Golf

Healthier Weir gets game back on course

By BOB HARIG
Published March 26, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - It was during the Masters last year when Mike Weir became so ill that he spent a night sick in the bathroom. Trying to get some rest on the floor, he fell asleep awkwardly and made a bothersome neck worse.

That led to all sorts of problems on the golf course, including bad habits and bad scores.

Weir, 35, needed most of last year and an offseason workout program to get himself back on track. And he finally appears ready to put himself back among the game's elite, shooting 4-under-par 68 Saturday to finish three behind leader Stephen Ames heading into the final round.

"I appreciate when I play a good round like this, maybe a little bit more," said Weir, who won the 2003 Masters but has just one victory since. "I'm glad to be back playing well. I'm glad to be healthy. I'm a player who's always had to work hard on my game and loved to work hard on my game, and last year I couldn't do it. So I do appreciate it. I've always appreciated good rounds, but maybe a little bit more."

Weir's 68 tied for the best of the day with Vaughn Taylor and Camilo Villegas . Taylor and Villegas began the day at par, on the cut line, and vaulted up the leaderboard to a tie for 11th.

OBERHOLSER'S OOPS: Arron Oberholser went from a share of the lead to a tie for 17th in a matter of minutes. He hit his 9-iron approach in the water at the par-3 17th, leading to triple-bogey 7. He hit his tee shot in the water at No.18, leading to a double. His 74 left him six out of the lead.

"I played great golf for 16 holes, and that just goes to show you that this golf course, all you need is one poor swing under these conditions and you're writing a 6 on the card," he said.

SURGING VIJAY: Almost since he moved to the United States in 1993, Vijay Singh has made Ponte Vedra Beach his home. That has made the Players Championship a priority, sometimes too big of one. He has never won the event, but was just one shot behind Ames.

"I have a lot of friends here and my family is here. I know everybody," Singh said. "Very familiar with the surroundings, put it that way. I'd like to pull it off. This is one of the biggest tournaments we play and one of my favorites."

Singh did acknowledge that his home-course advantage doesn't mean much on a day like Saturday, when the temperature warmed only to the low 60s.

"When it's this windy and this cold, we never go out there," he said.

AROUND SAWGRASS: England's Ian Poulter got a lot of frustration out on the 12th hole. After struggling to extract his ball from the rough, advancing it only a few yards, he took six large whacks with his club into the rough. ... Tiger Woods will have to surge if he is to win his second Players Championship. He shot 73 and was seven back, tied for 23rd.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:26:15]