Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

NORTON, Mass. -- To say Jeff Overton was frustrated might have been an understatement. In fact, he had seen three different putting gurus in the last five weeks.

Thursday's late afternoon session with James Sieckmann paid off handsomely, though, as Overton reeled off five straight birdies on the way to a 64 that left him tied for the lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship with none other than Tiger Woods.

Overton, who used just 26 putts in the first round, said he and Sieckmann concentrated on his alignment.

"I think it's key if you can get lined up and find your mark, and I opened my stance up a little bit," he said. "Who knows, hopefully it's fixed and I can come back out tomorrow and do the same. It was finally good to see a few go in and just make the putts inside 10 feet really."

Overton two-putted the second hole from 15 feet for his first birdie, added a 2-footer at No. 9 and then compensated for his lone bogey at No. 10 by draining putts of 5, 6, 19, 7 and 23 feet to get to 6 under. The final birdie at the 18th hole was a tap-in from 6 inches, courtesy of "one of the best chips I ever hit in my life," he said.

Sieckmann also helped Overton to an attitude adjustment of sorts when he told him to remember how good he is every time he picked a ball out of the cup. To build on that advice, Overton spent Thursday night concentrating on the round he wanted to have on Friday.

A week ago, he missed the cut at The Barclays, which was played on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, the site of two U.S. Opens. Overton felt he played well overall but got caught up mentally in the difficulty of the course and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

"And you're like, a couple over ... is probably going to be all right, but hopefully you don't shoot that,” Overton explained. “So I felt like I almost programmed my mind to shoot that.

"So … I was like, let's just get ourselves where we feel comfortable where we know we can shoot something under par (at TPC Boston). I went down the line of holes and played them out in my brain, which is something that you should always do and maybe something that I haven't done as much recently as I need to."

Overton has a lot at stake this week. He came to TPC Boston ranked 83rd in the FedExCup but only the top 70 will advance to the BMW Championship, which is being played this year at Crooked Stick in Overton's home state of Indiana.

The last time a PGA TOUR event was held in Indiana was in 1991 when John Daly won the PGA on the same course -- and Overton was 8.

"It's a big motivation," the Indiana grad said. "... I've played Crooked Stick a bunch, and in college we played it, and every year I seem like I always pop up there a few times a year because it's an awesome place, spent a little time there the last couple months, and I'm constantly getting a lot of great text messages and people say, hey, we're really excited to see you at Crooked Stick, just the whole Hoosier nation.

"It's just going to be fun if I can get into the event. ... It would just mean a whole lot if I could get into that tournament."

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Jeff Overton aced the par-3 12th hole on Saturday on the way to a 67.

Overton used a 6-iron on the hole, which was playing 195 yards in the third round. Afterwards, he took to Twitter to celebrate.

"First hole in one in a tourney ever! What a sweet shot. Too bad i didnt win a car."

Actually, too bad the ace didn’t come three holes later where Wyndham is giving away “vacations for life” for a hole-in-one at No. 16. Derek Lamely received that bonus a year ago for his ace in the second round.

Overton is 5 under for the tournament and currently projected 57th in the FedExCup.

The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.

Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.

GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME

Phil Mickelson vs. Sergio Garcia	Mickelson won THE PLAYERS in 2007; Garcia won it the next year
Bill Haas vs. Jim Furyk	Furyk won the FedExCup in 2010; Haas won it the next year
J.B. Holmes vs. Jeff Overton	It's the Kentucky Wildcats (Holmes) vs. Indiana Hoosiers
Justin Rose vs. Hunter Mahan	The two most recent winners of a World Golf Championship
Bubba Watson vs. Graeme McDowell	Tavistock participants will do battle twice this week in Orlando

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

After making the turn at Trump International in 1 over, Jeff Overton was just trying hang on -- and hang in.

Turns out, he did both on a windy Thursday morning in Puerto Rico. Overton played the front nine, his second of the day, in 5 under, on the way to a 68 that left him one stroke behind the early leader, Ben Curtis.

Overton showed a flair for the dramatic on his final hole, the par-4 ninth, where he holed a 7-iron from 146 yards for eagle.

"(The) wind was howling off the right, and I started 25 yards right of the hole, and I hit a draw and I thinned it just a little bit which kept the ball down, otherwise I think the ball would have over-hooked and went in the bunker," Overton reported. "I really was just hoping it was going to be somewhat close, and the thing came down and just one‑hopper in the hole. 

"I didn't know it went in, because you couldn't see it.  Once I find out it was in, it was pretty exciting."

Overton, who was born and still lives in Indiana, wasn't as excited by Wednesday's official parting of the ways between Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.

"I understand both sides," Overton said. "It's one of those things, it's like Tiger Woods with the game of golf. I mean, people are like, holy cow, how does he make $100,000,000 a few years ago?  Well, if you seen him every time you come out to the golf course, look at the crowds when he's not there, and look at the crowds when he's there, and last week, I don't think I've seen that many people out on a course like that.

"You can't put a price tag on greatness, and when you have perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time, and this injury could keep him from going down as that.  It's hard to justify not paying him the money that you know he probably deserves, but at the same time, you know, you're trying to rebuild a program and you have no idea if the guy is going to be able to produce like he did.

"... We wish him the best and I just hope that the injury doesn't affect the rest of his career, because he's an awesome player and it ... would be great to see him go off and do well somewhere else."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Jeff Overton has withdrawn from the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a lingering injury to his left wrist.

Overton had opened with a solid 67 on Thursday. But things headed south early during his second round when he made five bogeys on the front nine to turn in 40.

Overton made another bogey on the 11th hole and his only birdie at No. 17. He hooked his tee shot in the water on the 18th hole and did not finish the round. He walking in with his group and told tournament officials he was withdrawing.

“Tweaked my wrist yesterday on the firm turf,” Overton said in a text to his publicist. “It bothered me the last eight holes yesterday and I hoped it would be better today. Tried to tough it out as long as I could but kept getting sharp shooting pains as I’d start my downswing.”

Three players who won PGA TOUR events in 2011 are among the names ranked No. 81-90 that were unveiled Friday on PGATOUR.COM’s Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012.

Scott Piercy (Reno-Tahoe Open), Chris Kirk (Viking Classic) and Harrison Frazar (FedEx St. Jude Classic) each won for the first time on TOUR in 2011.

Below is a link to each of the 10 players who were revealed on Friday. PGATOUR.COM will countdown the players for the rest of December, with No. 1 unveiled on Dec. 30.

Be sure to check out this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list .

Let’s us know how you think these players will perform in 2012 and whether we ranked ‘em too high, too low or just right.

No. 81: Scott Piercy

No. 82: Chris Kirk

No. 83: John Senden

No. 84: Carl Pettersson

No. 85: Chad Campbell

No. 86: George McNeill

No. 87: Harrison Frazar

No. 88: Jeff Overton

No. 89: Chris Stroud

No. 90: Kevin Streelman

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARCHIVE PAGE/SCHEDULE FOR THE TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

In the year of the long putters, here’s one last success story – one that literally changed a career.

Mark Anderson, a second-year Nationwide Tour player, earned his 2012 PGA TOUR card last weekend at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island. He finished 22nd on the money list, with nearly half of his $188,550 earned in the final three events.

Just at the time he put a Titleist Kombi belly putter in the bag.

“It’s changed my life, basically,” Anderson explained in a video on the Titleist Tour blog.

Anderson finished second at the Miccosukee Championship, T7 at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters and T29 at the season finale.

“I put it in one week, felt a little awkward with it, but I putted great. I’m still in kind of the finicky, playing with it mode, trying to figure it out. But the putter’s great.”

Sounds like it will be going to the TOUR along with Anderson.

WINNING GAMBLE: Ken Duke won the Nationwide Tour Championship, sending him back to the TOUR for the fifth time in his long career.

The 42-year-old had a Never Compromise Limited Edition Black Gambler Royal in his bag (at right), part of a limited edition of 500. The distinctive theme is executed with playing-card suits on the hosel and bottom of the putter.

SURGING: Jeff Overton put Cleveland’s 588 MB irons in play for The McGladrey Classic, where he finished T6. Then, playing as a last-minute replacement for David Duval, he finished runner-up at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic.

WINNER’S BAG: Bo Van Pelt at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic:
Driver: Titleist 909D2 8.5º (Mitsubishi Fubuki 73 shaft)
3-wood: Titleist 910Fd 13.5º (Mitsubishi Diamana Prototype 80 shaft)
Hybrid: Titleist 910H 17º (UST Proforce V2 104 shaft)
Irons: Titleist CB 4-iron; MB 5-P (Nippon NS Pro shaft)
Wedges: Vokey Design Spin Milled (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Corza Ghost

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Bo Van Pelt saved his best for last at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic. The Richmond, Ind. native out-dueled fellow Hoosier Jeff Overton in the final pairing for a six-shot victory Sunday. Van Pelt’s 64 was his second 7-under round of the week, but his first bogey-free mark. The 36-year-old played his last 34 holes at The MINES Resort in 13 under, reaching a tournament-record 23-under count for the week. Overton, the 2005 Big 10 champion while playing at the University of Indiana, had three bogeys in a 2-under 69 that left him six shots behind Van Pelt.

Bo Van Pelt has reached 20 under at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic and is now five shots clear of his nearest competitors. Van Pelt is 4 under through 13 holes in his final round, increasing his lead over the other half of the day’s final pairing, Jeff Overton, and Cameron Tringale, who is in the clubhouse at 15 under following today’s 7-under 64.