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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

NORTON, Mass. -- Gary Player made Mike Weir a very happy man two weeks ago when he made the slender Canadian one of his two Captain's Picks for the International Presidents Cup team.

Knowing he's going to the Presidents Cup has freed Mike Weir to focus only on his game. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

MIKE WEIR IN 2007

Category Total Rank Driving Distance 286.4 yds. 111 Driving Accuracy 62.91% 93 Greens in Regulation 61.27% 157 Putts Per Round 28.99 61 Sand Saves 58.77% 6 Scoring Average 70.42 55 Money Leaders $951,872 85 FedExCup Points 88,925 88

• Mike Weir's Player Page

Weir could return the favor this week if he validates Player's selection with a win at the Deutsche Back Championship in the second round of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

An opening 65 left Weir tied with Ryan Moore, two strokes behind Camilo Villegas, and put him in position to make good on the second goal. And the way Weir sees it, Player's confidence has freed him up to go out and play the way he knows he can.

"Absolutely," he said. "I think it does bring me up a little bit. I think more than anything, (the Presidents Cup) was on the back of my mind, I can't deny that. It was there for the last few months, thinking about it a lot because I obviously wanted to make that team badly.

"I think not thinking about that anymore frees me up a little bit more, but at the same time I definitely want to be playing well going in there, and I feel like I am. ... It was a good start, and I think it was important to show some good signs."

Weir would like nothing better than to be playing another week -- or two -- in the Playoffs. He came to the TPC Boston ranked 88th in the FedExCup standings so he'll need to move up 18 spots to earn a spot in the third Playoff event at Cog Hill.

Solo fifth or sixth would probably be enough to land Weir in the field for the BMW Championship, regardless of what anyone else does this week. After Friday's first round, though, he had moved to 38th in the projected FedExCup standings.

"I was kind of looking at the points," Weir admitted. "It's tough to make a lot of headway. I think top eight, top seven, I was looking, might probably get me in. But again, I don't want to think about that too much.

"As I said going in here, I want to try to get myself in contention to win this thing. It's been a long time since I've won, and I want to win more than anything. Top finishes are nice, but we want to win out here."

The start -- literally -- was the key to Weir's round on Friday. He was in the first group off the first tee on Friday, paired with J.J. Henry and Matt Kuchar. The 4:15 wake-up call wasn't pleasant, but the rest of the day couldn't have been better.

Particularly after Weir holed that bunker shot for birdie on the very first hole. He made a 20-footer on No. 2 and tapped in for another birdie at the driveable par 4 fifth after barely missing a 10-foot eagle putt.

Weir, who is looking for his first win since the 2004 Nissan Open, was on a roll, and he didn't let the round slip away this time. Friday marked only the second time this year that the diminutive Canadian has opened a TOUR event with a round in the 60s.

"The biggest thing I think was getting out there first," Weir said. "That was actually a bonus, I thought. The greens were so good and they're so fast that I just had a real nice feel on the greens, and that was the biggest difference. I just made some nice putts. That was probably one of the best putting rounds I've had this year.

"I didn't play perfect golf. I mis-hit some shots but was able to recover a few times, and that's what I haven't been doing is getting the balls up and down from just off the edge and kind of keeping the round going. I was able to do that for the most part today."

The 2003 Masters champion had appeared to be getting things untracked midway through the season with back-to-back ties for eighth at the AT&T National and British Open. A nagging neck injury that flared up at Firestone Country Club halted his momentum, though.

Weir had to withdraw after playing 11 holes in the second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship the following week, but his condition has been improving with each week.

"It's still there a little bit," Weir admitted. "It's just kind of ice and work on it. The guys work on it every day. ... It's definitely getting better."

Weir closed with a 67 Sunday and tied for 41st at Westchester Country Club last week in The Barclays. He felt like he was playing well, but he just didn't get anything out of his rounds. Friday was the polar opposite.

"A lot of the rounds I've played this year, I look back and I think, aw, I should have been three or four better," Weir said. "Today I can't look at really anything that I could have done much better."

Weir is playing in the Deutsche Bank Championship for the first time. He was unable to play in the past due to the Monday finish and the tournament's former spot the week before the Canadian Open.

Ironically, Weir made a quick trip to Canada this week since he wasn't in the pro-am. He took the 40-minute flight Wednesday night, played Royal Montreal, which will host the Presidents Cup next month, Thursday morning and was back in this Boston suburb by 3:00 p.m.

Now, if Weir doesn't advance to the third round of the Playoffs, he'll have three weeks off before the Presidents Cup. Asked what he might do to stay fresh, Weir smiled and said he hadn't really thought about it.

The Nationwide Tour does tee it up next week about five minutes from his home in Utah, though, Weir pointed out. It was clear, though, that he was focused on Chicago instead.

"I still feel like I can make some hay in the FedExCup here and get on a nice roll," Weir said. "My game is feeling good, and you never know when you're going to get on a good string and maybe win a couple in a row and get right back in this thing.

"You never know when that's going to happen. You've just got to be patient. Like I said, it's just round one, but it's definitely a good start."