Weir leads pack of PGA contenders

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Sunshine began to bake the greens, the wind kept players guessing and the birdie cheers kept right on coming Sunday in the Deutsche Bank Championship, the final one for Mike Weir.

His third birdie over the final five holes gave him a 4-under 67 and a one-shot lead.

And it meant next to nothing.

“I’ve got my hands full,” Weir said after patching together a good score despite marginal shots.

First came a pair of 63s from Ben Crane and Camilo Villegas, the kind of score no one thought possible in such blustery conditions. Then came the steady surge of Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh, and a late charge from Ernie Els and Jim Furyk to set the stage for the Labor Day finish.

Expect everyone to work extra hard to win the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“One less than the guy who comes in second,” Garcia said when asked what it would take to capture the second stop in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

It starts with Weir, who hit only half of the fairways and half of the greens. He has been around the lead all week, but had to grind out a score to stay there, including a superb 7-iron to 3 feet on the 14th, chipping in for birdie on the 15th and the final birdie on the 18th.

Weir was at 17-under 196, the 10th time the Canadian has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour. He has converted only of those chances into 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.”