Weir in high spirits despite stumbling finish in Boston

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

NORTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Canadian Mike Weir was delighted with his performance at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday, despite surrendering the outright lead with bogeys on his last two holes.

The former Masters winner missed eight-foot par putts at the eighth and ninth before carding a four-under-par 68 in the second round at the TPC Boston.

Weir posted a nine-under total of 133, finishing level with Australia's Aaron Baddeley (66) and American Rich Beem (66) at the top of the leaderboard.

"It was a good day and I was happy with the way I played," the 37-year-old from Ontario told reporters after piling up five birdies and two bogeys in gusting conditions.

"It was just tough judging the wind. It was really swirling around out there and it was really tough to pull a club on five of the last six holes.

"I hit some really nice shots and didn't even hit the green. I was on the fringe about four times. You're playing for a gust and then it lays down, or vice versa."

WINNER'S CIRCLE

Weir needs to finish no worse than fifth to qualify for next week's tournament in Chicago, the penultimate event in the inaugural FedExCup playoff series, but he is hungrier to return to the winner's circle.