Weir holds on to first-round lead

Most athletes grow playoff beards to improve their play. Mike Weir, however, shaved his off to do the trick.

Weir, who tied Vijay Singh’s competitive course record with a 10-under-par 61 in Friday’s first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, to take a 3-stroke lead over Singh, John Merrick, Briney Baird and Heath Slocum, had grown a beard for two weeks, and was sporting it in last week’s The Barclays. But his family flew into town on Tuesday, and that was the end of that.

“It was not quite hockey player-ish,” said Weir, who’s Canadian and appears with Wayne Gretzky in a funny FedEx Cup commercial about playoff beards. “My girls hadn’t seen me in a while (when they flew in Tuesday) and they didn’t want to give me a kiss or anything. Once they said that I knew it had to be gone. So I gave them each a razor, lubed up my beard and they started hacking away.”

Weir put the finishing touches on the shave himself, to avoid being mortally wounded.

Saturday’s second round should be exciting, with six players within four shots. I don’t know why, but this season feels like the year of the underdog, with players like rookie Kevin Streelman in the hunt last week, and seldom-mentioned players JMerrick and Eric Axley near the top of this week’s leaderboard.

The only real surprise in terms of players who might not make the cut is Padraig Harrington, who is currently tied for 114th at 4-over. Kenny Perry was also above par at 1-over.

I’m going to be interested to see if TPC Boston plays any tougher tomorrow, because it didn’t put up much of a fight today. Mother nature didn’t help by providing a windless day with very little sun to dry out the greens. But the pros at it up, firing at every pin and making it look easy out of the rough.

That’s all for today. I’ll report back on Saturday after the morning group has turned in their cards, then a few more times as the day goes on.

Weir ties course record

Mike Weir just birdied the 18th for a 10-under-par 61, which tied Vijay Singh’s competitive course record and take a three-stroke lead over Singh and John Merrick.

Weir cooled off a bit on the back nine after making birdie on seven of his first 10 holes. But he birdied the 13th and 15th to give himself a shot at the record on the 18th. After landing his second shot on the fringe, approximately 30 feet from the hole, Weir came tantalizingly close to making eagle for the record. But the putt slid left, leaving him a three-foot comebacker.

A couple of players are still in contention to tie for second, including Chad Campbell and Briney Baird. I’ll check back in after Weir’s interview and all the scores are in.

Round 1 is underway

The pros are finally playing some golf out here at TPC Boston, and they’re throwing up some pretty low scores.

Vijay Singh is the clubhouse leader after firing a 7-under-par 64, but he’s currently tied with Mike Weir, who’s 7-under through 11. I wanted to follow Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim’s group, so I walked backward starting at the 9th. I passed Weir’s group on the seventh and had to do a double-take when I saw that he was 5-under. The best part is he’s doing it with birdies. Weir birdied the first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and 10th, which is amazing if you think about it.

I always like to pick a group on the first day and follow it around, even if it’s not the lead group. Mickelson’s fun to watch for obvious reason, but I think Kim’s the most exciting player on Tour right now. He’s a charismatic guy and he absolutely stripes the ball. I watched them on six through nine, but there weren’t any fireworks. Mickelson stuck a 6-iron to within five feet on the par-3 8th, but missed a downhill putt. Then Kim just missed a 15-footer for birdie on the par-4 9th.

For those who thought the absence of Tiger Woods might hurt attendance, I think they were correct. The galleries seem a little thin this year. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s Friday afternoon. Tomorrow will be the true test.

OK, I’m off to watch a little more golf at the 18th. I’ll check back in to report on Weir’s round.

Mickelson holds court

Phil Mickelson just left the interview room after about 10 minutes. He wasn’t as entertaining as last year, which tells me he’s a little more focused this time around.  Mickelson, who played his Pro-Am round with Patriots owner Bob Kraft, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Deutsche Bank Americas CEO Seth Waugh, didn’t break any news, but rather held court on a number of topics, including the Ryder Cup (He likes the U.S.’s team), the LPGA’s decision to force foreign players to learn English (He thinks the LPGA has plenty of charismatic players), and grooves on pitching wedges (it won’t matter if the USGA keeps growing the rough longer than an abandoned property’s front lawn).

Although Vijay Singh traditionally plays well at the Deutsche Bank, and Sergio Garcia has looked strong, Mickelson has to be considered a favorite. Although Mickelson-haters focused on how he blew a final-round lead at the WGC and never really threated at the PGA Championship, he shot three rounds in the 60s at the WGC, and was a few lip-outs away from competing at the PGA.

That’s should do it for today. I’m going to head to the practice range to see if anything’s going on over there, and then be back tomorrow for first-round action, which begins at 7:25 a.m.

Pro-Am Thursday

Pro-Am Thursday at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston – when the PGA Tour pros play a round with representatives from corporate sponsors – might not be the most interesting day of the tournament, but it’s definitely the funniest. Imagine that you’re a 20-handicapper who’s used to playing with his buddies at the country club. Suddenly, you’re playing with a PGA Tour pro in front of a gallery of 10,000. Most guys fall to pieces. Maybe I’m mean-spirited, but I like standing on the 18th fairway and watching people like Yahoo co-founder Jerr Yang, who played in last year’s pro-am, slice the ball into the woods.

As for actual Deutsche Bank news, not much going on today except a few press conferences. Since this is the last week to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team, there’s been a lot of Ryder Cup talk. Ian Poulter, who finished second at the British Open, addressed rumors that European captain Nick Faldo already gave him a spot on the team, despite the fact that several players are in contention for essentially two open spots.

“I’m disgusted that people, players, media have put what they’ve put, and have and would, basically think that Nick would be that unprofessional to have done such a thing the week before a number of scenarios could have actually happened,” Poulter said. “I know he hasn’t done that because I know for a fact I haven’t been given the nod.”

Poulter saved some ire for Colin Montgomerie, who said yesterday that it seemed Poulter had a hot line to Faldo, insinuating that he was lobbying for the position.

“He’s got enough work to do this week to try to make the side himself,” Poulter said. “He should just be getting his head down and trying to play good golf.”

The other press conference was with 2004 Deutsche Bank Champ Adam Scott, who’s had a tough year since winning the Byron Nelson in April.  He’s only had one top 10 since then, and missed his last two cuts, at the PGA Championship and The Barclays. Scott’s been battling a broken hand and recurring tonsilitis, but admitted today that there are other contributing factors to his poor play.

“I’ve had a few more personal issues this year that have contributed to it,” Scott said.

Phil Mickelson is supposed to be in the interview room any minute, so I’ll check back in after that.

El Tiant in the swing

Former Red Sox Luis Tiant on the green at TPC Boston in Norton

For former Red Sox players, like the ones who took part in the Red Sox Legends and Friends Pro-Am Tuesday to open the festivities for the Deutsche Bank Championship, the impending closing of Yankee Stadium offered a trip down memory lane.

“I think it’s a big thing for baseball,” said Luis Tiant after finishing his round at TPC Boston. “The Yankee history, all those years you play in Yankee Stadium with all those great players going through Yankee Stadium, now they’re not playing there any more.

“The history is going to stay there, no matter whether they change the park or not. Nobody is going to change the history of the Yankees.”

Tiant has some fond memories of the stadium since he defeated the Yankees in New York in his major league debut on July 19, 1964.

Pitching in the nightcap of a doubleheader for the Cleveland Indians against Whitey Ford, Tiant went the distance, allowing just four hits and striking out 11. For someone who had left Cuba and battled his way through the minors, it was a special way to start a career.

“You know you had to work hard to beat them,” said Tiant, who spent two seasons with the Yankees after leaving the Red Sox. “It was great to be there, wearing the uniform. That’s what you were looking for all those years when you were in the minor leagues, coming from Cuba.

“That was your dream when you were a kid. It happened to me against the Yankees. The players told me, ‘Why did they put you against the Yankees? Why don’t they put you against Kansas City?’

Check out the rest of the story in The Enterprise.

PGA Tour in Norton for Deutschbank event

With Tiger Woods sidelined by injury, Vijay Singh is the favorite this week when the PGA Tour stops at TPC Boston in Norton for the Deutsche Bank Championship. 2007 winner Phil Mickelson is back to defend the title. Read more on the PGA site.