The celebration Sunday afternoon following Pat Perez's victory in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was as raucous as I've personally witnessed on an 18th green anywhere. Majors included.
It was all about the emotion of the day. Friends of Perez's had come from all over the West to watch him seize his first victory in eight years of arduous and sometimes maddening toil. It meant so much to them because they knew how much it meant to Perez.
And amid all of the hugs and swigs of champagne and wild picture taking, caddie Mike Hartford stood quietly with a simple smile. "H! H! H!" the friends shouted, chanting his nickname. Hartford swallowed hard, holding back the tears.
A one-time San Diego City Am golf champion who now relishes the solitude of surfing near his Del Mar home, Hartford was the quiet in the Perez storm Sunday, as he always has been since the two became friends on the Torrey Pines High golf team years ago.
As Perez's caddie for all of the time he's been a pro, Hartford has been there for every shot. For the good, the bad and the ugly. When Perez failed, Hartford failed. When people ripped his friend, he was angry. He wanted to set them straight. But he set his jaw and bit his tongue, because that's what caddies who keep their jobs do.
The calm outside Sunday belied the emotions churning inside Hartford.
"I can't feel any better for him, because he's worked so hard," Hartford said. "I guess he just finally realized his potential. That's the main thing. He put every round together in the tournament. Our weakness has been missing that one round out of four. He finally put five good rounds together."
Hartford, who got his degree in economics from UCSD, smiled. "It's about math more than anything."
Hartford knew well of Perez's reputation as a hot head, that he would surely blow up with a little hiccup. That's why he was so proud Sunday. After making three straight birdies, including a chip-in, to get back into a tie for the lead with Steve Stricker, Perez immediately gave two shots back when his badly hooked tee shot on the par-3 sixth caromed off a rock and into the water.
Everybody watching waited for the explosion. There was none. Perez re-teed, looked over the water again, and a hit a shot right of the green. It was no easy up-and-down, but he made 5, and when Stricker triple-bogeyed the seventh and quadruple-bogeyed the 10th, Perez had the lead for good.
Hartford said he has seen a change for the better in Perez's attitude the past few years, but few fans got to witness it because the golfer hadn't been in contention on the weekends.
"I always said that I didn't want Pat to change the way he was," Hartford said. "He always needed to be more patient, but he's an aggressive player, and I wanted him to keep that.
"Hitting good shots has helped his attitude. It has sort of all culminated now. He's seeing the shots he wants to hit, so it's easier for him to be patient. He doesn't need to go for every pin. He knows he's going to hit a lot of good shots."
Of the criticism Perez has received through the years, Hartford said, "It always hurt me when people would say bad things about him, when they really didn't know who he was. I was watching the last couple of nights of the Golf Channel's coverage and all of the good things they were saying about him. He can either be portrayed as a good guy or a bad guy, and all of the coverage lately has been really good. Hopefully, what they saw out there (Sunday), people will have a positive perspective."
The Perez entourage partied late into the night at a house in La Quinta on Sunday, according to Tony Perez, Pat's dad. Sometime during the celebration, Pat announced he was giving to Hartford the Chrysler 300C sedan he won.
"He's a truck man," Tony Perez said of Hartford with a laugh. "He asked, 'Do they make trucks?' "
Pat Perez has made the changes in his life and game, he says, because, "I was tired of being nobody." Now, after his first victory on tour in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he's dreaming of higher accomplishments that definitely would put him into golf's upper echelon.
Other than more wins, first on his list is playing for U.S. captain Fred Couples in this year's Presidents Cup.
"I saw a lot of him this offseason, and he's told me I better make the team because he's not picking me, because I always make fun of him," Perez said, laughing. "He said, 'You better make the team, because I'm not picking you, even if you're 11.' "
The top 10 points earners automatically qualify. So far, so good. The win moved Perez from 36th to ninth on the U.S. points list.
In the world golf rankings, Perez climbed 31 spots from 90th to 59th, and he'll play in his second straight Accenture Match Play if he can hold or improve on that position. Last year, he lost 1-up in the first round to fellow San Diegan Phil Mickelson.
Perez also earned a spot in next year's Mercedes-Benz Championship in Maui.
"I'm going to Kapalua, finally," Perez said. "I've been (complaining) about not going there for so long. But I'm going. I cannot wait.
"I'm looking forward to this year. I see some good things coming. I would like to win two, three times. The way I played this week, I don't see why it couldn't happen."
Sometimes the essence of comedy is contrast, making it that much more fun to see Pat Perez storm to his first PGA Tour win in 198 starts at the Bob Hope Classic.
At a tournament where the namesake conjures up the gentle tones of Hope crooning, "Thanks for the Memories," the winner instead features a personal web site whose home page blasts the driving rock-and-roll guitars of Frank Black's "You Ain't Me."
And like a man with his pet/You always seem to forget/That you ain't me/You ain't me...
Now I'm no Loewe or Lerner (no, not Rich Lerner, though he did a nice job this weekend subbing for Kelly Tilghman, but rather the musical comedy writing team known for such classics as "My Fair Lady" and "Brigadoon"), so I couldn't tell you what the lyric "like a man with his pet" means. What I can tell you is that they don't make 'em like Pat Perez on Tour often enough.
They ain't like Pat Perez.
Is his temper sometimes unsportsmanlike? Yes. Can he be brusque and standoffish? Yes. Is he made from the cookie-cutter mold of corporate blandness that Tim (How Does My Suit Fit?) Finchem would like all players cut from? No.
And that's why it was such a blast of desert-fresh winter air to see Perez vault to victory in style, making eagle on the 90th hole of a five-round birdie-fest in which he'd already posted rounds of 61 and 63.
I found myself laughing out loud - in a good way - at my TV set when Perez met his fan club after the win. His crew of rowdies, misfits and buddy Tommy Armour III - perhaps a triple redundancy - stormed the green to mob him and hand him a bottle of something to swig after his interview with Dottie Pepper. Was it champagne? Bourbon? Beer? Moonshine? I couldn't tell, but all I know is Perez took a mighty pull. I don't see Tiger or Phil or anybody else celebrating with such natural, free-flowing gusto, so it was tough to suppress the smiles. Watch out, Kapalua in 2010: Perez's crew is coming.
Plus, it was a long time coming. Those of us who had a ringside seat to Perez's 72nd-hole meltdown at Pebble Beach in February of 2002 will never forget it.
Way back in those more innocent days, the rookie was making his fourth start on tour had a win at storied Pebble in his hands - a four-shot lead with 18 to play. A career-defining 'W' was within reach and would surely launch him to greater heights. What ensued was alternately compelling and hard to watch.
That day in '02, Perez hit a 3-wood out of bounds on 14 and made a double bogey, which he followed up with a club-slamming show that displayed all the nerves of a rookie trying to win at Pebble. But he composed himself, making gorgeous birdies on 15 and 17 that spoke to this prodigy's enormous talent. And then, the denouement - with a one-shot lead on 18, he hit a tee shot that went out-of-bounds right by one lousy foot. A re-tee, another ball lost - this one left, into the Pacific - and next thing you know, photographers had a field day shooting rapid-fire pictures of a man slashing his golf club to the turf like a machete, calling to mind the days of Tommy Bolt in his prime. It was a career-defining meltdown, for all of a national TV audience, Jim Nantz and Clint Eastwood to see.
Everywhere he went for more than a year, and even longer, Perez was asked about Pebble. It festered, and he grew terse.
It was tough for the public to connect with Perez, even though the charisma remained. His combative style is symbolized by his use of boxing gloves as head covers. And his web site,PatPerezGolf.com, speaks to his unorthodox ways, featuring a logo of crossed golf clubs and a ball on a tee surrounded by flames, an unmistakable attempt to look like a skull and crossbones. It's more Oakland Raiders than PGA Tour, and one could safely assume the boys in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., wouldn't put that logo on any golf shirts anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the years slipped away without a win.
Then, seven years later on a January day in the Coachella Valley, he watched as someone else fell apart; first, Steve Stricker imploding with one tee shot O.B. and another one wet en route to a quadruple bogey; then youngster John Merrick, making bogey on 17 and failing to make birdie on 18. So defining is the Pebble memory, he even brought it up to Pepper, saying he told his caddie he wasn't going to make 18 at the Hope like he did on 18 at Pebble.
And Perez stood tall for two of the more pure golf shots of his life. First, the drive on 18, which was simply nutted. Second, the 6-iron from 200, struck as full of belief as any shot you'll see, to four feet. An eagle being a fairly celebratory way to finish your first career win, the toast from his pals was understandable.
Of course, Perez being Perez, he answered the first question about Pebble with a Perezian, "Jesus Christ, if I have to answer any more questions about Pebble... I hope you guys will drop it."
One hundred and ninety-four starts since Pebble, and the bad boy made good. You couldn't help but smile.
LA QUINTA - After Pat Perez had hit his dazzling 6-iron shot to 3 feet for eagle and given himself the pleasure of a champion's stroll to the 18th green in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic yesterday, the voice in his head kept repeating one thought.
"It's about time," he said to himself. "It's about time."
It was about time for a victory after 197 winless starts on the PGA Tour. It was about time he put Pebble Beach 2002 behind him. It was about time the public saw a different side of a guy who for so long has been known, rightly or wrongly, as the PGA Tour's Angry Young Man.
It was about time.
"It still doesn't feel like it actually happened," Perez said last night, a satisfied smile on his face and a half-empty beer bottle in his hand. "Once I get smashed tonight and wake up tomorrow and watch the highlights, then I'll probably realize.
"I put the work in. It's been just over seven years," the 32-year-old Torrey Pines High grad added. "It's about time. So I just thought I could do it."
The way he did it will likely be most satisfying when the hangover subsides. The week that began so easily with rounds of 61 and 63 turned into a bloody dogfight in the end.
Down by three strokes to Steve Stricker twice on the front nine, with the wind howling and swirling for most of the afternoon on the PGA West Palmer Course, Perez patiently fought to a 3-under-par 69 to win with a total of 33-under 327.
Stricker collapsed with a triple bogey on the seventh hole and a quadruple bogey on the 10th, finishing with a 77 - the second-highest score by a final-round leader in the Hope. Long Beach native John Merrick - eight shots down when the day began - made it interesting with a 5-under 67 and was tied with Perez until he bogeyed the par-3 17th hole.
When Merrick missed a birdie putt on the 18th, Perez, standing the fairway, had a one-shot cushion and 199 yards to the hole. The safe play would have been to bump the ball down the fairway with a wedge.
Some things haven't changed for Perez.
He pulled the 6-iron. "I don't lay up," he said.
Jason Gore and Tommy Armour III, fellow pros and longtime friends of Perez, stood outside the ropes and smiled.
"No surprise," Gore said. "That sucker was going right at the pin. It was totally awesome."
Legend Arnold Palmer, the tournament host, said to Perez before he handed him the trophy and the $918,000 check, "I don't know if you were nervous over that last shot, but I was."
Perez rifled his ball on a line to the front of the green, and it rolled up to tap-in range for the eagle that gave him a three-shot victory that will look like a cakewalk on paper.
"I don't know that I could hit that shot again, to be honest with you," Perez said.
It was a gutsy decision, considering Perez's history. Before yesterday, most casual golf fans remembered him for Pebble Beach in his rookie season, when he led the tournament going into the 72nd hole, only to slice his drive out of bounds and hook another shot into the ocean to lose to Matt Gogel with a triple-bogey 8.
In the years since, Perez's eyes had gone cold whenever the subject had been raised by reporters. It didn't help that there was no win to eclipse that memory. He shouldn't have to hear about it anymore.
"I hope so," Perez said. "If I got to answer any more Pebble questions after this . . . It's up to you guys. I hope you will drop it."
"What this tournament has done," said Tony Perez, Pat's father, "it puts Pebble, hopefully, in the background. Now we're going to look at this shot instead of those other shots."
Tony Perez had a word for it: "Redemption."
When Perez made his walk to the 18th green yesterday, the crowd gave him a warm reception, but the loudest cheers were coming from the dozens of friends and family members who had flown in for the day and flowed under the ropes to be at greenside when the final putt rolled in.
Major league outfielder Pat Burrell, who won last year's World Series with the Phillies and is a friend of Perez's from their neighborhood in Scottsdale, Ariz., opened a bottle of champagne. Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Brian Savage, another friend from Scottsdale, waved his broken, casted hand in celebration. Golfers Armour, Gore and Andrew Magee stayed to watch the trophy ceremony.
"This is the moment we all play for," Gore said, his eyes misting with tears. "Pat's like a brother to me. This is pretty incredible. It's been a long time coming. He's too good not to win multiple, multiple times."
Burrell, who recently gave Perez a Phillies jersey with his name on it and the No. 60 - for the score Perez had previously shot in the Hope - tried to walk away with the standard sign that had the last group's final scores. He gave it up only grudgingly.
"To watch what the guy has been through, to play as long as he has, and to come through like this, it makes it all worthwhile," Burrell said. "We're thrilled for him."
LA QUINTA - The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is like a track event with a staggered start.
By luck of the draw, Pat Perez got to begin his week on the two easiest courses, the Palmer and Nicklaus at PGA West, and shot a record for 36 holes. Now he's having to hold off the strong kicks of the players who are getting in their licks on the same tracks, and so far, it looks like he could go the distance.
Having briefly lost his lead to Tom Pernice Jr. before he'd even started his round yesterday, Perez battled SilverRock, the longest and trickiest in the four-course rotation, to an early draw. Then the Torrey Pines High product rumbled to 4-under on his back nine to record a 5-under 67.
Perez's score of 25-under tied the 54-hole PGA Tour record set by Ernie Els in the 2003 Mercedes Championship, though Els posted his on a par-73 course. Only one other player - Gay Brewer in the 1967 Pensacola Open - has been 25-under after 54 in par-72 efforts.
"I knew it was going to be tough over there," Perez said of SilverRock. "I thought I got out with a pretty good score, and I still got the lead."
Perez opened the tournament with a 61 on the Palmer Course, and that was matched yesterday by Steve Stricker, who made 11 birdies and no bogeys to climb from a tie for 18th to being alone in second at 23-under.
With a 64 on the Palmer, Vaughn Taylor was third, three shots behind. Stricker today gets to play the Nicklaus Course that Perez carved up for a 63 on Thursday. Perez takes on Bermuda Dunes, where he shot 61 in 2003. Stricker carded 65 at Bermuda in Round 1.
And that's what it's come to: Can you top the other guy's score before they all come together for the final battle on the Palmer Course tomorrow? Incredibly, Perez still has to grind just to stay in position to win.
"It's going to come down to the back nine of the Palmer on Sunday," he said.
At 16th in the world, Stricker is the highest-ranked player in the field, and he charged by making four straight birdies and shooting 30 on the back nine of the Palmer. Playing the front nine second, he also birdied three of his last four.
"There was really no 59 watch for me," Stricker said. "It popped in my head for a second, but it wasn't as close as some of the other guys have been here."
Clutch third round 67 at Silver Rock; Perez leads by 2
The most difficult challenge this week and Pat Perez passed with flying colors.
Going low at PGA West and Bermuda Dunes is a given, but Silver Rock is proving to be the biggest challenge. Still, Perez never flinched. A par-filled back nine and one lone birdie had Perez -1 at the turn. From there, the kid got hot.
Four birdies over the next five holes had Perez at five under and on a roll A slight setback with a bogey on #6 -- his second of the tourney -- PP responded with another birdie on #7, bringing it back to -5 on the day. Perez's 67 was the third best at Silver Rock, on a day when a big time round was necessary.
Saturday's tee time is 9:24am PT. Tune in as Perez continues his roll.
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."
MARK STEVENS: Like to welcome Pat Perez to the interview room with round of 61, of 63. Pat, start out giving some general comment on your first two rounds and the low score that you have stand at right now.
PAT PEREZ: Overall I just I played two of the best days I ever have in a row. So I'm hitting my new Taylor Made R9 driver, I'm killing it. And I'm hitting it close, irons are close, the putter's working well. It's really like playing in a dome out there. But you still got to make putts. But I played two unbelievable rounds and I'm very happy where I'm at.
Q. 20-under, 124, best 6 hole start in PGA TOUR history.
PAT PEREZ: Yeah, and both par 72s.
Q. And tied for the lowest of any consecutive 36 holes. What does that mean to a player like you to be in the record book? Or does it mean anything unless you win?
PAT PEREZ: It doesn't really mean anything. It's nice. It means you can get hot for two days. I would like to have all kind of records at the end of the week. 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. So that's the goal.
Q. Does this feel particularly good because you know how well you're playing? This is no fluke. This is you playing --
PAT PEREZ: No fluke. It's no fluke. I worked like hell this off season. So this is kind of what I expected when I got here. I've been over here at the Madison Club for a month or so and played like this every day over there. So I figured why the hell not bring it over here. It's just nice. I feel like I can do pretty much anything right now on the course.
Q. How did you get hooked up with Madison?
PAT PEREZ: Tommy Armour kind of hooked me up with Mike Abbott, and I started working with Mike and then Mike let me start coming out.
And then I got to meet Mr. Meldman and all of his partners and they said, yeah, we would like to have you, you can come out and use the facilities if you want to. I said great, because it's the best out here. So I just got real lucky to get into that deal.
Q. There's a couple guys that hang around over there.
PAT PEREZ: Yeah, Tommy, Freddie, Scotty McCarron, yeah, there's a lot. It's pretty good over from.
Q. How much time over there? You said in the last month, I mean how much?
PAT PEREZ: I spent a couple weeks down at three weeks down in Cabo and I was here for about three weeks, four weeks, I don't know. It's just four weeks.
Q. Basically after the wedding and after Cabo you came here?
PAT PEREZ: Yeah, I was only home about two weeks in the off season so I was either here or Cabo or home. So.
Q. You mentioned yesterday that 30 was the number. Now have you adjusted that number and is that the cut now?
PAT PEREZ: The cut's going to be -- what's the cut going to be, 16? 17? I think that I told Tom outside I said I think Scott Walker actually asked me if 40 is in play. And I said if there's no wind, I don't know. That's awful low, but I definitely think it's going to be mid 30s.
Q. You mentioned --
PAT PEREZ: Somebody gave you a microphone?
Q. You mentioned going to Cabo, your web site said you got married there in December. You attribute these low scores to marriage?
PAT PEREZ: Everyone that gets married seems to win. Paul Casey got married the day after me won last week. Gore got married, won. You know, I don't know. Sabbatini, he won. I don't know what it is. I figured I would try it. If not then. (Laughter.) If not, I can always get divorced. No. I'm just kidding.
No, I don't know what it is. I think that maybe they look at it like I have, where I got that side over with now so I don't have to worry about what's going on in my life, I know where it's going and it's settled, so now I can just really focus ongoing down the right path to play golf.
Q. One of your acquaintances asks me to ask you what happened to a wedding cake.
PAT PEREZ: He's not an acquaintance of mine at all. I don't know the guy.
Q. No, what happened to the wedding cake, somebody asked me that.
PAT PEREZ: We had it planned where or she had it planned, it wasn't me, I was actually pissed because it cost me money to do it. She had the wedding planner plan -- who the hell gets a replica cake to do this anyway. Same cake, both the same price. Lady was walking around the pool, tripped, both fell, cake fell and then she went in the water. And she came out screaming and I'm not kidding it was 7,500 people there, and they were just dead silent. No one moved, no one talked, no nothing.
And she is screaming at this poor lady and then it all went crazy, everyone started laughing and I started laughing because I couldn't hold it any more. And then the fireworks show started. And it was a pretty good trick. Pretty good trick. We got everybody with that one.
Q. So tell us what the name of your wife is and what it stands for.
PAT PEREZ: How the hell did you get a microphone? My wife's name is Athena. And she is the Greek goddess of war. And that holds 100 percent true. (Laughter.)
Q. Obviously you say you're hitting, playing as well as ever, do you think this score, do you think you would be in first if everyone was out here this week?
PAT PEREZ: No one's ever shot 20 before, so. At any tournament. So I would probably have to say yes.
Q. They specifically set the rotation up a little different this year so everybody would get two consecutive days here at PGA West. Now you go away from PGA West. To SilverRock and Bermuda Dunes. Does that mean anything or if the weather stays the same does it just more of the same?
PAT PEREZ: I've been -- I shot 61 at Bermuda Dunes, so I'm not afraid of that place. Silver Rock, I only played it once, but there's some low scores coming out of there. Pins are right in the middle. Moved some tees up on the par-5s. You can land 747s on those fairways. I'm not really too worried about them.
Q. Shooting 61, 63, sounds kind of like sort of a dream of some kind. Can you sort of explain what it feels like to play golf like that?
PAT PEREZ: Wow, it's just nice. It's not really a dream, a dream would have been actually shooting in the 50s yesterday like I wanted to. But it's just nice. The course is set up for it, the pin placements aren't the hardest, and the weather's been perfect.
Everything has to go into that. Everything has to factor in when you shoot, when everybody's shooting low scores. It's not a mystery. So it's just nice. It's not really a dream, a dream is holding the iron, you know, that's the dream. So I just hope to continue another three days.
MARK STEVENS: Go over your birdies real quick. I know there's quite a few of them there.
PAT PEREZ: Where do I start? 3. I hit 7-iron, hit it to about 25 feet. Made that one.
4, I had about -- I hit driver, 2-iron just short. Chipped up to about 10 feet and made that one.
5, hit driver, wedge to about eight feet.
7, I can't think of it though.
Q. Par-3. In the middle of a big old bunker.
PAT PEREZ: Oh, yeah. Right. I hit a little 9-iron to about 15 feet.
8, I hit driver, I had a terrible lie, it rolled through and I kind of chipped out a 5-iron to the left there and chipped up to about four feet.
11, the par-5, no, par-3.
Q. It was a long putt.
PAT PEREZ: Oh, yeah, it was about 40 feet from the fringe. It was right in the heart. That was nice.
13, par-5, driver, 5-iron just left, just on top of the bunker, chipped up to about eight feet. Made that one.
Next hole, driver -- no, 2-iron, 9-iron, to about 20 feet.
And the last hole driver, 8-iron, to about a foot and a half. Two feet.
Q. Longer putts today I know you've really been pissed about your putting in the past, does how well you're playing otherwise contributing to how well you're putting?
PAT PEREZ: None. It's actually the opposite way around. When you putt well you don't have to worry about hitting it three feet every hole. So I can play, I don't have to play at every pin I can play just right or just left. I know can I make it.
So when you're putting terrible, you have to, you got to hit it close. And then it puts more pressure, God, I got to hit it close, and if I don't hit it close I know I'm not going to make it anyway, so let's just go.
So it's nice just to kind of play just to play. Because you can kind of hit it anywhere and get up-and-down and making a 25-footer and move on, it's nice. So, yeah, it's actually the reverse factor of it.
Last time Pat Perez was sitting a top the Bob Hope leaderboard after a brilliant first round, a less than stellar follow up the morning after. Same story the time before that.
A few years later 61-70 (2003) and 60-73 (2006) are in the rearview. Different year, different attitude, different result.
After a scorching first round 61, Perez fired back with a second round 63 on Thursday. The 20-under-par total of 124 is a new PGA Tour record. Tom Lehman held the previous record of 19-under 125 after 36 holes at the 2001 Las Vegas Classic.
Four other players have posted two-round totals of 125 on the PGA Tour: Tiger Woods (15 under, 2000 WGC-NEC Invitational, Mark Calcavecchia (17 under, 2001 Phoenix Open), Corey Pavin (15 under, 2006 Milwaukee Championship and Carl Pettersson (15 under, 2008 Wyndham Championship).
Perez opened Thursday's round with two straight pars before picking up where he left off on Wednesday. The birdie onslaught began on #3, where he birdied five of the next six holes. After the turn, birdies on #11, #13, #14 and #18 propelled Perez to -9 on the day.
Next up, a 10:36am PT tee time at Silver Rock where Perez will look to build on his two stroke lead over the rest of the field. Tune in for the latest.
Perez flirts with history, again T.P. alum settles for 61, 1-stroke lead at Hope
By Tod Leonard - Union-Tribune Staff Writer
LA QUINTA - Pat Perez had two things to celebrate yesterday after the first round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He shot an 11-under-par 61 on the Palmer Private Course at PGA West to take sole possession of the lead. And today, he doesn't have to turn around and play the wind tunnel otherwise known as the Classic Club.
For the third time in his six Hope appearances, Perez flirted with the PGA Tour's magic number of 59. The Torrey Pines High grad shot 61 at Bermuda Dunes in 2003, 60 at the Palmer Course in 2006, and yesterday, on a calm and cloudy day, he burst to an 8-under 28 through the back nine holes (his front), only to make a bogey and four birdies on his incoming side to settle for 61.
Fittingly for the fire-at-the-flags Hope, the incredible performance gave Perez only a one-shot lead over former champion Mike Weir and Bubba Watson, both of whom recorded their 62s on the Palmer Course, where David Duval shot a closing 59 in 1999.
Just as he did after his 10-under start through 11 holes in '03, Perez was pondering more than a 59.
"I was thinking 58, for sure," Perez said before ticking off the wayward chances he had on his back nine, including a missed 7-footer for birdie and two missed greens on par-3s.
"Oh yeah, it was there," he said. "I can't believe it. It's the second year in a row now I've been right there and I haven't been able to do it."
Actually, that would be the second appearance in a row, because Perez hasn't been back to the Hope since an infuriating experience in 2006.
That year, he fired an opening 60 on the Palmer Course to take a three-shot lead. The next day, he was first off at the Classic Club, which was serving as host site for the first time. In wind gusts of 30 mph, Perez staggered to a 73, lost his lead to eventual winner Chad Campbell and in the final round shot 78, turning a stupendous start into a maddening 73rd and a check for $9,700.
"That's why I haven't been back in a while," Perez said. "... How the hell can you put a golf course where a thousand windmills are? I hit the first ball (of the second round) in the water, and I literally almost got in the car and drove home."
Of his closing 78, Perez said with a smile: "I was actually going to try to be the first guy ever in a tournament to shoot 60, 70 and 80. I had a chance. I told my caddie, 'Should I hit it in the water (on 18) and make 6 and shoot 80?' You know, I actually hit a good shot, made birdie and shot 78."
With Perez and other players such as Phil Mickelson voicing their frustration with the wind at the Classic Club, it was dropped permanently from the four-course rotation after last year. It has been replaced by the Nicklaus Private Course, which is next door to the Palmer at PGA West. Perez will tackle it today.
"I've played there twice," he said. "I think it's awesome."
Perez, 32, says the Palmer Course is one of his favorites on tour, and with the field returning there Sunday, it's a huge boost for a player who has yet to win in seven full seasons.
"The (back nine) is my favorite nine holes in golf," Perez said. "The way it winds in and out of the mountain, I just think it's awesome."
His confidence showed yesterday. Starting on the 10th, he birdied six of the first seven holes, and nearly holed out an ace at the 15th, the ball settling 8 inches from the cup. Perez made a 7-foot eagle putt at No. 9, and for the round, his putts for his 10 birdies and one eagle totaled only 66 feet.
JOE CHEMYCZ: We would like to welcome Pat Perez to our interview room. Pat with a 11-under par 61 today that included a bogey. Started on the back nine with an 8-under par 28. Maybe just talk about the blazing start you got off to.
PAT PEREZ: It was excellent. Not really unbelievable, I wasn't really comfortable teeing off this morning, I don't know, it was just something with me.
And I birdied 10, 11, 12, they were all, I had a -- just got it going, basically. Just felt like I could attack every flag and make all the putts. And I did.
The weather was perfect, perfect temperature. It was just one of those nine holes. That's one of my favorite nine holes to play anyway on the TOUR. So I don't know why, I just, I love playing that nine.
And it was just a lot of kick-ins and couple lipouts and that was it. It was nice.
JOE CHEMYCZ: After turning at 28 you start thinking of numbers.
PEREZ: I was thinking 58 for sure.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Really.
PEREZ: One, two, four, five, today, it could have been, six, seven, eight, and then nine's kind of questionable, but I think I made three pars, but, yeah, it was there. I can't believe it, it's the second year now I've been right there and I haven't been able to do it.
Q. It was 2006 you shot 60 over at Bermuda Dunes.
PEREZ: It was here.
Q. If I remember correctly you were like 10-under through 11 holes.
PEREZ: Yeah, I shot 61 there and exactly, same deal. I haven't been able to get it done.
Q. And yet only three guys have ever been able to get it done in the history of the TOUR and you've been looking at it twice. Is that a function of these golf course, the way that you prepare early in the year?
PEREZ: No, I did prepare. I played a lot this winter. I probably missed about a week's worth of golf all winter. So I did. I was playing all day, every day, I was out here at the Madison Club and down at Eldorado for awhile and I played a lot. But I don't know what it is. I just, that course fits my eye for some reason. I can play that course.
Q. Didn't you say out there that you started playing like in '93 in the member/guest or something? Did you guys win the member/guest?
PEREZ: Yeah. Yeah.
Q. Somebody you knew here who was the member here?
PEREZ: Just a member. A member here.
Q. 61, and yet you have a one shot lead. It's nice to shoot 61 any time, obviously, but in the Hope, can you even get excited about that?
PEREZ: No. Because the number is 30-under. 30 plus. That's the number. So you don't try to get there fast, you try to get there over five days. So if you have a bad stretch of holes, you're going to have a stretch somewhere where things kind of go south in 90 holes, so you got to kind of weather that storm.
But to win this tournament you got to shoot, I think the weather's going to be perfect all week, so we're not going to get any wind, so I mean it's going to be 30, 30 plus to win. So, yeah, it's nice, it's a good round, the conditions are perfect, that's all. There's no wind, the greens are running 10, and the fairways are perfect, and you got some short holes. There's going to be a lot of low scores with that. So 61's nice, but I'm not surprised that there's that many low scores at all.
Q. What were the best shots you hit out there today and what were some of the ones that got away?
PEREZ: Well the back side, they were all pretty good. I had lipout for an ace on 14. I hit it to about three inches on 16. I hit it eight feet on 18. I hit it about 10 inches on 8. I hit it -- I had like four kick-ins, where it was literally within a foot. So those are nice.
The only one I made a mess of was 7. I bogeyed 3. That was pretty bad. But what are you going to do?
Q. Did you think that the par-3 literally lipped out? Did you see it?
PEREZ: Yes. Yes. Yeah. It bounced and then it lipped out and it was like that (Indicating).
Q. Is it safe to say that you and a few others won't miss duelling the winds at The Classic Club twice?
PEREZ: That's why I haven't been back in a while. I shot 60 that year and I had the first tee time the next morning, and it was blowing a hundred. I mean, it was literally it was blowing a hundred down there.
I said, you know, how the hell can you put a golf course where a thousand windmills over here are? I hit the first ball in the water and I literally almost got in the car and drove home. I said, you know, I just -- something about it doesn't fit my eye.
I think that this, the Hope tournament needs to end here on Sunday. I think this place is phenomenal. I think it's just, it's closer, I think the rotation here is awesome. It's such a good tournament as it is anyway, but I think that this is a great rotation and I'm just happy to be back.
Q. Wasn't Sunday as bad that year?
PEREZ: Oh, I didn't even try. I didn't even try. I was actually going to try and be the first guy ever in a tournament to shoot 60, 70, and 80. I had a chance, I told my caddie, I said, should I hit it in the water, do you think, and make the six and shoot 80, so I have something that no one has ever done? 60, 70, and 80 right on the button? You know, and I actually hit a good shot finally middle of the green and made birdie and shot 78. Jeff would have been mad at me, but I didn't care any more, I just wanted to get out of there.
Q. Speaking of the rotation when you go to Nicklaus Private tomorrow, the new course in the tournament, replacing The Classic Club, have you had much time over there and if you have, what do you think about it?
PEREZ: I played there twice, I think it's awesome. I love the layout of the course. I think the different colors, the way it's edged out, I think it's awesome. You can make a lot of birdies. I think it's -- you know, I like it. I love this Palm Desert area out here. So any of these courses out here will be great.
Q. I think you were first all around statistically last year and if so what does that mean to you?
PEREZ: Not much. Because I didn't win a tournament. I was first, but I'm still, somehow I dropped to 80th in the world and I haven't won a tournament and I'm 43rd on the Money List. So I don't know what any of these stats mean as far as that.
Money List, World Ranking, those are things that matter to me. All around ranking? I was 1, Anthony Kim was 2. Anthony made four and a half million dollars and two wins. I got no wins and finished 43rd. So I don't know how I could even be all around ranked better than him, so, you know.
Q. Have you got the R 9 hat on. Have you got it in the bag already?
PEREZ: I'm not just saying this because I play it, but I'm telling you it's the best driver I've ever hit. And I've tried a lot. It is, it's got the screw in at the bottom, you screw the shaft in deal. I got it on, I got it on Monday, I told the guy I had to try this thing. And it looks like the old 510 head which was my favorite before that. And then I got moved into the, you keep moving on with all the stuff. And, but I'm telling you, this is the best driver. I was playing the Limited before, and this is unbelievable to start with. It's unbelievable.
Q. Can you talk about getting a lot of work in in your off season? What was your confidence level coming in to the year about how you felt and physically, mentally, all that?
PEREZ: Everything was great. I played every day. So I'm not surprised with today's score at all. I've been playing at the Madison for basically all winter, working with Mike, my coach. I was hitting it great for two months. And I feel like I can hit the shot when I need to. And that's what you want to do.
Perez fires his way to opening round 61 at Bob Hope
It's one of those rounds you dream about, yet for Pat Perez those 'pinch me' rounds seem to come often at the Bob Hope Classic.
In 2003 it was a second round 61 at Bermuda Dunes. Three years later, an opening round 60 at PGA West (Palmer Course) and today a first round 61 on the same course where history was made in 2003.
Six birdies and an eagle helped make for a 28 on the back nine. Perez hit the turn -8 with 59 on the brain. Par-birdie-par-birdie made it -1o through thirteen. A bogey on #5 was the lone blunder on an otherwise perfect day. Perez birdied #6, missed a four footer for birdie on #7 but sunk one on #8 to make it -11 on the day. A solid par on #9 wrapped up the stellar round.
For the better part of the day, Perez couldn't miss. This opening round looked more like a game of lawn darts than golf, with Perez sticking anything and everything right up near the pin:
Next up, an 8:48am PT tee time at PGA West (Nicklaus Course) and hopefully a strong second showing. Following the 61 in 2003, Perez rolled a second round 70. After the 60 in 2006, a 73 on day two. Check back in this week for all the latest news.
Three years later, same ol' story. Pat Perez is again taking it to PGA West in La Quinta. Today's blazing round of 61 was fueled by ten birdies and an eagle. Check back later for more.
Checking in from the desert. Glad to be back in action this week. Didn't get off to the start I was looking for in Hawaii and hoping to make things happen this week. I'm hitting it well, yesterday at PGA West and in today's practice round over at Bermuda Dunes. The new Taylor Made R9 driver will be in the bag this week. It's been perfect the past two days. Hopefully that keeps up.
Played today with Sterling Sharpe, and my new bud Derek Anderson. Great guys and both can hit it. We had some fun out there today, as you can see from the pictures above. David Berganio Jr. was also in our group today.
Headed to to the newly revamped fitness trailer to work out with my guy Joey Diovisalvi. We got after it last week at the Sony, which wore me out after almost two months off. The initial soreness is finally gone and it's back to work full bore starting this week.
This is my first trek back to the Bob Hope since 2006. I've had some great rounds out here, but haven't put together five good ones. (Editor's Note: Perez's 60 at PGA West and 61 at Bermuda Dunes are course records). If I keep doing what I've been doing the past few days, this could be a solid week.
Laying low this week. Staying with my bud J.J. Dudum over at the Hideaway. Practicing, working out, barbecuing at the house and ready for the tourney to start tomorrow. 10:00am tee time at PGA West (Palmer Course) on Wednesday and going at 8:48am on Thursday over at the Nicklaus course.
Enjoy the pics and I'll check back soon. Off to workout with Joey D.
Two birdies in his final four holes proved to be a nice rally, but left Pat Perez one stroke off the cut line at this year's Sony Open.
Starting on #10, Perez strung together nine straight pars before a stretch of three bogeys over the next four holes. Clutch birdies on #6 and #9 helped the final score, but still left him at +2 after two days.
Thursday's opening round got off to a rocky start with two bogeys over the first five holes. Birdies on #9 and #10 got Perez back to even. A bogey on #13 resulted in an opening round 71.
Next up, the Bob Hope Classsic in La Quinta. This marks Perez's first return to the desert since 2006, where he opened with a career-low 60 and went on to finish 73rd.
PGATour.com released this week's Power Rankings for the Sony Open and Pat Perez came ranked seventh:
"Perez has recorded eight consecutive rounds of par or better at Waialae and has finished in the top-10 in each of the last two years. Perez can also score well beyond this venue; he ranked ninth in par breaker percentage in 2008."
One season ends and another begins. Life on the PGA Tour forges on for Pat Perez, entering his eighth season as a touring pro. First up, the 2009 Sony Open.
This marks Perez's eighth trip to Hawaii where he looks to build on last season's T4th finish. Previous to that it was T10th (2007), CUT (2006), T20th (2005), T31st (2004), T20th (2003) and T17th (2002).
Perez also looks to build on a solid 2008 season where he finished 71st in FedExCup standings, earning 97,850 points and reeling in $1,756,038 on the season; 43rd on the money list.
PP carded six top ten finishes and twelve top 25s. He made 21 cuts and missed six through 27 total events. Statically, Perez ranked first when all the numbers were crunched and averaged.
This off-season had Perez getting married, while also working with his swing coach Mike Abbott. He enters the 2009 season rested, ready and focused. Biomechanics coach Joey Diovisalvi returns and long-time friend and caddy Mike Hartford is back on the bag.
Tune in this week to see how Perez's season-opener plays out. From there, back to Palm Desert - home of Perez's record low opening round of 60 in early 2006.
The celebration Sunday afternoon following Pat Perez's victory in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was as raucous as I've personally witnessed on an 18th green anywhere. Majors included.
The celebration Sunday afternoon following Pat Perez's victory in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was as raucous as I've personally witnessed on an 18th green anywhere. Majors included.
LA QUINTA - After 
LA QUINTA - The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is like a track event with a staggered start.
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.
