LA QUINTA, Calif. — Pat Perez shot a 9-under-par 63 on Thursday to become the first player in PGA Tour history to play a 36-hole stretch in a tournament in 20-under, keeping him two strokes in front in the Bob Hope Classic.
Perez had nine birdies during a bogey-free second round and was at 124 through two days of the 90-hole tournament. Along with setting a PGA Tour low against par for consecutive rounds, his 36-hole total was the lowest to begin a tournament.
Mark Calcavecchia was at 124 through two rounds of the 2001 Phoenix Open, but that was on a par-71 course. Perez had his opening 61 at the Palmer Course at PGA West, and followed it with the 63 on the Nicklaus Course at PGA West.
On another mild, still day, Perez’s sizzling scoring still wasn’t enough to give him a measure of comfort — six players were within four shots. Briny Baird aced the par-3, 140-yard seventh at the Nicklaus Course with a 9-iron on the way to his second 63 and an 18-under 126 total. David Berganio Jr. had a 64 and was another shot behind. Tom Pernice Jr. (63) Chris Stroud (63), Richard Johnson (65) and Jason Dufner (65) were at 16-under.
Asked about setting a standard, Perez said: “It means you can get hot for two days. I would like to have all kinds of records at the end of the week — three-day, four-day, five-day, trophy, Vegas, booze, all that stuff. That’s what I want.”
The tour records for three, four and five rounds certainly don’t seem out of reach if the wind doesn’t kick up during the next three days. The record for 54 holes is 189, a mark shared by a group including Calcavecchia. Tommy Armour III set the 72-hole mark of 254 in the 2003 Texas Open, and the 90-hole record is Joe Durant’s 36-under 324 at the 2001 Hope.
• Ryo Ishikawa received a special invitation from Augusta National, putting the 17-year-old from Japan in line to become the second- youngest player to compete in the Masters.
He will be the youngest player at the Masters since Tommy Jacobs competed as an amateur in 1952 at 17 years, one month and 21 days.
Ishikawa, a senior in high school, turned 17 four months ago.
Trio shares Qatar lead
DOHA, Qatar — Henrik Stenson shot a 6-under 66 in the opening round of the Qatar Masters, joining Andrew Coltart and Miguel Angel Jimenez in the lead.
The Associated Press
