Ex-Hokie Weaver Is Calm And Composed

FARMINGDALE, N.Y., June 19 -- For a few moments Friday, amateur Drew Weaver pondered far weightier circumstances than his lead at the U.S. Open. Not that being tied for first place -- even if only briefly -- at America's national championship wasn't thrilling. It's just that the Virginia Tech graduate has a different perspective on where golf fits into his life after coming to terms with the deadliest peacetime shooting in U.S. history.

Weaver was a student at the Blacksburg school when gunman Seung Hui Cho killed 32 people in a campus shooting spree on April 16, 2007. The anguish of that horrific time may have subsided for much of the country, but Weaver still remembers vividly being the length of a football field from the hall where tragedy unfolded.

"I think it's something you learn from and cope with," Weaver said after an opening round 1-under-par 69 at soggy Bethpage Black, "and I've done a good job of that. It took me a while. Being a student or graduate from Virginia Tech, definitely you get asked about it a lot. I don't have a problem talking about it."

Weaver's composure during the first round of one of golf's most pressure-filled settings belies his 22 years and the fact he's playing in his first U.S. Open after qualifying at Woodmont. Weaver carded a 37 on the front nine Thursday and reached the 11th green at 2 over before rain suspended play. He then steadied himself early Friday with a bogey-free finish that included three birdies.

"No expectations at all," Weaver said when asked if he had any entering the event. "I think the tournaments I played the best in, I have no preconceived notion about how I should play. I just want to go out there and realize that I am playing well and just kind of maintain that confidence, and I was able to do that today really well."

Funk Holding Steady

Former University of Maryland golf coach Fred Funk shot even-par 70 in his first round and was six shots off the pace heading into late afternoon play. Funk turned 53 on Sunday and is the second oldest player in the field. Eduardo Romero is 54.

Funk qualified for the Open despite leaving Woodmont on Monday thinking he was not making the trip to Bethpage. The Takoma Park native departed the course soon after shooting 70-69, but a USGA official called to inform him he had qualified for a playoff.

Funk had been getting set to dine at an area restaurant before a night at the Kennedy Center, so he and his caddie drove back to the hotel, changed and made it back to the Rockville country club to secure the final spot among seven qualifiers.