Perfect weather, welcoming course set up for shootout

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Vijay Singh (64) and Sergio Garcia (67) enjoyed birdie-conducive course conditions in the first round.

NORTON, Mass. -- Now that was easy.

That's probably what a lot of guys were thinking upon completion of their respective opening rounds on Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where TPC Boston's par-71 track was torched by those vying to win, or hang around to play another week, in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Under beautiful blue skies with hardly a breath of wind, a total of 79 players recorded sub-par rounds, highlighted by Mike Weir's 10-under 61, which tied the course-record set by Vijay Singh in the third round of 2006.

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"The greens are perfect. So if you can get your putter feeling good you're going to make a lot of putts out there, " said fan favorite Brandt Snedeker.

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Coincidentally, Weir's 61 on Friday was three shots better than Singh -- who won the Playoffs opener, The Barclays, last week -- Briny Baird, Heath Slocum and second-year TOUR player John Merrick.

So what made the course seemingly so easy on Friday?

"It's in great shape, but the greens are soft," said Singh, who had eight birdies and just one bogey for his 7-under 64. "They were much firmer yesterday in the Pro-Am than they were today, so they must have softened it up a little bit. The conditions are great. There's no wind, and the pins are very fair. Besides one or two pins, the rest of them are pretty generous. That's why you've got a lot of guys shooting low numbers."

Friday's scoring average was 69.157, or, nearly two shots under par. In fact, only 23 players in the 113-player field finished over par.

Eric Axley and Ben Curtis each shot 6-under 65, while a group that included Jeff Overton, Ernie Els and Jim Furyk turned in 5-under 66s.

"It played really nice. The greens are in great shape," said Overton, who started this week No. 115 in the Playoffs standings and needs to crack the top-70 here to move on to next week's BMW Championship. "They're rolling fast, especially as the day goes on. The golf course is in such perfect shape right now, and the weather is so great that if you hit good shots, you're going to get rewarded."

Brandt Snedeker, whose best finish this season was a tie for third at the Masters, got things going early on Friday with a 4-under 67. With the ease of his score, Snedeker wasn't the least bit surprised to see the low numbers throughout the day.

"The rough's not real penal right now, so the fairways are playing nice and wide, and guys are ripping it," said Snedeker, who had six birdies and two bogeys. "The greens are perfect. So if you can get your putter feeling good, you're going to make a lot of putts out there.

"It's kind of nice to be able to go out there and make some birdies, make some putts, get some reachable par 5s, there are some good holes out there to play," he added. "It's kind of fun knowing you have to go out there and make some birdies."

Japan's Ryuji Imada was hoping to get a little more out of his 2-under 69. He teed off early and was greeted by a rather defenseless course.

"The condition of the course is really good right now," said Imada, who won the AT&T Classic earlier this season. "It was really smooth in the morning, and there was just no wind. When there's no wind, and you have softer greens, it makes it a lot easier to play well."

Judging by the first round, this week is going to be a shootout. With birdies at a premium, it was no wonder Snedeker could be found by himself late in the day on the practice green.

"The putting is definitely most important this week," he said. "Obviously you've got to drive the ball well and keep it in play, first and foremost. If you do that, it'll set up a lot of birdie opportunities. If you can get those 10- 15-footers to drop, that's going to be the difference between winning and losing this week."

And for many, perhaps, staying alive in the Playoffs.