Terrific trio goes low in first two days at TPC Boston

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NORTON, Mass. -- Like NASCAR drivers drafting around the final turn, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair threatened to lap the field on Saturday at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

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TPC Boston has been extremely generous so far this week and this threesome certainly took advantage -- shooting 34 under through the first two rounds and posting a best-ball of 58 on Saturday.

And as it should be, O'Hair and Furyk were rewarded with shares of the lead at 12 under after shooting 64 and 67, respectively, on Saturday. Goosen was two strokes behind after matching Furyk's 67 in the second round.

"I'm not sure I've ever played in a group where all three guys played so well,'" Furyk said. "We'll all be up there close to the lead, and it was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of good golf and a lot of good golf shots, and obviously I saw some putts go in. We all made our share of putts."

"It's been an amazing threeball, the three of us," Goosen agreed. "We've played very well together and sort of worked off each other's shots and putts, and it's been a nice couple of days."

Nice, indeed. Furyk, O'Hair and Goosen have combined for 36 birdies, two eagles and just six bogeys this week, and with any luck at least two of them will see each other on the first tee come Sunday morning.

"It can either help you or it can really hurt you (to play with guys who are going low)," O'Hair acknowledged. "If you get impatient out there, it can actually be a detriment. But with the attitude I had out there the last couple days, it just was nice because everybody was playing well, and it just kind of we fed off each other."

O'Hair had an eight-hole stretch midway through the second round where he made six birdies, one eagle and a par to move to 13 under for the tournament. After reeling off six straight pars to open the round, though, he was worried about getting left behind.

"But I got on a nice little run there," O'Hair said. "This golf course just has a nice flow to it where you've got a nice stretch of holes kind of in the middle of the golf course that are a lot of birdie holes out there. I think if you just give yourself some opportunities and make some putts, all of a sudden you're 5-, 6-, 7-under par."

O'Hair definitely set the tone on Saturday. He made birdie putts of 3, 11, 14, 26, 41 and 5 feet during that stretch while the eagle came from 12 feet. Not bad for a guy who had only had 12 birdies in his last three tournaments combined.

"I thought I'd never make a birdie again, to be honest with you,' O'Hair said with a grin. "It was a tough stretch. It just was a tough stretch. ... I just think when you're not putting and you're hitting the ball well, you just continue to put more pressure and more pressure and more pressure, and then all of a sudden the ball striking goes awry and here come the big numbers.

"Yesterday when I started seeing some putts go in, I said a little prayer of thanks and then just kind of started trusting it out there. ... It's a huge relief to start seeing them going in and start playing good again."

Furyk was 1 under for the day when O'Hair's putter began to get hot and Goosen was even. Both stayed aggressive, though, and shot 4 under over their next 12 holes to keep pace with O'Hair.

"The course is only going to get tougher and it's going to dry out more and more," said Goosen, who won the Transitions Championship earlier this year. "These greens, I'm sure by Monday, they're going to be dead.

"It's going to get tougher and tougher out there. I need to work on my driving a little bit. I missed a lot of fairways out there, and if these greens start getting firm, you can't do anything from the rough."

Furyk had to be happy with the way he responded on Saturday for another reason, too. It's always hard to follow one low round with another but that 67 sat well with his near-flawless 63 that saw him it all 18 greens in regulation.

"Yesterday ... I struck the ball so well, and I didn't expect to go out there and hit 13 fairways and 18 greens today,'" Furyk said. "I hit a few bad shots, got loose once in a while but was able to score well all day. When I made a mistake or hit a bad shot, I was able to make par most of the time, and I did hit quite a few good shots and set myself up and was able to knock some putts in for birdie.

"Obviously not the round I played yesterday, but it was a good score at 4 under, and the goal was accomplished, to put myself in good position for the last two rounds."

The way Furyk sees things, he and his playing partners have just completed the front nine of the Deutsche Bank Championship after two rounds on TPC Boston. The course couldn't be in better condition and Mother Nature has cooperated sunny skies and calm winds.

"There's a lot (of golf) to go, and no reason to not be aggressive or not to keep your foot down," Furyk concluded.