drew weaver

drew weaver

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — One of the early leaders in the first round of the United States Open on Friday morning could hardly consider Thursday’s weather disastrous, or even terribly troubling. Drew Weaver gained an entirely different perspective on such things when, as a student at Virginia Tech, he was 100 yards from the shootings that ravaged the campus in 2007.

Drew Weaver, right, with his caddie C. Damian Velaquez. Weaver had three birdies on the back nine.

“It’s always with you,” Weaver said.

Weaver, 22, who recently graduated, qualified for the Open by winning the British Amateur. He started his first round early Thursday, before the day was washed out by more than an inch of rain. He finished at one under Friday, an excellent score on a day that dawned dry but cloudy and on a course playing even longer than usual because the wet fairways kept drives to a single bounce.

While Weaver enjoyed his round — he had three birdies on the back nine to pull from two over to become one of the few players under par — he said he plays with the perspective earned on the day he heard shots coming from Norris Hall, the day a lone gunman killed 32 people.

“At the British Amateur, it’s definitely something I was playing for,” he said. “It’s nice to have something to dedicate to those that were lost.”

Weaver played in the Masters and the British Open but never had a sniff of the lead. He started Friday at two over after he played 11 holes on Thursday. He made a good par save at the 12th hole with a 10-footer and then birdied No. 13 with a 20-foot putt, and No. 16 with an 18-footer. “At that point I was kind of feeding off the crowd, wasn’t nervous and used my adrenaline to my advantage,” he said.

He got the crowd into it on 17 with a 22-foot putt that broke left to right and rolled in the hole.

“It was incredible, really nice to pour that in and hear that roar,” he said.

Weaver, though, said he learned how to appreciate much smaller things than golf victories by surviving the massacre at his university.

“We’ve definitely moved on and developed a little better outlook on life, a little more positive, and have learned to appreciate the smaller things in life,” he said. “Things are great, but we haven’t ever forgotten the loss.”

Weaver was joined in the early lead by Graeme McDowell, who finished his round at one under. The tournament favorite Tiger Woods was having an up-and-down resumption of his round and slid to four over par.

The Open’s first round resumed at 7:26 a.m. Friday and the United States Golf Association hoped to get most of the second round completed Friday before dark. There was a slight chance of rain Friday, and Saturday’s forecast was gloomier: an 80 percent chance of rain, and possibly another inch, for the waterlogged course.