Date: September 01, 2008
Author:

Weir the man to catch

Mike Weir is the man to catch on the final day of the Deutsche Bank Championship although Camilo Villegas is hot on his heels thanks to a brilliant 63. Canadian Weir birdied the last to shoot 68 and grab the lead at 17-under 196, one stroke ahead of Colombian Villegas, while Spaniard Sergio Garcia (68) is equal third with Fiji&aposs Vijay Singh (69) on 14-under. Stuart Appleby is the leading Australia at seven-under – 10 shots off the pace – after carding a one-under 70, while John Senden, Nick O&aposHern and Robert Allenby are at five-under. Garcia has been frustrated in his past two tournaments. He led late at the PGA Championship before finishing a heartbreaking equal second behind fast-finishing Padraig Harrington, and also came close last week at the Barclays Championship, losing a play-off to Singh. But he is showing mental resilience, seemingly shrugging off those bitter disappointments to continue his hot form. “I&aposm as hungry as anybody else. I feel like I&aposm playing well and I&aposm looking forward to the challenge,” Garcia said. Villegas, meanwhile, putted superbly to initially storm into a tie for the lead with a brilliant eight-under 63 in a testing breeze. “What a great day,” Villegas beamed. “The greens got a little firmer and the wind was blowing. “My caddie and I did a good job in terms of the wind, so I&aposm happy with the way I handled myself out there today.” Villegas has been hyped as a potentially great player, but he has not won on the PGA Tour. “That&aposs been one of my biggest goals,” he continued. “I&aposve always known that I&aposm a good player but I&aposve always believed I can improve. “I&aposve been getting better and better every year. We&aposll keep working to continue it that way and become one of the best players in the world. “I&aposm very proud of myself. There&aposs a little bittersweet taste when you work so hard and you haven&apost won. When you see young guys winning, you go &aposman, it&aposs about my time&apos, but I was very patient until maybe the middle of this year. “It&aposs time for me to step up and join them. Some guys win right away when they get on tour and never win again, and some guys it takes a while and they win many times after that. Hopefully I&aposm one of those guys.” Third Round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Boston -17: Mike Weir 61 68 67 -16: Camillo Villegas 68 66 63 -14: Sergio Garcia 67 64 68, Vijay Singh 64 66 69 -13: Ben Crane 72 65 63, Ernie Els 66 65 69, Jim Furyk 66 65 69 -12: Briny Baird 64 69 68, Tim Clark 66 62 73, Heath Slocum 64 68 69 -11: Ryuji Imada 69 65 68, Richard S. Johnson 67 66 69 -10: Ken Duke 66 67 70, Steve Marino 66 66 71, Carl Pettersson 67 68 68, D.J. Trahan 67 66 70 -9: Woody Austin 72 66 66, Angel Cabrera 67 68 69, Kevin Streelman 66 65 73, Charlie Wi 66 67 71 Also: -7: Stuart Appleby (Australia) 70 66 70 -5: Robert Allenby (Australia) 70 67 71, Nick O Hern (Australia) 69 66 73, John Senden (Australia) 69 69 70 -3: Jason Day (Australia) 70 66 74, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 67 70 73