Weir has slim lead in Deutsche Bank

NORTON, Mass. -- Sunshine began to bake the greens, the wind kept players guessing and the birdie cheers kept right on coming Sunday in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

The final cheer was for Mike Weir. His third birdie over the final five holes gave him a 4-under 67 and a one-shot lead.

And it meant next to nothing.

"I've got my hands full," Weir said after patching together a good score despite marginal shots.

First came a pair of 63s from Ben Crane and Camilo Villegas, the kind of score no one thought possible in such blustery conditions. Then came the steady surge of Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh, and a late charge from Ernie Els and Jim Furyk to set the stage for today's final round.

"One less than the guy who comes in second," Garcia said when asked what it would take to capture the second stop in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

Weir hit only half of the fairways and half of the greens. He has been around the lead all week, but had to grind out a score to stay there, including a superb 7-iron to 3 feet on the 14th, chipping in for birdie on the 15th and the final birdie on the 18th.

Weir was at 17-under 196, the 10th time the Canadian has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour. He has converted only one of those chances into a victory.

• CHAMPIONS -- At Pebble Beach, Calif., Jeff Sluman won the First Tee Open for his second Champions Tour victory, closing with a 5-under 67 for a five-stroke victory over Fuzzy Zoeller and Craig Stadler.

Sluman, a six-time PGA Tour winner who won the Bank of America Championship in June for his first tour title, had a 14-under 202 total.

• EUROPEAN -- At Gleneagles, Scotland, Gregory Havret shot a 3-under 70 for a one-stroke victory in the Johnnie Walker Championship and Oliver Wilson finished 10th to clinch Europe's 10th and final automatic Ryder Cup spot.

Havret sank a 10-foot par putt to win at 14-under 278.