NORTON, Mass. — Mike Weir shaved his “playoff beard” when his wife and children flew into town this week, but that had no bearing on his golf Friday. This was a round to enjoy, not explain.
Determined to get off to a better start, Weir birdied the first four holes and one-putted his final nine greens in the Deutsche Bank Championship to tie the course record at TPC Boston with a 10-under 61, the lowest round of his PGA Tour career.
Weir had a three-shot lead over a group of four players that included Vijay Singh, whose victory last week at The Barclays put him atop the standings in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.
Singh previously had the TPC Boston course record to himself, a 61 in the third round two years ago. And he set the tone for a day of low scores when he ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch for a 64.
It took Weir only 10 holes to catch him.
“There was no indication on the putting green when I was warming up that was going to tell me it was going to be like that,” Weir said. “It just felt normal. Just one of those days where I made about a 15-footer on the first hole, another on the second hole. I just kind of built on that momentum.
“I just tried to keep the pedal down, because I knew the scores were pretty low.”
John Merrick, Heath Slocum and Briny Baird joined Singh at 64, while Ben Curtis had a 65. Ernie Els and Jim Furyk were in a large group another stroke back. More than half of the 115-man field shot in the 60s, and only 23 players failed to break par.
Even so, Weir never saw a 61 coming.
In his 20 previous stroke-play events this year, he had shot in the 60s only one time, at the Canadian Open.
“It’s been kind of my goal the last month or so to get off to better starts in tournaments,” he said. “It seems like I’ve been having to come from behind. I’ve just put it in my to try to get off to a better start. Obviously, this was way exceeding my expectations.”
Harvet leads by one.
Gregory Havret shot a 2-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Johnnie Walker Championship, while Colin Montgomerie had a 70 to boost his chance of a Ryder Cup selection.
Havret had a 7-under 139 total, while Robert Rock was second after a 70. Bradley Dredge (70) and Peter Whiteford (68) shared third, two strokes behind the leader.
Montgomerie, the veteran of eight Ryder Cup teams, needs a victory or close to it to persuade European captain Nick Faldo to make him one of the two wild-card picks on Sunday. The Europeans will defend their Ryder Cup title against the Americans next month.
Montgomerie was tied for 13th, five strokes off the lead.
“I have to show form to have any chance,” he said.
