Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

NORTON, Mass. – Mike Weir holed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 4-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead Sunday in the Deutsche Bank Championship, leaving him in a familiar position with hopes of a better outcome.

It was the 10th time the Canadian has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, but he has only one victory when leading going into the final round.

Protecting this one might be the toughest yet.

Camilo Villegas ignored the swirling wind and increasingly firm conditions at TPC Boston to shoot 63, putting him in the final group with Weir for perhaps his best chance at his first PGA Tour victory.

Three shots behind were Sergio Garcia (68) and Vijay Singh (69), part of the playoff last week at The Barclays that Singh won to move atop the standings in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

And right behind them were Jim Furyk, looking for his first victory in an otherwise solid year, Ernie Els and Ben Crane, whose 63 came during the morning before the wind hit full strength.

“I’ve got my hands full,” said Weir, who was at 17-under 196.

Ten players were separated by five shots going into the Labor Day finish, the kind of shootout the Deutsche Bank Championship always seems to produce.

Tiger Woods isn’t around to take part in this one, and neither is defending champion Phil Mickelson. He played an ordinary round of 1-over 72 and missed the 54-hole cut, leaving questions about whether he will play next week in St. Louis in the third round of these playoffs.

Weir has been around the week since opening with a 61, but he was equally pleased with a 67 considering he struggled to find fairways and hit only half the greens. But he got moving in the right direction with a 7-iron that stopped just under 3 feet away on the 14th, one of only eight birdies on the day.

Conditions were much more difficult, but Villegas and Crane sure didn’t take notice.

“I thought a 66 or a 65 would be a great round,” Garcia said. “I didn’t see a 63.”

Villegas relied on a tip from Singh – the power of positive thinking. Neither is regarded as a wizard with the putter, but Singh won last week at The Barclays after saying he would stop paying attention to negative comments about his short game and believe he was among the best.

“Starting this year, I decided to tell myself something similar to what Vijay told himself last week, that I’m a great putter and that I’m a lot better than people think and people write,” Villegas said. “So today was a good reflection. And if you look at my putting stats for the year, I’m one of the great putters on tour.”

Which tour he was talking about remains a question, however, as Villegas is not among the top 80. But he was brilliant in the third round, taking only 22 putts, including a birdie on the 14th that he thought he left short. Villegas immediately pulled up out of his stance and walked toward the cup, stopped, then shrugged his shoulders when it dropped.

Equally important was judging the wind, which seemed to blow sideways on every hole and was so tricky that players had a tough time deciding if it was hurting or helping their shots.

One such moment came at the 12th, with the pin tucked to the right over a hazard. Villegas hit a 9-iron that turned out perfect, caught the slope and stopped 12 feet away.

He believes he is ready to win, but his task is no easier than what Weir, Garcia, Singh, Els or anyone else faces. More wind is in the forecast, and the TPC Boston likely will play as tough as it has all week.

Villegas kept watching young players win – Anthony Kim, J.B. Holmes, Andres Romero, Sean O’Hair – and wondered why he couldn’t join them.

“It’s getting into me in a good way,” Villegas said. “It’s time to step it up and give a little kick on my butt and join them. So I’ve been working on that.”

Garcia had one scary moment with a shot out of the thick rough on the 17th, in which the club stuck into a clump of grass. He said his wrist stung, but it didn’t bother him on the 18th, even though he missed an easy birdie chance. The Spaniard would love another chance to win, coming off his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship and The Barclays.

Singh, meanwhile, has a chance to turn the second year of the playoffs into a snoozer.

He beat Garcia and Kevin Sutherland in a playoff at Ridgewood last week to move atop the standings, and if he can win the Deutsche Bank (he won in 2004 to become No. 1 in the world ranking), he would build at least a 9,000-point cushion after just two weeks.

Els feels as though he let a good year get away from him, winless since the Honda Classic. Furyk is one of only two players on the U.S. Ryder Cup team without a victory.

“There’s great players on the leaderboard,” Weir said. “Some guys that are hungry to win for the first time, guys that haven’t won many times, and I’m trying to do the same thing. I just want to keep playing my type of golf. Hopefully, I can hit it a little better and find a few more fairways.”

---

Scores with relation to par from the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, played Aug. 31 at the par-71, 7,207-yard TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.:

1. Mike Weir	61-68-67--196			-17
2. Camilo Villegas	68-66-63--197			-16
3. Sergio Garcia	67-64-68--199			-14
3. Vijay Singh	64-66-69--199			-14
5. Ben Crane	72-65-63--200			-13
5. Ernie Els	66-65-69--200			-13
5. Jim Furyk	66-65-69--200			-13
8. Briny Baird	64-69-68--201			-12
8. Heath Slocum	64-68-69--201			-12
8. Tim Clark	66-62-73--201			-12
11. Ryuji Imada	69-65-68--202			-11
11. Richard S. Johnson	67-66-69--202			-11
13. Carl Pettersson	67-68-68--203			-10
13. Ken Duke	66-67-70--203			-10
13. D.J. Trahan	67-66-70--203			-10
13. Steve Marino	66-66-71--203			-10
17. Woody Austin	72-66-66--204			-9
17. Angel Cabrera	67-68-69--204			-9
17. Charlie Wi	66-67-71--204			-9
17. Kevin Streelman	66-65-73--204			-9
21. Jesper Parnevik	68-71-66--205			-8
21. Michael Allen	71-68-66--205			-8
21. Bill Haas	69-70-66--205			-8
21. Justin Leonard	69-70-66--205			-8
21. Mark Wilson	69-69-67--205			-8
21. Stewart Cink	67-69-69--205			-8
21. Jonathan Byrd	67-69-69--205			-8
21. Tom Pernice, Jr.	69-67-69--205			-8
21. Jeff Overton	66-67-72--205			-8
21. Ben Curtis	65-65-75--205			-8
31. Brett Quigley	69-70-67--206			-7
31. Tim Herron	72-67-67--206			-7
31. Lucas Glover	68-71-67--206			-7
31. Pat Perez	69-69-68--206			-7
31. Chad Campbell	67-70-69--206			-7
31. Stuart Appleby	70-66-70--206			-7
31. Steve Stricker	69-67-70--206			-7
31. Brian Davis	70-66-70--206			-7
31. Hunter Mahan	70-64-72--206			-7
31. Steve Flesch	68-65-73--206			-7
31. Anthony Kim	66-66-74--206			-7
42. Bart Bryant	69-70-68--207			-6
42. Chez Reavie	69-69-69--207			-6
42. Boo Weekley	70-67-70--207			-6
42. Charley Hoffman	67-69-71--207			-6
42. Brandt Snedeker	67-68-72--207			-6
42. Johnson Wagner	68-65-74--207			-6
42. John Mallinger	66-67-74--207			-6
49. Scott McCarron	69-70-69--208			-5
49. Frank Lickliter II	73-65-70--208			-5
49. Martin Laird	70-68-70--208			-5
49. John Senden	69-69-70--208			-5
49. J.J. Henry	68-69-71--208			-5
49. Kevin Sutherland	70-67-71--208			-5
49. Scott Verplank	69-68-71--208			-5
49. Robert Allenby	70-67-71--208			-5
49. Tim Petrovic	71-65-72--208			-5
49. Nick O'Hern	69-66-73--208			-5
49. Bo Van Pelt	67-67-74--208			-5
49. John Merrick	64-68-76--208			-5
61. John Rollins	73-66-70--209			-4
61. K.J. Choi	69-70-70--209			-4
61. Trevor Immelman	71-67-71--209			-4
61. Stephen Ames	71-67-71--209			-4
61. Andres Romero	68-69-72--209			-4
61. Brian Gay	68-68-73--209			-4
61. Fredrik Jacobson	67-68-74--209			-4
61. Ryan Palmer	67-68-74--209			-4
69. Bubba Watson	70-69-71--210			-3
69. Rocco Mediate	69-70-71--210			-3
69. Geoff Ogilvy	67-70-73--210			-3
69. Jason Day	70-66-74--210			-3
• • •
Made cut / Did not finish
73. Aaron Baddeley	72-67-72--211			-2
73. Phil Mickelson	69-70-72--211			-2
73. Dean Wilson	71-68-72--211			-2
73. Adam Scott	70-68-73--211			-2
73. Peter Lonard	71-67-73--211			-2
78. Billy Mayfair	70-69-73--212			-1
78. Ryan Moore	67-68-77--212			-1
79. Kenny Perry	72-67-74--213			E
79. Jay Williamson	68-70-75--213			E
82. Corey Pavin	71-68-75--214		+	1
82. Tommy Armour III	67-71-76--214		+	1
82. Justin Bolli	67-71-76--214		+	1
82. Charles Howell III	66-70-78--214		+	1
82. Eric Axley	65-69-80--214		+	1
• • •
Missed the cut
87. Dudley Hart	71-69--140			-2
87. Parker McLachlin	71-69--140			-2
87. Michael Letzig	74-66--140			-2
87. Sean O'Hair	70-70--140			-2
87. Padraig Harrington	75-65--140			-2
87. Kevin Na	74-66--140			-2
93. George McNeill	71-70--141			-1
93. Matt Kuchar	71-70--141			-1
93. Paul Casey	68-73--141			-1
96. Rory Sabbatini	70-72--142			E
96. J.B. Holmes	74-68--142			E
96. Nicholas Thompson	74-68--142			E
96. Rod Pampling	71-71--142			E
96. Retief Goosen	70-72--142			E
96. Nick Watney	73-69--142			E
96. Lee Janzen	71-71--142			E
96. Patrick Sheehan	68-74--142			E
104. Mathew Goggin	70-73--143		+	1
104. Glen Day	72-71--143		+	1
106. Ian Poulter	70-74--144		+	2
106. Paul Goydos	72-72--144		+	2
106. Cliff Kresge	72-72--144		+	2
109. Jerry Kelly	73-72--145		+	3
109. Jeff Quinney	72-73--145		+	3
111. Steve Lowery	75-71--146		+	4
111. Steve Elkington	72-74--146		+	4
113. Daniel Chopra	73-74--147		+	5
114. Rich Beem	72-76--148		+	6
115. Fred Couples	74-77--151		+	9

Posted: 8/31/2008

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