BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — It was more of the same for Mike Weir during the third round of the PGA Championship at the Oakland Hills Country Club. Weir's putting was again below his standard as he shot one-over par 71 to finish 54 holes at nine-over par 220.
"I made a nice seven or eight-footer on the last hole," Weir said. "But that was the longest putt I made. You're not going to score like that."
Weir's putt on the last hole was for par, after his second shot ran through the green. A large hump between him and the hole prevented Weir from running the ball down the green toward the hole. He chose to take a big swing with a lob wedge, come almost right underneath the ball, and pop it high in the air. The ball came out high and landed like the proverbial butterfly with sore feet, and then Weir holed his par putt.
But he wasn't looking for pars on a day when he needed a low score to have any chance of contending in tomorrow's final round. He said there was a little more moisture in the fairways and the greens than during the first two rounds, because more water had been applied.
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"They did a better job of setting up the course," Weir said. "At least it was playable. Still, it was tough in the wind and to get the ball in the fairway. The course was still playing fast."
Before the round, Weir figured that he could shoot as low as four-under par 66 if his putter got hot. He'd bent his putter on his fourth hole in the third round, when he tossed it against his bag after missing a short putt. He had to take it out of play use a hybrid the rest of the round. Weir used a different putter yesterday that had been made for him on Wednesday.
The putter was made by Scotty Cameron, who makes putters for many players. "It has just a little different bend in the neck to get more swing in the putter," Weir said. "I'm trying to get more rotation in my stroke."
Weir didn't use the putter until yesterday, but it made no difference. The statistics showed that he had only 27 putts for his round, but they're misleading. He hit only six of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens. But his short game was sharp, so that he had a number of short par-saving putts. He was three out of three in sand saves, while his two birdies, on the ninth and 12th holes, came from putts inside three feet.
"They're just not going in for me," Weir said of longer putts. "It just didn't happen."
And then Weir was off. He has one more round to go in this last major of the year, one more chance this week to get something going on the greens.
