Hot Threesome in the Lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship

Golf writer Andy Reistetter is on site at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts and is providing daily reports covering both inside and outside the ropes.

Remember what it feels like to be part of a threesome or foursome when everyone is playing well?

Pretty sweet- right?

Just ask Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair.

Paired together in the afternoon yesterday they went 63, 65, and 66 respectively- a total of 19 under par around the TPC Boston track.

This morning they weren't as hot though still relatively hot with O'Hair setting the pace with a blistering 64 and Furyk and Goosen matching 67s. That's another 15 under par for a two-day total of 34 under par almost averaging a birdie every third hole per player!

These guys are good- they are really good!

Does it help to have someone in your group play well?

Jim Furyk's perspective:

"Only when you're playing that well. If you're at even par, you feel like you're shooting 80, so it can kind of -- if those two guys were 12-under and 10-under and I was around even par trying to make the cut, no, it doesn't help too much. Then you feel like you're playing probably worse than you are. But if you're playing well right along with them, yeah, I think it helps a little bit."

Sean O'Hair's read on it:

"Yeah, it can either help you or it can really hurt you. You know, if you get impatient out there, it can actually be a detriment. But with the attitude I had out there the last couple days, it just was nice because everybody was playing well, and it just kind of -- we fed off each other.
So it's just a lot of fun."

The Goose's response:

"Yeah, slow start, 1-over through 8, and then 5-under in the last 10. So yeah, it was nice to get it going a little bit on the front nine, and with two guys who are playing so well. It looked like I was shooting 80 at one stage. It's been an amazing three ball, the three of us. We've played very well together and sort of worked off each other's shots and putts, and it's been a nice couple of days."

Three nearly identical unscripted responses… maybe they were in the same "zone" too?

Furyk and O'Hair lead the second of four PGA TOUR Playoff for the FedExCup events at 12-under par and go off together at 1:35 p.m. local time in the third round on a Sunday.

Goosen is two strokes back tied with Aussie and Nationwide Tour golden graduate Marc Leishman who shoot a tournament best low round of 62 in the morning wave.

Though Leishman was 10-under on his own ball the first two days his playing partners fellow Aussie James Nitties and Kevin Stadler were a combined 5-over par and both missed the cut.

Nitties and Stadler not only missed the cut but were eliminated from the playoffs along with Cameron Beckman, Rod Pamphling, Ted Purdy, Tim Petrovic, Nick O'Hern and rookie Jeff Klauk.

Fred Couples missed the cut which came at 1-under par with 73 players of 99 making it to the extended Labor Day "weekend" at TPC Boston. He is the most vulnerable on the bubble at No. 67 on the FedExCup points list and can't doing anything about it other than hope a chair stays open for him in the 70-player BMW field when the music stops on Monday.

Leishman starting on No. 10 went out in 29 with four birdies and an eagle three at the par-5 18^th hole. He managed three birdies coming in to post the 9-under score which is one stroke shy of Vijay Singh's 61 in the third round in 2006 and Mike Weir's leadoff 61 last year.

He is more optimistic than ever about his chances during the playoffs.

"Yeah, I need a couple more good rounds. I'm a little behind the 8-ball at the moment. But looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully can have a couple more good rounds and get into that 70, and who knows, top 30 might be not too far away after this week with any luck."

Weir came back with an impressive 65 to lead a pack of six golfers three strokes back with 36 holes to play.

Gunning for the Deutsche Bank trophy, the $1.35 million first prize and hopefully the $10 million FedExCup pot of gold after the Tour Championship at East Lake along with Weir tied for fifth place are long hitting rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Champion Dustin Johnson, Texan Scott Verplank, Aussie John Senden, 12-time PGA TOUR Champion Justin Leonard and last year's Barclay's playoff loser Kevin Sutherland.

With beautiful New England autumn weather of sunny and highs in the mid 70s forecasted for the final two rounds it truly will be another shootout at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

First round co-leader Steve Stricker followed his opening 63 with a 1-over par 72 and is tied for 15^th five strokes back of Furyk and O'Hair.

Tiger Woods came back with a 67 after an opening 70 and is seven strokes back of the lead. At one point in the round Tiger was grinding to have a chance to go low on the weekend and noted the difference between grinding for the lead versus grinding to make the cut.

"If you're grinding on the lead, you're playing a lot better than you are grinding on the cut line."

Notables to miss the cut yet remain in the field for the next playoff event at Cog Hill next week include British Open Champion Stewart Cink, first playoff winner Heath Slocum, Tim Clark, Ian Poulter, Rory Sabbatini and Ernie Els.

Let's see if there is a hot twosome tomorrow!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. Having attended the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Honda Classic, WGC-CA Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Masters Tournament, Verizon Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, THE PLAYERS Championship, U.S. Open at Bethpage, AT&T National, British Open at Turnberry, PGA at Hazeltine and The Barclays last week this is Andy's 14^th event of the season.  

He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]