Weir Finds Himself in the Clear After a 67

From warm sunshine one day to chilly fog the next, it’s good to know that the weather is back to being reassuringly unpredictable here on the golf real estate that hugs the waters of Carmel Bay.

Not that it bothered Mike Weir all that much.

Weir is a Canadian who lives in Utah, so he is obviously on a first-name basis with lower temperature readings. There he was Friday at Poppy Hills, warming up the place with a five-under-par 67 and taking a three-shot lead after two rounds of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

By early afternoon, the fog blew in and tossed a gray, fleecy blanket over the proceedings, a stunning contrast to Thursday’s first round with record temperatures. In the gloom, Weir birdied his last three holes to lead Arron Oberholser, who had a 68 at Spyglass Hill.

Nothing that happens at this place surprises amateur meteorologist Oberholser.

“When nature’s air conditioner turns on around here, it’s the home of the 150-yard seven-iron,” he said.

Weir’s rounds of 63-67 add up to a 14-under total of 130. Jonathan Byrd, Luke Donald and Fredrik Jacobson are four shots behind Weir at 10 under.

Davis Love III, a two-time champion here, shot 67 at Pebble Beach and moved into a tie for sixth with four others, six shots behind Weir.

If Oberholser is accustomed to weather that shifts to ugly in zero to 60 seconds, so then is Weir. But Weir could have something else in his favor this weekend -- a geographical advantage. He was second to Phil Mickelson in last year’s tournament, tied for fourth in 2004 when Vijay Singh won and tied for third in 2003 when Love won.

Nine of Weir’s last 14 rounds in this tournament have been in the 60s. If that’s the good news, the bad is that none of those nine rounds came at Spyglass Hill, which is where Weir finds himself today. He just doesn’t know why Spyglass hasn’t cooperated with him.

“I haven’t been able to pinpoint it,” he said. “I don’t feel as comfortable there as on the other two courses. Hopefully that will change. I haven’t played [Spyglass] well, so it’s nice to have a little cushion.”

The change in the weather meant about a two-club difference, according to Oberholser, who was proud of his round at Spyglass, which went from the easiest course in the first round to the most difficult in the second.

One day after Donald’s 62 tied Mickelson’s course record at Spyglass, Jeff Sluman’s 67 was the best round there Friday.

Oberholser’s nine-foot birdie putt at the 18th put him in decent shape to make a run at what would be his first PGA Tour victory and the chance to move from 80th into the top 64 in the world rankings.

If he does that when the new rankings come out Monday, he’ll be eligible to play in the $7.5-million World Match Play Championship in two weeks at La Costa, where first-round losers earn $35,000. Oberholser was unimpressed.

“I’m more excited about dinner tonight.”

Mickelson would have been tickled about his round at Spyglass, right up to the minute he made triple bogey at No. 4, his 13th hole. Mickelson wound up with a 74 and dropped into a tie for 52nd. It has been a wildly inconsistent trip for Mickelson, who has seven bogeys, one double bogey, one triple bogey, 13 birdies and one eagle so far.

Meanwhile, Mark O’Meara, a five-time winner here, shot a 77 at Poppy Hills and started with an unlikely consecutive hole score of 9-3-7, which would be a lot better if it were an area code.

As for Weir, his task is to manage his game at a course that has given him trouble, hold everybody else off, win for the first time since the 2004 Nissan Open at Riviera and prove that last year’s struggles with a neck injury are a thing of the past.

“It would be a step in the right direction,” the 2003 Masters champion said. “I don’t feel like I’ve gone anywhere, I just wasn’t healthy last year. You just can’t play against these players out here when you are not at full strength, especially a guy with my game, where I have to rely on my precision and hitting fairways. I can’t overpower golf courses and rip it up there and have a wedge out of the rough from anywhere.”

Weir closed quickly, which should give him some carry-over effect. He birdied the seventh, his 16th hole, when he blasted out of a fairway bunker from 150 yards and his eight-iron stopped six feet from the pin. Weir hit a driver at No. 8, then a wedge down the slope to 40 feet and made the putt. He two-putted the ninth from 25 feet for a third consecutive birdie.