Weir battles back into contention at Canadian Open

MARKHAM, Ontario, July 28 (Reuters) Mike Weir battled his way back into the Canadian Open today with a four-under 67 in the third round after just avoiding the cut.

The Canadian left-hander carded six birdies and two bogies to improve his chances of becoming the first Canadian winner of the tournament in 53 years.

Weir is sitting five shots behind co-leaders Steve Allan and John Mallinger, who do not start their rounds until 1.45 p.m.

(2315 IST), after starting the day nine shots back.

The 2003 Masters champion had his best driving day of the week, hitting nearly 80 percent of the fairways en route to his lowest round of the tournament.

Weir got off to a solid start, narrowly missing a birdie opportunity on the opening hole, before knocking in two straight birdies on the next two holes.

''I drove it great and hit it really solidly today,'' he told reporters. ''It could've been a really good round but I am happy with that.

The only blemishes on Weir's scorecard came on the par-four sixth hole, where he three-putted for a bogey, and at the par-three 14th hole when he missed a short par putt before tapping in his second bogey of the round.

Weir, who lost the 2004 Canadian Open to Fiji's Vijay Singh after a three-hole playoff, said he had felt good coming into the round after spending 40 minutes on the range on Friday to work on adjustments.

''When I finished on the range last night I had a better feel for what I was doing and I felt like I was going to hit it better today,'' Weir said. ''You want to be a little more aggressive, that's for sure, but the only way you can do that is if you are hitting it well and that was the difference today.'' Defending champion Jim Furyk, three shots off the lead, and Singh, one shot behind the co-leaders, are scheduled to begin their rounds later today.

Reuters BJR VP0047