Weir puts his fellow Canadians in frenzy

The Canadian Open got the perfect gift for its 100th anniversary -- Mike Weir in the lead with a flawless round of 5-under 66, and a showdown with the No. 1 player in golf looming on the weekend.

Weir made Glen Abbey sound like Sunday at Augusta National, sending the gallery into a frenzy with a 3-iron into 3 feet for eagle to take the lead and sticking a 5-iron close for birdie on his final hole to finish one shot ahead of Vijay Singh among those who finished 36 holes Friday.

"Today could not have gone much better," Weir said.

He was at 9-under 133 and in the lead at his national open -- played in Oakville, Ontario -- for the first time.

In his first tournament since replacing Tiger Woods at No. 1 in the world, Singh certainly looked the part. After finishing his first nine holes in 40, he broke the Canadian Open record with a 28 on the front nine -- 7 under during one seven-hole stretch-- then added a 66 in the second round.

"I just started hitting it close, and all of a sudden I noticed it was 28," Singh said. "I was just trying to get it back as close to par as possible."

Craig Barlow, Weir's best friend from their mini-tour days, had a 69 and was at 6-under 142.

Because of a 5-hour rain delay at the start of the tournament, 73 players have to return this morning to finish the second round. Pat Perez and Jesper Parnevik were at 6 under through 13 holes.

Phil Mickelson made two eagles to get to 1 over through nine holes, while David Duval overcame another shot in the water for double bogey and was 1 under through 12, and headed toward his second straight paycheck.

The crowd left the Abbey buzzing in anticipation of a duel between Canada's best and the world No. 1.

"He's playing the best of anyone. He's No. 1 in the world for a reason," Weir said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to find the magic tomorrow."Champions Tour

European Tour veteran Des Smyth and television analyst Gary McCord shot 7-under 65s Friday and were tied for the first-round lead at the $1.5 million Kroger Classic in Maineville, Ohio.

Tom Kite, David Eger and Doug Tewell were at 6 under, and six players were two strokes off the pace.

Fifty players finished in red figures on the 7,064-yard TPC at River's Bend, which turned out to be very accommodating after a nearly 5-hour delay because of fog.