Canada's Mike Weir overcame a stumbling start and tougher course conditions to move two strokes clear early in the Deutsche Bank Championship second round on Saturday. Bidding for his ninth PGA Tour title, the left-hander shrugged off two bogeys in his first four holes to fire a three-under-par 68 in overcast conditions at the TPC Boston. Despite struggling for length off the tee on a layout softened by overnight rain, Weir posted a 13-under total of 129 to move two ahead of Jim Furyk (65). Americans Anthony Kim (66), John Merrick (68) and Heath Slocum (68) were a further stroke back at 10 under in a tie for third. Weir, who has recorded top-seven finishes in two of his last three tour starts, bogeyed the 12th, his third hole, after pulling his tee shot into the left rough. He also three-putted the par-four 13th before regaining control with five birdies in eight holes from the 15th. Holder Phil Mickelson was right on the projected cut-line of 139 after recovering from a bogey-bogey start to shoot a 70. Rose, Hansen almost there In Scotland, Justin Rose and Soren Hansen appeared to seal their Ryder Cup debuts with one round to go in the Johnnie Walker Championship while France's Gregory Havret clung on to the lead for the third day in a row. Colin Montgomerie's hopes of playing in his ninth successive Ryder Cup seem to have vanished after the wildcard hopeful slumped to a 76 to trail Havret by 12 strokes at the end of Saturday's third round. With only Sunday's round to count before Europe's top-10 automatic places are decided for next month's clash against the US in Kentucky, Briton Rose and Dane Hansen are in the thick of the title chase at Gleneagles. The 31-year-old Havret shrugged off his second consecutive double-bogey at the par-four 15th to return a four-under 69 for an 11-under 208 total, with Briton Anthony Wall (65) in second position on 209. Hansen (68) was joint third on 210 alongside Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez, Marcel Siem of Germany and Britons Lee Westwood and David Howell, with Rose (67) a further shot adrift. Rose, eighth in the Cup table, found a purple patch of form that yielded five birdies and one eagle in 12 holes from the seventh. While 10th-placed Oliver Wilson fired a 68 to lie eight shots off the lead, fellow Briton Nick Dougherty was two strokes better after a 69. Dougherty, 14th in the Cup table, trails Wilson by 178,019 points. Briton Darren Clarke, hoping to gain one of two wildcards from Cup captain Nick Faldo especially after winning the Dutch Open last Sunday, slipped to a 73 for 218. Fellow countrymen Paul Casey and Ian Poulter are the other players being touted as wildcard candidates. – Reuters __
