Davis shines after painful Chinese take-away
By Simon Evans NORTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Brian Davis grabbed a share of the lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Friday and revealed he had been battling a painful foot injury gained after a slip-up with a Chinese take-away. The Briton produced an outstanding, bogey-free, eight-under par round of 63 at TPC Boston to join American Phil Mickelson at the top of the overnight leaderboard. The 39-year-old Londoner had missed the cut at his last four tournaments but was oozing confidence by the end of his round, birdying his final two holes and nailing a tricky 25 footer to finish off on the ninth hole. There had been few signs that a score of that nature was on the way as Davis had not broken 70 in his last eight rounds, even if some of that form may have been down to a freak injury he picked up during the British Open in July. "I haven't played that great the last four or five tournaments. I fell down the stairs at British Open and busted my foot and I've been limping for a few weeks and my body has not been feeling great," Davis said after his round. Davis slipped walking up the stairs at his house and he went tumbling with a plate of Chinese food. "I tried to save the dinner but it was all over the floor. It was Chinese - a right mess to clear up," he laughed. While he was able to chuckle at the incident, the bruising on his foot took a while to ease. "It was painful and of course, with golf you are walking on it all day," he said. "I got over that. I didn't play great last week at the Barclays but I nearly made the cut. "But golf is a funny game. Sometimes you can come in and feel good and not play well and that's the way it is. But I felt it today and obviously rode it," he said. It was a timely round given that Davis is ranked 71st in the FedExCup playoff standings and the field is cut down to 70 for the third event - the BMW Championships in Chicago. "The FedEx is great drama," he said. "For us guys a lot of volatility. You know you have to play well. I missed a couple of shots last week, but you can make some big jumps and get points in the playoffs. "Today, I played great. I know what I've got to do not only to advance to next week, but obviously if you can have high finishes you're going to make huge gains. I'm glad I played well and put myself in a good position. "All of my game was just really solid today. Just from the get go, I birdied 10, and just everything was good. "It's fun when you can play like that. It doesn't happen that often when you play that well over 18 holes". (Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
