Weekley's personality, shots shine when putting doesn't
Sometimes it's hard to tell when Boo Weekley is serious and when he is joking. Such was the case after the first round of his Masters Tournament debut in 2008.
While discussing his even-par 72, Weekley mentioned to reporters that it wasn't until he was adding up his scorecard that he realized Augusta National Golf Club's 15th hole is a par-5.
"I promise you, I thought it was a par-4," Weekley says now.
In practice rounds and the first round, a southeastern wind made the 530-yard 15th hole, which has water in front of the green, play downwind. Weekley went for the green in two shots every day.
"So it was like driver, 4-iron or 5-iron," Weekley said.
In the first round, his second shot went over the green. He chipped up to within 3 feet and made the putt. For a par, he thought.
"I told myself, 'That was a good par there,' " Weekley recalled.
It wasn't until he was in the scorer's tent checking his scorecard that he noticed the hole is a par-5. He wasn't aware his caddie, Joe Pyland, knew it was a par-5.
"I said, 'Joe, we made a birdie on that hole' and he said, 'Yeah, dummy, it's a par-5.' "
"He does that all the time; at least once a month he doesn't know if a hole is a par-4 or par-5," Pyland said.
Such is life with the colorful Weekley, whose homespun personality helped land him spots on late-night TV talk shows after his Ryder Cup heroics and antics in September.
"It's fun (working for Week-ley)," said Pyland, 31, who has known Weekley for 18 years and caddied for him the past three.
Asked his favorite "Boo story," Pyland draws a blank.
"There are so many," he said.
Golf fans wouldn't know about Weekley's folksy side if he couldn't play, though. He's won twice on the PGA Tour (both times at Hilton Head Island) and went 2-0-1 on the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team last September. In his singles match, he shot 29 on the front nine en route to a 4 and 2 victory over former Augusta State University standout Oliver Wilson.
In Weekley's first Masters, he tied for 20th place after rounds of 72-74-68-77.
As usual, it was his ball-striking that carried him, not his putter. Weekley hit 41 fairways and 43 greens in regulation but had 120 putts, an average of 30 per day.
He spent hours on the Augusta National putting green but never figured out the greens on the course, he said.
"The greens are just difficult," said Weekley, who had eight three-putts in his Masters debut.
His putting problems, Weekley said, "are like the Grim Reaper; they've been around forever. Ever since I picked a golf club up, I think. I've tried the long putter, I went to the Claw, I went left-hand low, I've tried different gadgets. I tried it blindfolded. The only thing I ain't tried is (using) my foot. I'm working on that putting.
"It's not that I putt bad; I'm just inconsistent," he said. "It gets to where I lose a little bit of self-confidence with it and the next thing you know, you miss a couple of short putts and you're like, 'Aw, here we go.' "
Weekley has seen progress on what he calls his putting nemesis -- putts from 5 feet in -- since he started working with instructor Mike Taylor in April 2007. He used to make about 35 percent of those putts. Now, Weekley says he's successful 75 percent of the time.
"That's a big jump for me," he said.
There's nothing wrong with Weekley's ball-striking. He ranked 22nd on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation in 2008, hitting nearly 68 percent.
"I think he's a great ball-striker," Sergio Garcia said.
"That's a compliment coming from Sergio, because he is considered one of the best out here," Weekley said.
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
