GOLF Deutsche Bank Championship:Canadian Mike Weir double-bogeyed the par-four ninth to surrender his overnight lead to Vijay Singh midway through today's final round at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
In pursuit of his ninth PGA Tour victory, left-hander Weir pulled his approach into the left rough, hacked out across the green and needed three more shots to get down for an ugly six.
That gave him an outward nine of level-par 36 on a sun-drenched afternoon at the TPC Boston, and an overall tally of 17 under.
FedExCup points leader Singh, bidding for a third PGA Tour title in five starts, was four under for the round after 10 holes, a stroke in front of Weir.
On a high-quality leaderboard, South African Ernie Els and Spaniard Sergio Garcia were tied for third at 15 under, both having completed 11 holes.
One ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Weir knew he faced an uphill task in what promised to be a Labor Day shootout with nine players bunched within five shots of the lead.
"I've got my hands full," the 2003 Masters champion said after firing a 67 in the third round.
"There's great players on the leaderboard, some guys that are hungry to win for the first time, guys that haven't won many times and I'm trying to do the same thing."
Garcia, runner-up in his last two PGA Tour appearances, made a red-hot start in the firm, fast-running conditions with three consecutive birdies from the second to briefly join Weir in a tie for the lead.
The Canadian, playing one group behind Garcia, then regained control when he got up and down from a greenside bunker to birdie the short par-four fourth.
Singh, who won last week's Barclays Classic in a playoff with Garcia, made an early move when he chipped in from 30 feet to eagle the par-five second.
He then birdied the sixth, knocking in a six-footer, and the seventh, where he struck a wedge approach to eight feet, to draw level with Weir at 17 under.
Weir responded by rolling in a seven-foot birdie putt at the eighth to edge one ahead before he stumbled at the difficult ninth.
