Tip from Stricker has Weir putting well at Memorial
By Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.COM Senior Correspondent
DUBLIN, Ohio -- Golf already sets itself apart from other athletic endeavors with its honor system. Those who play it also tend to exhibit a selflessness you would never find on a gridiron, ball diamond, ice, or the hardwood.
Mike Weir, tied for second and three off the lead held by Australia's Matthew Goggin, offered the latest testimonial following his third round Saturday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. The left-hander from Canada had just completed a tidy 4-under-par 68 at merciless Muirfield Village Golf Club, one of just three unblemished rounds this week, when he began discussing the keys to his solid scoring.
The biggest: Steve Stricker.
Stricker, the No. 6 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, withdrew prior to the 33rd Memorial, but he's having an impact on the proceedings through 54 holes at Jack Nicklaus' elite invitational event.
Friends and fellow competitors in another life on the Canadian Tour, Stricker and Weir got to talking last week after Friday's second round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Winner of the 2003 Masters, Weir was bemoaning his putting when Stricker, one of the best on the greens, offered a tip and a lifeline to lower scoring.
In five minutes, Weir was a new man at least in the task of rolling a little white ball.
"I was so frustrated after Thursday, Friday last week because I felt like I was playing so well and getting nothing out of it," Weir, 38, said after posting 5-under 211 through 54 holes. "He just gave me a little tip and I went out Saturday at Colonial and birdied five of my first six holes and I thought, 'Wow, putts were going in from places they hadn't been.' And I just feel more comfortable. And whether they go in or not I just feel more comfortable out there and confident."
The tip wasn't anything special. Really. No esoteric lesson about feel or pace. "It was really just a little more acceleration," said Weir, who has finished as high as third at the Memorial. "That was just it. So just something simple."
Weir, who ended a three-year winless streak last year at the inaugural Fry's Electronics Open after a sterling performance in the Presidents Cup in Quebec, began the season by nearly winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship, but hadn't been heard from since. His ball-striking, he said, has been solid all year.
"My game is really good," he said. "I just needed to put the pieces together."
The last piece was putting. This week he ranks 12th in the field with 81 total putts. His 1.625 average per green in regulation is ninth overall. The fact that he isn't among the top 35 in driving or greens in regulation indicates how many sins can be covered up by converting on the greens.
"If you somehow get around this golf course without a bogey, you are doing a lot of things right," Joe Ogilvie pointed out. "That just isn't happening out there unless you keep it in play and make a few putts. Those rounds are rare this week."
Weir, who has missed the cut at Muirfield Village two of the last three years, enters Sunday's final 18 locked in a five-way tie for second, but he looked to be heading out the door in this event early in the first round. He was 3 over after four holes Thursday and was still three over with seven to go when he turned momentum around with two birdies and an eagle at the par-5 fifth.
"Just a couple of bad breaks, really," he said with a shrug.
Nevertheless, a stout comeback he has made. Weir is used to that. Only once in his eight PGA TOUR victories did he lead after 54 holes.
"I don't know why that is, but there might be something to that," Weir said when asked about his knack for rallying. "I don't know what it is. But I do have done well from coming from behind. Hopefully I can do it again tomorrow and play well and get in there. But, yeah for some reason I've been able to shoot some final good rounds coming from two, three, four behind."
If nothing else, he has some good vibes to feed off of. Not just the 68 Saturday, but going all the way back to Wednesday.
"I shot 8 under on my ball in the pro-am," he said. "I've been feeling good since then right on through the week."
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