Deutsche Bank Championship: First-round notebook
By Stewart Moore, PGA TOUR Staff
NORTON, Mass. -- Eight-time PGA TOUR winner Mike Weir carded a course-record-tying 10-under 61 in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Friday and will take a three-shot lead into Saturday's second round over Vijay Singh, John Merrick, Briny Baird and Heath Slocum.
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• This marks the lowest round of Weir's PGA TOUR career. Weir carded a 10-under 62 in the first round of the 2001 Genuity Championship en route to a runner-up finish.
• This marks the fifth time in Weir's PGA TOUR career that he has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead in a TOUR event. He went on to tie for fifth at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, tie for 20th at the 2006 Buick Open, tie for 14th at the 2002 Mercedes-Benz Championship and finish second at the 2001 Ford Championship at Doral.
• Weir needed only 21 putts on his way to the round of 61. He was 17 for 18 on putts inside 20 feet on the day.
• Weir was tied for the lead with Rich Beem and Aaron Baddeley through 36 holes of last year's Deutsche Bank Championship before weekend rounds of 74-73 left him tied for 30th on the week and out of the following week's BMW Championship.
• Weir has gotten off to slow starts in many of his tournaments in 2008. This is only the second time he has opened a tournament this year with a round in the 60s (65 at the RBC Canadian Open). In fact, Weir had a similar issue in 2007 as he failed to record a first round in the 60s in his first 18 stroke-play starts before breaking the trend with a 69 in the first round of the 2007 Barclays.
• Vijay Singh, who used a victory at The Barclays last week to vault from No. 7 to No. 1 on the FedExCup points list, recorded eight birdies and one bogey on a TPC Boston course where he has carded prior rounds of 61 (2006) and 63 (2004).
• Singh definitely has a history of playing well year in and year out at certain tournaments or courses. He has multiple victories at five different tournaments on the PGA TOUR (four at The Barclays; three at the Shell Houston Open and the Buick Open; and two at the FBR Open and PGA Championship) and a stellar track record at the Deutsche Bank Championship with only one finish outside the top-4 in four career starts.
• Singh has won three career PGA TOUR events when sitting in second place through 18 holes: 2008 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, 2005 Buick Open and 2003 Children's Miracle Network Classic.
• Briny Baird is in the midst of his most consistent season on the PGA TOUR with only two missed cuts in 24 starts. Baird's opening round of 7-under 64 has him in the top 5 after 18 holes of a PGA TOUR event (tied for second) for the sixth time this year.
• Eric Axley opened with a round of 65 on Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship as he looks to improve on his current No. 72 standing in the PGA TOUR's Playoffs for the FedExCup. Axley is no stranger to hot starts in 2008 as he held a share of the 18-hole lead at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the RBC Canadian Open.
• At The Barclays last week, Axley rebounded nicely from a first-round 78 with a second-round 65 on his way to a tied for 38th finish. The 2006 Valero Texas Open winner has played well lately with ties for fourth in two of his last six starts on the PGA TOUR (John Deere Classic, Legends Reno-Tahoe Open). Friday's round of 65 marks the 11th time in his last 25 rounds on TOUR that he has shot 67 or lower.
• Ben Curtis continued his hot streak on Friday with a round of 6-under 65 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Following a missed cut at the U.S. Open in June, Curtis found himself at No. 69 on the FedExCup points list. Since then, he has added three top-10 finishes in five starts and moved up to No. 8 on the points list. Entering the British Open, Curtis had nine top-10s in 133 career PGA TOUR starts, while in his last four starts (dating back to the British Open) he has accumulated three top-10s.
• Tiger Woods (2006) is the only first-round leader/co-leader at the Deutsche Bank Championship to carry that lead on to victory.
• John Mallinger, currently No. 62 on the FedExCup points list, carded a bogey-free 66 on Friday. At the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship, Mallinger overcame a first-round 73 to card rounds of 69-67-68 and finish tied for 14th, which in turn was the best finish amongst all PGA TOUR rookies at last year's event.
• Tim Clark (66) is looking to improve on his FedExCup standing (No. 40) this week as well as his 2008 in general. While he did manage to tie for second at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in a 72nd-hole loss to Phil Mickelson, he only has two top-10s total to his name this year. From 2004 through 2007, Clark amassed an impressive 22 top-10 finishes and is currently the PGA TOUR's all-time leading money winner ($11,140,352) amongst players who have not won on TOUR.
• Ernie Els made the most of his first career start at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a 5-under 66 on Friday. Since winning The Honda Classic in March, Els has missed five cuts in 11 starts and only has two top-10s to his name. In 35 rounds played during that stretch (including today), Els has only broken par eight times. He entered this week at No. 52 on the FedExCup points list.
• Local favorite Brett Quigley opened with a 2-under 69, equaling his best round at TPC Boston in six career starts at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The 39-year-old native of Fort Devens, Mass., who has missed the cut in five previous starts here, needs a good showing this week to move up from his current 90th position on the FedExCup points list and advance to the 70-player field at next week's BMW Championship.
• Glen Day saw his PGA TOUR-leading streak of 21 consecutive rounds at par or better snapped on Friday after posting a 1-over 72. Day's previous above-par effort came in the third round of the John Deere Classic (also a 1-over 72) on July 12. John Riegger, who isn't playing this week, now holds the TOUR's best current streak with nine straight rounds at par or better.
• Padraig Harrington struggled to an opening-round 75 on Friday. The three-time major championship winner has not fared well in first rounds on the PGA TOUR this year as he fired over-par rounds to begin seven of his last nine tournaments on TOUR, dating back to the Masters Tournament.
• Friday's first-round scoring average of 69.157 is the lowest single-round average in Deutsche Bank Championship history. Right behind it on the all-time list are 69.973 in the third round of 2007, 70.413 in the second round of 2005, 70.493 in the fourth round of 2003 and 70.592 in the third round of 2003.
• At the conclusion of the first round, only 23 of the 115 players in the field failed to record rounds of par or better on the TPC Boston course.
• Of the 23 players who carded rounds above par on Friday, five of them are players who entered the week inside the top 25 on the FedExCup points list: Kenny Perry (No. 7 -- 72), Jerry Kelly (No. 24 -- 73), J.B. Holmes (No. 17 -- 74), Nicholas Thompson (No. 20 -- 74) and Padraig Harrington (No. 23 -- 75).
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