Mike Weir cannot believe he missed a putt for an eagle on the 18th hole in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. He tapped in for a birdie.

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NORTON, Mass. — Determined to get off to a better start, Mike Weir birdied the first four holes Friday — and one-putted eight of his final nine greens — in the Deutsche Bank Championship to tie the course record at TPC Boston with a 10-under-par 61, the lowest round of his PGA Tour career.

Weir had a three-shot lead over a group of four players that included Vijay Singh, whose victory last week at The Barclays put him atop the standings in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup.

Singh previously had the TPC Boston course record to himself, a 61 in the third round two years ago. And the Fijian set the tone for a day of low scores when he ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch for a 64.

It took Weir, a Canadian, only 10 holes to catch him.

"There was no indication on the putting green, when I was warming up, that was going to tell me it was going to be like that," Weir said. "It just felt normal. Just one of those days where I made about a 15-footer on the first hole, another on the second hole. … I just kind of built on that momentum."

John Merrick, Heath Slocum and Briny Baird joined Singh at 64, while Ben Curtis had a 65. Ernie Els and former Arizona Wildcat Jim Furyk were in a group another stroke back.

More than half of the 115-man field shot in the 60s; only 23 players failed to break par.

Even so, Weir said he never saw a 61 coming.

In his 20 previous stroke-play events this year, he had shot in the 60s only one time, at the Canadian Open.

"It's been kind of my goal the last month or so to get off to better starts in tournaments," he said. "It seems like I've been having to come from behind. I've just put it in my head to try to get off to a better start. Obviously, this was way exceeding my expectations."

Phil Mickelson, the defending champion, suffered through a familiar malaise. He hit the ball fine, but 31 putts kept him in the middle of the pack with a 69.

The worst score belonged to British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington, who was in decent shape in the fairway on the par-5 18th until trying to play out of a water hazard, hitting another shot off a rock and into the water, and missing a 6-foot putt on his way to a triple-bogey 8.

That gave him a 4-over 75, and made him a candidate to miss the cut for the second straight week in the playoffs.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Hale Irwin shot a 6-under 66 at Del Monte for a share of the lead in the suspended first round of the First Tee Open.

Fuzzy Zoeller, Loren Roberts and Chip Beck also opened with 66s at Del Monte, and Andy Bean had a 66 at Pebble Beach.

After three fog delays at Pebble Beach, tournament officials stopped the first round with 19 players still on the course.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland — Gregory Havret shot a 2-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Johnnie Walker Championship.

Colin Montgomerie had a 70 to boost his chances of a Ryder Cup selection. Havret had a 7-under 139 total. Robert Rock (70) was second.

Montgomerie, an eight-time Ryder Cup player, needs a victory, or close to it, to persuade European captain Nick Faldo to make him one of the two wild card picks. Montgomerie was tied for 13th, five strokes back.

● Tripp Isenhour has pleaded no contest to charges of killing a protected hawk. Attorney David de Armas said Friday that Isenhour agreed to one year of supervised probation, four hours of anger management classes, 100 hours of community service and a $500 fine.

Isenhour was charged with animal cruelty and killing a migratory bird. He was accused of hitting the bird with a golf shot when its loud chirps interrupted the filming of an instructional video in Orlando, Fla.