Olympian efforts making Deutsche Bank shape up as a four-day sprint

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NORTON, Mass. -- The Beijing Olympics might have just ended, but the Deutsche Bank Championship is sure looking a lot like a world-class track meet.

Tim Clark took full advantage of the soft greens and lack of wind on Saturday. (Cohen/Getty Images)

In Saturday's second round, South Africa's Tim Clark looked a lot like Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who collected gold medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay races in Beijing, all with world-record times.

Much like Bolt, Clark sprinted away from the field at TPC Boston, flirting with 59 all day before settling for a 9-under 62 after bogeys on his last two holes. At 14-under 128, Clark was one better than Canada's Mike Weir, who tied the course-record on Friday with a 10-under 61.

"I've been hitting the ball nice, and today I came out and it was just strange," Clark said. "I felt good all day and just kept making birdie after birdie after birdie. ... For a while there, there was certainly a chance of 59."

Scores have been extremely low over the first two rounds with incredible conditions that include soft greens and little if any wind, which has made the course virtually defenseless.

Along with Clark and Weir, several others are double-digits under par after 36 holes. Vijay Singh and Ben Curtis are tied third at 12 under, while Jim Furyk, Kevin Streelman, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia are at 11 under. John Merrick, Ernie Els, Anthony Kim, Steve Marino and Heath Slocum are all at 10 under.

See why this thing is shaping up to be a sprint to the finish?

Weir said despite the favorable conditions, Saturday was more of a struggle for him than Friday. Then again, when you play near-flawless golf like Weir's 61 in the first round, it's hard to back it up.

The overcast skies with periods of light rain that set the scene on Saturday are expected to move out of the area, and perfect weather is anticipated for the final two rounds with temperatures in the low 80s, which means the birdie-fest will likely continue.

If that's the case, Weir is fine with it. After all, he's a past champion of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he was nearly 30-under-par over the five rounds.

"I've been able to do it in the past," Weir said, referring to the continual need to fire low scores. "It's not my favorite. I seem to play my best on tough golf courses, when just a couple under par is the best. But I'm going to have to do a little better."

Furyk is also capable of taking it way low. Of his 13 TOUR wins, the 2003 U.S. Open Champion has won five events where he's gotten it to 20 under or better. Three of those were at the formerly five-round Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, but he's also done it at Doral (23 under in 2000) and the Buick Open (21 under in 2003).

Furyk's second-round 6-under 65 on Saturday included five birdies on the front nine, which was his back nine. He knows that he'll be contending over the final two rounds since he's 11 under after 36 holes, but wasn't too optimistic about maintaining his position when the second round ended.

"I don't think that that's going to be in second place by the end of the day or anything, but it definitely puts me in good position for the weekend," he said.

In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately category, it would appear as though if this track meet continues, Singh and Curtis will be the men to beat. Singh has won twice in his last four starts -- a victory at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, followed by last week's win at the Playoffs-opening Barclays.

Singh's scoring average of 70.45 is the best among the contenders. It ranks sixth on TOUR.

Curtis, meanwhile, has three top-10 finishes in his last four starts -- a tie for seventh at the Open Championship, a tie for second at the PGA Championship and a tie for fourth at The Barclays.

Kim should be a factor, too. The 23-year-old is a two-time winner on TOUR this season and has been double-digits under par in five of his 19 starts this season and all have resulted in top-10 finishes.

Like Singh, Kim's scoring average is among the best on TOUR. At 70.57, he ranks ninth.

Because of the low scores, Kim takes a different approach to the tournament.

"I just say par is 68 instead of 71, because you're going to have some opportunities on the par 5s to make birdie or eagle," Kim said. "You definitely have to take advantage of those holes and conserve it on par 4s because everybody else is birdieing them."

Merrick, a second-year TOUR player looking for his first win, had a 3-under 68 on Saturday after Friday's 7-under 64. While he's quite happy with his position, he knows there's still plenty of work to do.

"On this course the way it's set up right now, I think you've got to keep your foot on the accelerator and keep making birdies," he said.

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