Repeating Action

Kim (left) and Baddeley, the '06 champ, closed with 71 and 69 respectively to finish T-2, three of Weekley's lead.

"I didn't rehearse nothing," assured Weekley, who passed on the belly-roll or moonwalk for a simple fist-pump. That concluded another eventful trip for this deeply Southern cult hero who donned his holdover tartan jacket for a pre-tournament ceremony he characterized as a "march around that lagoon." Then came Wednesday's pro-am, and he played with Patsy, who outdrove him on one hole, much to his dismay. "Did kind of get under my skin," admitted Boo. After a 69 Thursday that positioned him three shots wide of the lead shared by Love, Lucas Glover and Justin Leonard, Weekley blistered the premises in 64 Friday, when he reckoned the longest of his seven birdie putts was only about 10 feet. Normally, to follow a low number with another is a rarity, but so is Boo, which is why you won't often utter his name and "normally" in the same breath. So he birdied five straight holes on Saturday's front nine for 31 and wound up with 65. He thus picked up eight digits in four hours on Glover, who sagged to 73 and finished T-7. He was 12 under for his first 45 holes and four over on his last 27.

Weekley is a ready, able and willing accomplice to sights you assumed you would never see. Jim Nantz, the great CBS voice of golf, shook hands with Boo over the weekend. Whether this was an initial hello or a re-introduction Boo couldn't be sure, because he couldn't quite place the famous broadcaster. "Guess I ain't watching enough TV," apologized Weekley. Then again, Boo will chat it up with absolute strangers across the ropes "because they're paying my bills," and he is renowned for random acts of kindness.

One tale they tell about Boo is way back when he was a hydroblaster at a chemical plant, earning $7.50 an hour. Business was slow, so layoffs were pending. Weekley had seniority on another guy at the place, a guy who had a family, a wife and four kids. Boo was single and carefree so he walked into the boss's office and volunteered for the furlough so the family man could keep his job. Now, Boo and his wife, Karyn, are expecting their second child soon and building a new house right near that mobile home. He has come a long way from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, where he didn't matriculate very long anyway.

Last year, after Zach Johnson won the Masters, he also played the Verizon Heritage. "I went to New York but left right away to come down here," said Johnson. Last week, Trevor Immelman went to the Big Apple and stayed a while. One of his stops was basketball at Madison Square Garden. Is that what you get for winning the Masters? A Knicks' game? What do you get for losing the Masters? Two Knicks' games?

Woods took the less painful alternative, knee surgery. Some of Tiger's lodge brothers were surprised. Stewart Cink, who notched his fifth top-10 of the year at Harbour Town, didn't notice anything peculiar as Woods' sidekick on Masters Sunday. But others recalled how Woods walked tentatively last summer, during the PGA Championship, Tour Championship and Presidents Cup. Meanwhile, there was ample celestial musing about the fellow who beat Woods at Augusta National.

"I tell you, what Trevor accomplished was off-the-charts important back home," said Els of his countryman's green jacket. "The Masters is the major back in South Africa, even though you would think the British Open would top it, what with our country's history. Maybe it's that a whole generation of us grew up watching Gary Player at Augusta National on television. This is huge for Trevor. When he was younger, competing in Europe, some of the press there had him coming across as cocky. But he's a great kid from a nice family.