Perez sets 36-hole tour record at 20-under
By Tod Leonard, San Diego Union Tribune
LA QUINTA - Pat Perez is 20-under par after two rounds of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. No one in PGA Tour history has ever been in this territory before.
Call it shocking. Call it phenomenal. Just don't call it lucky.
"This is no fluke," Perez said. "I worked like hell this offseason."
Armed with a new swing he fashioned late last summer, at a private club just down the street from the PGA West complex where the Bob Hope is being contested, the Torrey Pines High product is playing with both a skill and confidence he has never before displayed.
Facing the task of following up his superb opening round of 61 in the Hope, Perez canned nine birdies yesterday without a bogey on the Nicklaus Private Course, and shot 9-under 63 to set the tour's 36-hole record at 20-under.
"It's really like playing in a dome out there," Perez said. "But you still have got to make the putts. I played two unbelievable rounds, and I'm very happy with where I'm at."
To understand how hot Perez is, consider: No player in history had shot 20-under for two consecutive rounds, and that total would have won all but five tournaments last season. He has 20 one-putt greens, and his birdies outnumber his pars 19-15.
The tour's 90-hole scoring record is Joe Durant's 36-under in the 2001 Hope, and Perez still has three more rounds to gain 16 shots. After playing the tougher SilverRock today, tomorrow he draws Bermuda Dunes (where he shot 61 in 2003) and Sunday the Palmer Private Course (where he fired 61 Wednesday).
Imagine. Forty-under seems totally plausible.
And yet, Perez can hardly cruise, because the conditions are so ridiculously good. Briny Baird, who yesterday had a hole-in-one on the Nicklaus Course, has notched consecutive 63s and trails by two shots. David Berganio Jr. (63-64) is three behind. There are 16 players at 13-under or better.
Perez twice held 36-hole leads in his rookie year of 2002, but he couldn't close, and he's yet to win in 197 starts on tour.
"I would like to have all kinds of records at the end of the week," Perez said. "Three-day, four-day, five-day - you know, trophy, Vegas, booze, all that stuff. That's what I want.
"So two days is nice, but I would really love to be sitting here late Sunday."
After knocking down the pins to produce easy putts in the first round, Perez attacked with his putter yesterday. He made bombs of 20, 25 and 40 feet, and only one birdie came inside 4 feet.
"It's nice just to kind of play just to play," he said. "You can kind of hit it anywhere and get up-and-down, making a 25-footer and move on."
Perez, 32, is in the position because he made a very difficult decision last summer after tying for 36th in the U.S. Open on his home course at Torrey Pines.
Frustrated by his inability to take the next big step, he parted ways with teacher Michael Owen, who had been a friend and mentor to Perez since the two worked together at the driving range at Torrey Pines when Perez was a teen.
"It wasn't getting any better, period," Perez said yesterday. "I wanted to win. I wasn't shooting scores I wanted to. I wasn't hitting it the way I wanted to. I said, 'There's got to be something else.'
"Mike helped me as much as he could. I've known him 20 years. He's like a brother to me. But it's professional; it just happens. Sometimes you've got to split. I found something different and better."
Perez turned to the teacher of his longtime buddy, Tommy Armour III. Mike Abbott is the general manager of the Madison Club in La Quinta, but he's also been an instructor for 20 years. Abbott said that when he watched Perez play practice rounds, he saw a player with enormous talent, but a "broken" swing. Perez, Abbott said yesterday, lacked the critical ability to move the ball from right to left.
"His athletic ability got him to where he was, but his swing wasn't anywhere close to his talent," Abbott said. "He needed somebody to be honest with him. I told him that if he got his golf swing to where he could predict his ball flight, it was endless how good he could get.
"He is incredibly motivated. He wants success as much as anybody."
Perez dived in to their sessions, Abbott said, and within minutes was finding improvement. They changed virtually everything in the golfer's swing - grip, posture, setup - and Perez ate it up like a starving dog.
"With an athlete as talented as he is, once he sees that door opening a little bit, he wants to run through it pretty bad," Abbott said. "He knows now he has a ball flight to match any hole out there. Once you have that, everything becomes easier."
Now, Abbott is sitting back and enjoying the show.
"It's fantastic. It's fun," he said. "I told him he was going to win early this year. Whether it's this week or next week, he's going to win who knows how many."
LA QUINTA - Pat Perez is 20-under par after two rounds of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. No one in PGA Tour history has ever been in this territory before.Call it shocking. Call it phenomenal. Just don't call it lucky.
"This is no fluke," Perez said. "I worked like hell this offseason."
Armed with a new swing he fashioned late last summer, at a private club just down the street from the PGA West complex where the Bob Hope is being contested, the Torrey Pines High product is playing with both a skill and confidence he has never before displayed.
Facing the task of following up his superb opening round of 61 in the Hope, Perez canned nine birdies yesterday without a bogey on the Nicklaus Private Course, and shot 9-under 63 to set the tour's 36-hole record at 20-under.
"It's really like playing in a dome out there," Perez said. "But you still have got to make the putts. I played two unbelievable rounds, and I'm very happy with where I'm at."
To understand how hot Perez is, consider: No player in history had shot 20-under for two consecutive rounds, and that total would have won all but five tournaments last season. He has 20 one-putt greens, and his birdies outnumber his pars 19-15.
The tour's 90-hole scoring record is Joe Durant's 36-under in the 2001 Hope, and Perez still has three more rounds to gain 16 shots. After playing the tougher SilverRock today, tomorrow he draws Bermuda Dunes (where he shot 61 in 2003) and Sunday the Palmer Private Course (where he fired 61 Wednesday).
Imagine. Forty-under seems totally plausible.
And yet, Perez can hardly cruise, because the conditions are so ridiculously good. Briny Baird, who yesterday had a hole-in-one on the Nicklaus Course, has notched consecutive 63s and trails by two shots. David Berganio Jr. (63-64) is three behind. There are 16 players at 13-under or better.
Perez twice held 36-hole leads in his rookie year of 2002, but he couldn't close, and he's yet to win in 197 starts on tour.
"I would like to have all kinds of records at the end of the week," Perez said. "Three-day, four-day, five-day - you know, trophy, Vegas, booze, all that stuff. That's what I want.
"So two days is nice, but I would really love to be sitting here late Sunday."
After knocking down the pins to produce easy putts in the first round, Perez attacked with his putter yesterday. He made bombs of 20, 25 and 40 feet, and only one birdie came inside 4 feet.
"It's nice just to kind of play just to play," he said. "You can kind of hit it anywhere and get up-and-down, making a 25-footer and move on."
Perez, 32, is in the position because he made a very difficult decision last summer after tying for 36th in the U.S. Open on his home course at Torrey Pines.
Frustrated by his inability to take the next big step, he parted ways with teacher Michael Owen, who had been a friend and mentor to Perez since the two worked together at the driving range at Torrey Pines when Perez was a teen.
"It wasn't getting any better, period," Perez said yesterday. "I wanted to win. I wasn't shooting scores I wanted to. I wasn't hitting it the way I wanted to. I said, 'There's got to be something else.'
"Mike helped me as much as he could. I've known him 20 years. He's like a brother to me. But it's professional; it just happens. Sometimes you've got to split. I found something different and better."
Perez turned to the teacher of his longtime buddy, Tommy Armour III. Mike Abbott is the general manager of the Madison Club in La Quinta, but he's also been an instructor for 20 years. Abbott said that when he watched Perez play practice rounds, he saw a player with enormous talent, but a "broken" swing. Perez, Abbott said yesterday, lacked the critical ability to move the ball from right to left.
"His athletic ability got him to where he was, but his swing wasn't anywhere close to his talent," Abbott said. "He needed somebody to be honest with him. I told him that if he got his golf swing to where he could predict his ball flight, it was endless how good he could get.
"He is incredibly motivated. He wants success as much as anybody."
Perez dived in to their sessions, Abbott said, and within minutes was finding improvement. They changed virtually everything in the golfer's swing - grip, posture, setup - and Perez ate it up like a starving dog.
"With an athlete as talented as he is, once he sees that door opening a little bit, he wants to run through it pretty bad," Abbott said. "He knows now he has a ball flight to match any hole out there. Once you have that, everything becomes easier."
Now, Abbott is sitting back and enjoying the show.
"It's fantastic. It's fun," he said. "I told him he was going to win early this year. Whether it's this week or next week, he's going to win who knows how many."
posted by PatPerezGolf.com at 2:06 AM
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