Leishman's amazing day nearly ends with record

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NORTON, Mass. -- After finishing his first nine holes Saturday morning by holing a 24-foot putt for eagle, Marc Leishman obviously was feeling pretty good about things. Then he started adding up the numbers on his scorecard.

That's when he started feeling very good about things.

"Lots of 3s and 2s were on there," Leishman said.

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Leishman's scoreard
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When he added it up, it came to 29. He was 6 under as he made the turn and headed toward the best round of his young PGA TOUR life. Eventually, he would stand over a 21-foot birdie putt on his final hole that, if he made it, would tie the course record at TPC Boston. Not that he was aware of the situation at the time.

"I had no idea," he said. "I just wanted to hole it."

He didn't. The putt broke more than he expected, sliding past the hole and forcing him to settle for par. Still, he'll take a 9-under 62 that leaves him near the top of the Deutsche Bank Championship heading into Sunday's third round.

That's pretty impressive stuff for a TOUR rookie who has posted just two top-10 finishes this year. And who had never seen TPC Boston until Wednesday. And who came into the week ranked 93rd in FedExCup points, needing to make the cut just to keep alive his chances of advancing in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. And who had just become engaged three weeks ago so could be forgiven if he has other things on his mind.

Impressive ... and unexpected. Unless you've played with Leishman back in junior tournaments in Australia and know that he's capable of going really, really low when he gets the hot hand.

Then it's not surprising at all.

"That's typical Leishman style -- he did it effortlessly," said Aussie mate James Nitties, who had a front-row view of Leishman the last two days as one of his playing partners. "He's always been able to get it really low, especially when he gets on a roll and gets his confidence up. He's pretty unstoppable."

Starting his round off the 10th tee, Leishman birdied two of his first four holes, but missed an opportunity at the par-4 15th when he misfired on a 4-foot birdie putt. Then? For the next five holes, he was indeed unstoppable.

Leishman rolled in a 10-1/2 foot birdie putt at the 16th, an 18-foot birdie putt at the 17th and a 24-foot eagle putt at the 18th to give him that 29. Although it was his best nine holes on TOUR, it was not his best nine holes ever. He once shot 28 in a qualifying round in the W.E. Cole Cotton States Invitational in 2005 in Louisiana, and he has been as low as 26 for nine holes back on his home course in Australia.

But 29 at the Deutsche Bank Championship? Those numbers don't come along very often -- in fact, just three previous times in tournament history.

"It was in my mind for about 10 seconds," Leishman said, "and then I just knocked myself out of it."

It helped that he was playing with Nitties and Kevin Stadler, guys he's familiar and comfortable with. It helped that those three all play fast and were able to zoom around TPC Boston without ever having to wait to take a shot. It also helped that his threesome was in the first group of the day, giving them perfect, untouched greens on their first nines.

Reaching his second nine, Leishman's putter remained hot, as he drained a 13-foot birdie putt at the first, and two-putted for birdie from 82 feet at the par-5 second. At that point, he was 8 under for his round and needed just two more birdies in his last seven holes to tie the course record of 61 currently held by Vijay Singh and Mike Weir.

He didn't get it, of course. But he did give himself a real opportunity to advance to next week's BMW Championship, which will take the top 70 players in points following the conclusion of Monday's fourth round here. In fact, if he can maintain his lofty position on the leaderboard, Leishman projects to be inside the top 30 after this week, putting him in excellent shape to qualify for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

"I'm a little behind the 8-ball at the moment," Leishman said. "But I'm looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully I can have a couple of more good rounds and get into that 70. Who knows, top 30 might not be too far away after this week with any luck."

One thing Leishman does know, however, is that when he tees off in Sunday's third round, it won't be in the first group out, playing in front of a handful of early-morning risers still trying to wake up by chugging down a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. He'll be among the last groups out -- maybe the last one depending on how much the top of the leaderboard shifts Saturday afternoon.

"There will probably be a few more (fans) out there tomorrow, I guess," Leishman said.

No guessing needed, Marc. You've made your presence known. Now it's time to find out what you've got for an encore.