became the first back-to-back champion of the tournament in 56 years.

''Couldn't get anything going. When I was in between clubs I picked the wrong one,'' Weir told reporters. ''When I thought the wind was doing something, it did the other. It was just one of those days.'' Weir ran into early trouble, with bogies on the third and fourth holes before birdies on the ninth and 14th holes.

In 2004 Weir came close to becoming the first Canadian to win the tournament since Pat Fletcher in 1954, but he fell short in a three-hole playoff won by Vijay Singh.

This year's tournament was short of big names given that its new date after it was previously played in September has it sandwiched between the British Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Ames closed with a two-under round to finish seven-under for the tournament and in a tie for 27th place.

''My golf was average,'' Ames told reporters. ''I struck the ball nicely the last few days, just couldn't make anything unfortunately. That's just the nature of the game.'' The only other Canadians to make the cut were David Hearn, who finished at even par, and Chris Baryla who was two over.

Reuters BJR VP0635