Round 1, Take 2: Tiger slides, and as sun shines, Weir soars out to lead US Open at Bethpage

Weir off to flying start at US Open

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — When the sun finally came out Friday afternoon, Bethpage Black was there for the taking.

No one took advantage like Mike Weir.

Taking a swing at becoming only the fifth player to ever shoot 63 at a U.S. Open — or the first to go even lower — Weir was at 6 under through 14 holes in his opening round of the rain-delayed second major of the year.

Only four players have ever shot 63 at the U.S. Open: Vijay Singh in 2003, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf on the same day in 1980 and Johnny Miller in 1973. No one, man or woman, has ever shot better than 63 in one of golf’s major championships.

Weir, who simply kept firing at pins on Bethpage’s receptive, spongy greens, had six birdies without a bogey through 14 holes.

At that point, he was three shots ahead of Sean O’Hair and Peter Hanson, and an eye-popping 10 shots in front of Tiger Woods, who struggled late in his morning round and shot 74.

That was before the sun came out, drying Bethpage a bit.

Scores in the afternoon were far better than in the morning, but no one moved the bar higher than Weir.