Players Championship perfect venue for Weekley's honed ball-striking
Putting woes aside, the blustery conditions of TPC Sawgrass might be the perfect setting for Boo Weekley to leave his mark.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Get past the country boy charm, sift through the Southern drawl, dodge the aerial assault of tobacco juice spewing from his lips, and there is a gifted golfer who is too humble to boast about his ability.
After weaving a few more tales about his love for hunting and fishing, explaining how he doesn't mind being "Booed'' by fans and admitting that a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team is becoming more and more appealing, Boo Weekley headed to the driving range Friday afternoon.
It was warm and blustery at the TPC Sawgrass, and conditions were not the most ideal for practice. The wind was howling, and golfers will tell you how much havoc that can cause for a golf swing.
But there is a reason Weekley has become a millionaire several times over, and it has much to do with his ability to hit a golf ball.
Weekley, 34, is what they call an excellent "ball striker,'' and never is that more important than when playing in the wind. Weekley won't admit it, but he knows he is better than most at striking the ball. And when the wind blows, he has an advantage. Shot after shot pierced through the gale Friday, as if the breeze were not even therel.
"He's as good as anybody out here,'' said Joe Pyland, a longtime Weekley friend who works as his caddie and has been on his bag for two PGA Tour victories. "I haven't seen too many people better than him, let's put it that way. The putting is the issue, and the last few weeks, we've been putting pretty good, but the last few days, the speed has been off. He's still in the game.
Weekley shot 71 in the second round of the Players Championship and trails second-round leader Kenny Perry by three strokes and is in sixth place. He no doubt would be even closer to the lead if he could figure out the part of the game that has long tormented him. He needed 34 putts in the second round, with three-putt greens at the first three holes and five for the tournament overall.
"That is my tendency, to struggle a little bit with the putter,'' Weekley said. "I think I'm working harder and getting better at it. I just think this week here, my speed is off. I might not have had enough beer or something -- I don't know.''
Pyland knows Weekley likes to indulge once in awhile. They might tip a few back while they are home in Northwest Florida, where both played on the Milton High golf team, which now is famous because three PGA Tour players -- Heath Slocum and Bubba Watson are the others -- came from there.
Weekley now lives in nearby Jay, Fla., while Pyland resides in Pace, Fla. -- still just a few stoplights apart. That means they still can play golf together, go hunting, hang out or maybe even practice.
"Hey, somebody's got to stay on him,'' Pyland said.
Of course, Pyland is aware of a good thing when he sees it. For years, he knew how good Weekley was. He jumped at the chance to work for his friend after returning from a stint in Iraq. He began caddying for Weekley on the Hooters Tour a few years ago, then went along to the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
"I said, 'Dang, this guy is going to be good,'" Pyland said. "He just needed somebody to push him along.''
Weekley finished seventh on the money list in 2006 to graduate to the PGA Tour, where he won the Verizon Heritage in 2007 and earned more than $2.6 million. This year, he defended his title at the Verizon and has four top-10s and more than $1.7 million in prize money. He is eighth in FedEx Cup points and sixth in the U.S. Ryder Cup team standings.
Seeing as how Weekley didn't even know you could concede putts in match play -- he was taken aback at the Accenture Match Play Championship in February when Pyland told him to give his opponent, Martin Kaymer, a putt on the first hole -- perhaps he would be perfect for the assignment of helping the United States bring the Cup back.
To hear him talk, Weekley doesn't know much about it. He doesn't know much about golf history at all. Says he barely watches the game or reads about it. Tom Weekley, Boo's dad, suggested in a recent interview that Boo knows more than he lets on. That he's even read books by Ben Hogan.
"Daddy's full of it,'' Boo said, laughing. "He said I read a bunch of Hogan books. I read two Hogan books, and they were my neighbor's.''
OK, but certainly he knows how good he is, right?
"I think he knows now. Earlier in his career, he didn't understand how good he was,'' said Slocum, who teamed with Weekley last year at the World Cup in China, where they finished second to Scotland. "He's gotten it all together. He's enjoying himself a little bit. I've watched it unfold and how incredible he really is. I just couldn't be more proud of him.''
Weekley didn't spend much time hitting balls Friday afternoon. He makes it a habit to hit them, good day or bad, after every round, but the wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to stand up straight.
Not that he didn't knock them perfectly anyway.
"He knows he's good, but he's humble,'' Pyland said. "There ain't nothing that he don't already know. He knows how good he is. And he's going to get better.''
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
