Mike Weir's eyes glittered in a way they haven't since a certain Sunday in April 2003 in a town in eastern Georgia. He learned how to close the deal that day in Augusta and earned his reputation as a bulldog honestly by accepting major pressure and turning it into tenacity on the golf course.

Today he will have to be every bit as disciplined and determined if he is to add a U.S. Open victory to his resume. With 18 holes to go, he is in eighth place, just five shots off the pace being set by South African Retief Goosen.

Weir held his own yesterday as Shinnecock Hills Golf Club threw every weapon in its arsenal at the contenders, finishing at one-over-par 71 for the day, even-par for the tournament.

The quality of the pressure at the U.S. Open is of a different texture, but the way to overcome it is exactly the same.

"The difference is that par is good on every hole around here," he said. "At Augusta you have to take some chances. You have to make birdies there. It's a different kind of patience."

Today will be a war of attrition. The object isn't to attack and move forward. It's to hold on and not move backward as fast as the opposition. That's because the golf course is baked as hard as rock and the greens are like lightning. For the first time yesterday, the winds kicked up on eastern Long Island and created havoc with the tournament field.

"The golf course is now playing the way we thought it would from the start," Weir said. "It's as tough as the hype."

On the surface, Weir's round of 71 wasn't anything to write home about, but the truth is he handled the conditions better than most of his rivals.

He started the day five shots off the lead and finished in that same spot, while others tumbled down around him.

"Obviously I made a couple of mistakes but I played well and battled well and I still have a good shot at it," he said.

"You can't do anything except try to survive out there. If you get the least bit aggressive in the wrong places, you can get buried. If you happen to sneak a few birdies, that's a bonus. When this course plays this firmly, par on every hole is a very good score."

Of the 10 players who began the day in front of Weir, only two -- Goosen and Ernie Els -- gained ground on him yesterday.

The only major misstep Weir made was at the treacherous par-3 11th, where an errant tee shot led eventually to a double-bogey. He made up for it in part with an gambling birdie at the 18th.

"I made an aggressive play on 18 with the hole playing downwind. I hit driver back up into the hill to keep it in the fairway and left myself 125 yards, then hit a sand wedge."

The ball stopped three feet below the hole for his simplest birdie of the day.

Weir's experience should help sustain him through today's gruelling test. He'll need to draw upon all of his talent and mental toughness against a top-10 leaderboard that includes four major winners.

"Hopefully I can get around here in two- or three-under and if I do that, I have a good shot at it,'' Weir said.

Weir didn't need to think about it when asked if he would have been happy to be sitting where he is with 18 holes to play when he arrived here last Monday.

"I would accept that, especially where my game was," he said. "I think that anybody within seven or eight shots still has a chance.

"There's not a 63 out there but you saw Tim Clark shoot four-under and that was an amazing score (yesterday)."

However the day turns out, Weir has proven to himself that he has whipped his game into shape after months of struggling.

He has driven the ball well and his creativity around these greens has been as good as anyone.

"Now it's just a matter of hanging tough," he said. "I know I can do that."