Double P :: The Official Blog

During his younger days, Pat Perez had to get creative when it came to playing at Torrey Pines. Not a problem this week. He won't be asked to move the carts from the barn and no one will make him pick up balls from the range. Perez won't be required to wedge 18 holes in between his chores.

This week Perez is in the field for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Now when he visits La Jolla it's as a proven professional, who has won a PGA TOUR event and is coming off a solid tie-for-26th finish at last week's Bob Hope Classic. He's playing well enough to be considered a contender this week. He's proven he belongs.

But it wasn't always that way. Perez grew up in San Diego and graduated from Torrey Pines High School. He wasn't like many of the other kids who came from privilege. He took the bus to work and his mother would pick up him up afterwards. There was no fancy car for him to drive.

When his club (Lomas Santa Fe) got washed out, Perez needed a place to play. He was serious about his game and projected himself as a PGA TOUR player. Knowing such dreams don't come true without hard work, Perez took a job at Torrey Pines and began to work on his game.

"I needed a place to play," he said. "I knew the only way I could do that is if I worked at a course. And I didn't want to go to one of the snobby ones so I went to Torrey with the common folk, which was me. That's what I did."

Torrey Pines is a beautiful place. Its two courses offer fabulous views of the Pacific Ocean that the television cameras show as often as possible during a telecast. But what the home viewer doesn't see are the spartan accommodations that greet the TOUR players. The locker room looks like it was recreated from the set of architectural plans discovered in a 1960s time capsule. Range space is limited. The putting green isn't exactly spacious, either. Perez was correct; this is not a snooty place.

That's because for 51 weeks out of the year, Torrey Pines is a public golf course. Come and pay a greens fee, stick the paper tag on your bag and wait for the starter to call your name. This was the world in which Pat Perez got his start.

"It worked out great," Perez said. "I could hit all the balls I wanted, play whenever I want."

Perez started winning local tournaments and the guys who ran the operation started sneaking him out.

"I had the whole system down totally," he said. "I could go play. I could play 36. I could play right before I went to work. I could play right after work, whatever. I was there all day, from 5 a.m. to dark. I was there all day."

All the work began to pay off and he started to ascend the ranks of junior golf. In 1993 Torrey Pines hosted the Junior World tournament and 17-year-old Pat Perez did something that was rare in the junior ranks: he soundly whipped Tiger Woods and won the event. Later in the summer Perez won the Maxfli PGA Junior at Pinehurst.

The next stop was Arizona State, where he expected to follow in the footsteps of Phil Mickelson. But his situation changed Steve Lloyd left town with Lefty. Perez had issues with the new coach and survived their rocky relationship for three years. The breaking point came after ASU won the NCAA championship in 1996. Perez, who was playing in the No. 2 slot, was told his scholarship had not been renewed for his senior season.

"It's not today, where kids are thinking about playing the TOUR and making millions," Perez said. "At that time it was like, well, The TOUR is there and we'll see what happens when we get there."

The Perez reaction? "I said, 'Cool. I'm going to make some money. And that's about the end of it."

So he turned professional in 1997, worked his way up to the Nationwide Tour in 2001 and earned his PGA TOUR card by winning the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament. He joined the TOUR in 2002 and has never had any trouble retaining his playing privileges. A year ago he broke into the winner's circle for the first time.

Now he comes back home to Torrey Pines with a head of steam. He tied for 10th at the SBS Championship in Maui and tied for 26th at the Bob Hope Classic, where he shot a 66 in the final round.

He doesn't have a great track record at Torrey Pines, where his father, Tony, was once the tournament's starter. In eight previous tournaments he's missed the cut five times and has finished better than 39th only once, that in 2005 when he tied for sixth place.

Does he want to win here too badly? Perhaps. There's something inside most people that makes them want to perform well in front of the home folks. But Perez doesn't really have anything to prove, not with everything he's accomplished.



Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.

Some recent ink from Tod Leonard at the San Diego Union Tribune:

"Golfer Perez seen in new light"
His first tour victory a year ago legitimized his pro talent

In their World Series championship year of 2008, Philadelphia Phillies fans must have done a few double takes when they saw No. 60 on the field during batting practice.

Was he a relief pitcher? A bullpen catcher? An overgrown batboy?

No, just a dude living his boyhood dream.

The Phillies all but adopted Pat Perez in '08, thanks to the pro golfer's friendship with outfielder Pat Burrell, who has since moved on to Tampa Bay. They gave the Torrey Pines High grad a locker, welcomed him to take BP any time he wanted, and awarded him with his own No. 60 jersey in honor of the lowest round he's shot on the PGA Tour.

In the clubhouse, Perez felt as much at home as on any golf course in the world. The fact that he got to ride the wave of a team on a title run made it that much sweeter.

"When they won it, it was so awesome," Perez recalled recently.

Perez is a guy who enjoys camaraderie -- craves it, really -- and if he's going to feel that on the golf course it will be in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. After getting a taste of contending for a spot on last year's U.S. Presidents Cup squad, Perez has made it a top priority to make captain Corey Pavin's American team that will play in Wales in September's Ryder Cup.

"I think I can bring a lot of humor, a lot of closeness, root for the guys," Perez said. "I'm almost a European guy."

Perez, 33, can consider such lofty aspirations because last year's victory in the Bob Hope Classic, which he begins his defense of today, has given him a confidence and stature he didn't previously own. He was ninth in the Presidents Cup points list last May and on track to make the team when he tore ligaments in his ankle stepping off a curb while running.

The injury set him back several months, and though Perez finished a respectable 49th on the money list ($1.72 million), it wasn't the year he'd hoped for after he got off to such a spectacular start with the first victory of his career.

"Last year was like my best-worst year possible," Perez said. "Getting injured, sitting at home watching everybody else win trophies and move on and do this stuff. ... It wasn't a good feeling."

The victory in the Hope was an incredible high for Perez, and it set off a celebration on the 18th green rarely seen on a professional golf course. It was almost like Perez was playing for a team, because dozens of his friends, including Burrell and fellow golfers Tommy Armour III and Jason Gore, waited inside the ropes as he tapped in for eagle after hitting an incredible 6-iron from 199 yards to 2 feet.

"It's about time," Perez kept repeating to himself that day.

Perez believed it was about time his considerable talent was legitimized with a victory. It also was about time the public saw a different side of a golfer with a reputation as one of the tour's biggest hotheads.

"Hopefully, people see that I'm not this crazy, angry guy walking around," Perez said. "They see that I can play, and that I belong, and that I'm a winner out here now. I just hope people see that."

The highlights of the Bob Hope now replace the lowlights from Pebble Beach in 2002, when a national television audience watched on Sunday as Perez, a rookie playing in only his fourth tour event, blew a lead and exploded with two episodes of club slamming. The fits were fleeting, but because Perez took so long to win, they were his only public image for years.

"As a friend, seeing him go through that, it was crushing," said Chris Bello, a close friend and former roommate of Perez's in San Diego. "He was always good and generous to me since Day 1, and to hear on the course what people were saying about him, it made me sick."

Those who are close to Perez say that amid the comfort and security of his friends he's funny, thoughtful and generous. People seem to seek his company because he makes them feel good. He has attracted a wide and loyal circle of friends, from race car driver Danica Patrick to Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain.

"He's real. He's straight up," Bello said. "A lot of people tell you what you want to hear. Pat calls it like he sees it. It comes from the heart. And whether he's around celebrity types or his regular buddies, he treats everyone the same. No one is more important than another."

Said Perez: "I'm pretty easy to get along with. I like to have fun, as most people do. I just attract people somehow and become friends with a lot of them. I really care about what they're doing, and I think they see that in me."

Among Perez's best friends is his caddie, Mike Hartford, who played on the Torrey Pines High School golf team with him. On a squad of kids whose games were mostly honed at country clubs, Hartford and Perez were muni boys who beat balls on the driving range of what was then a rather roughshod track at Torrey Pines.

"Pat had a great sense of humor -- very, very quick," Hartford said. "And he was such a good player. Everybody wanted to be around him because they knew he was the best in San Diego at the time."

Hartford earned an Economics degree at UCSD, is a former NCAA Division III Freshman Player of the Year, and won the 2000 San Diego City Amateur at Torrey Pines. When he got out of college, it was Perez who offered to caddie for him in five minitour Monday qualifiers. Hartford never made a tournament, but he didn't forget Perez's gesture.

"That's the kind of guy Pat is," Hartford said. "I don't know another player on tour who would caddie for his caddie like Pat did for me.

"I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that he is a very special person," Hartford said. "If people got to know him, they would absolutely love him. He has a knack for attracting really special people."

Pro golfers can see themselves in Perez's desire and hard work, and want to take him under their wing. In recent years, Armour and Steve Elkington have mentored him on how to take his mental and physical game to the next level.

Hartford said Elkington, the 1995 PGA Championship winner, counseled Perez about his comportment on the course.

"Elkington hammered home the point about when he watched Jack Nicklaus play when he was a kid," Hartford said. "He told him Nicklaus never disappointed the crowd."

Armour said Perez needed "serious life guidance."

"His patience threshold is not way up there," Armour said, "and that's what I've worked on him the most -- patience."

With the courses so primed for scoring, Perez didn't need much patience in last year's Hope. He opened with a 28 on the Palmer's front nine en route to a 61. He carded a 63 on the PGA West Nicklaus Private Course the second day to set the tour's 36-hole record at 20-under. He tied the 54-hole record at 25-under.

The victory march was hardly a waltz, however. Steve Stricker took the lead heading into Sunday's windblown final round, and Perez twice trailed by three shots on the front nine. It was Stricker, though, who suffered the heartbreaking collapse by shooting 77 to Perez's 69. Tour rookie John Merrick charged with a 67, but Perez staved him off.

That night, when Perez's gang retired to a nearby house to party, the friends would pause and stand mesmerized as the highlight of the spectacular final shot was replayed again and again on sports shows.

There is a lasting image Bello has of the celebration. Perez was dancing in the corner, alone, a satisfied smile on his face.

"The happiest I'd ever seen him," Bello said.

LA QUINTA -- Traditionally, it rains birdies and eagles at the Bob Hope Classic. This week, players and tournament officials are worried about the more traditional rain.

"It looks like the weather will put a damper on things," said Hope defending champion Pat Perez on a rainy afternoon at PGA West. "It won't be exactly like last year, but we'll just make the best of it."

The $5 million Hope is scheduled to begin today under a forecast of relatively sunny skies in the morning and the chance of rain later in the afternoon. Perez will lead a field of 128 pros and 384 amateurs into the 51st Hope at four La Quinta courses.

Play will begin on golf courses that have been hit by rain both Monday and Tuesday. And forecasts are for stronger rains Thursday, bringing up the possibility that the Hope might lose a day to weather for the first time since 1980.

"The grounds crew and everyone is great so they will do their best," said Perez, who practiced at La Quinta Country Club on Tuesday and said there were areas of standing water on the course. "The greens are in phenomenal shape. That's not going to be a problem. It will just be a matter of standing water in the fairway."

The five-day, four-course tournament must complete 72 holes -- each pro playing each of the four courses once -- to be an official tournament. But the Hope has played 90 holes each of its first 50 years, including two Monday finishes in 1978 and 1980. Tournament director Michael Milthorpe said Tuesday that the decision has already been made that the event will stretch to Monday if needed to have a 90-hole tournament.

Today, the tournament will begin as usual, with the more than 30 celebrities in the field teeing off with pros at SilverRock Resort. Play also will begin at La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Private and Palmer Private courses at PGA West.

For Perez, it's a chance for his first defense of a tour event, since last year's three-shot victory in the tournament was his first tour title.

"Obviously, it was very special. No matter where you win your first, it's going to be really special," Perez said. "Here it was special, really special for me because I grew up in San Diego and it's basically halfway between here. Here is halfway between San Diego and where I live (in Phoenix). So I had a lot of friends, a lot of family, plus I've been on this (PGA West) course so many times."

Perez blitzed the two PGA West courses last year to start the tournament with 61 and 63 to reach 20 under through 36 holes. But Perez will open his tournament this year with rounds at SilverRock and La Quinta, changing the way he looks at the start of the event.

"(La Quinta) is definitely the hardest one, I think, of the four. You've got to really hit it good. To make birdies on the par-5s you've got to hit the fairway, I think. You've got to drive it well there," Perez said. "The par-3s are a little longer. If I remember right, they put the pins in some challenging spots.

"I told my caddie if I can get to 10 under for the first two days being at La Quinta and SilverRock, I think that will be a good start," he added.

Joining Perez in the field is a list of 10 past major championship winners, including past Hope winners such as Mike Weir and Justin Leonard.

Perez said he still doesn't feel much different this year as the defending champion as he did last year.

"I've only been here a day now," said Perez, who played the tour's first two events in Hawaii. "So I got in (Monday) and coming from Hawaii and really with four courses and everybody kind of everywhere, it doesn't feel any different because not everyone is in one spot," Perez said. "So there's not a lot of focus on me, really."

Perez added he's trying to have no added expectations for the week about becoming the first player since Johnny Miller in 1975 and 1976 to win consecutive Hope titles.

"The conditions are going to be different. We've got a new course in play (from the 2009 rotation)," Perez said. "It just feels different all together. I don't really feel any added pressure. I don't feel really anything."

Now Perez can concentrate on golf, and figuring out how many rounds golfers might play this week.

"Who knows? I don't even know if we're going to be able to get it in or not anyway," Perez said.

DOUG MILNE: We'll go ahead and get started. Like to welcome defending Bob Hope Classic champion Pat Perez in. Pat, thanks for joining us for a few minutes. Especially considering the weather. Hopefully we'll get a break after Wednesday or Thursday.

Weather notwithstanding, just a few comments on coming back to defend and you obviously just had a couple tournaments under your belt so far, maybe just touch on what you're feeling good about as you head into the defense of your title.

PAT PEREZ: Well, I played a lot in the off season, which is pretty similar conditions to this. It was cold and rainy and pretty miserable and then to go over to Hawaii it was a complete change. It was warm and the Bermuda grass was completely different with the new grooves and wedges and that stuff.

But it looks like the weather will put a damper on things. And it should be, you know, it won't be exactly like last year, but we'll just make the best of it.

Q. You said at Media Day that you didn't know what a defense was going to feel like because you had never defended before. Now that you're here on the ground and it's Pat Perez, defending champion week, does it feel a whole lot different than just going in to any other tournament?

PAT PEREZ: It doesn't actually at all. Because I've only been here a day now. So I got in yesterday and coming from Hawaii and really with four courses and everybody kind of everywhere and that it doesn't feel any different because not everyone is in one spot. So there's not a lot of focus on me, really.

The conditions are going to be different, we got a new course in play, it just feels different all together. I don't really feel any added pressure, I don't feel really anything.

Q. You mentioned a new course, obviously one of the challenges of the tournament is the courses change every year. But you got some experience at La Quinta. More so than you had at maybe SilverRock or the other courses?

PAT PEREZ: Yeah, I only played SilverRock once and I played La Quinta like three times now and I probably played that course probably 10 times in my life. So it's definitely the hardest one, I think, of the four. You got to really hit it good. To make birdies on the par-5s you got to hit the fairway, I think. You got to drive it well there.

The par-3s are a little longer, they put, if I remember right they put the pins in some challenging spots. I told my caddie, if I can get to 10-under for the first two days being at La Quinta and SilverRock, I think that will be a good start. Especially in the rain. Who knows. I don't even know if we're going to be able to get it in or not anyway.

I don't really have a whole lot of expectations, just try to hit some good shots. This tournament's really just about putting anyway, so.

Q. Obviously there's a lot of rain during the summer when you're playing different situations with the humidity. I'm just wondering, here when you come, you expect good weather, are these courses built, will they handle the wet, the sand base, or is it different than say playing someplace in Carolina in the rain?

PAT PEREZ: I don't really know. I don't think they get a whole lot of drainage here. So we played La Quinta today and there were spots you could tell there was a lot of water sitting in one spot.

So I don't know. This really isn't going to help. I don't think it's going to stop soon. I don't know what really tomorrow looks like. I don't know, it's going to be -- I don't know. When it rains in the desert I don't go outside, so, because you only get it about four days a year so you don't have to worry about it a lot.

I don't know. We'll see. Obviously the grounds crew and everyone is great so they will do their best. The greens are in phenomenal shape. That's not going to be a problem. It will just be a matter of standing water in the fairway.

Q. I asked Ryan, I was in L.A. for the Tiger tournament as I always am, when all this stuff happened. And the TOUR was finished. Now you guys have gathered again, was there much discussion among the players about Tiger or do guys say, hey, did you hear this or did they just go out and play their own games?

PAT PEREZ: It's like everything else. You always hear, did you hear this. The whole world is, hey, did you hear this. I heard Tiger's been in the Bahamas, in Trump Tower, I heard he's been in, I don't know where the hell he is.

Q. Mississippi.

PAT PEREZ: No one knows where the hell he is. No one's talked to him. But the focus is golf and tournaments and sponsors and making sure the TOUR's run the right way. There hasn't been really much talk. I played with a lot of guys, I seen a lot of guys and actually we haven't even talked about it once.

Q. Do you think the media has been too much emphasis Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, at least?

PAT PEREZ: I think it is. But that's only because you guys haven't come out and said anything, really. But it's like I said, I was telling the guys in Maui, the focus needs to quit being on where Tiger is and when he's coming back; and to who is here and who is playing well and who is doing well and that stuff.

Tiger will come back. Tiger's Tiger. He's going to do what he wants when he wants to and when he comes back he's still going to be a phenomenal golfer. His golf record is never going to go away.

He's just in a bad spot right now and he'll get it cleaned up and I think the focus needs to be on the other great players that there are in the world. That's my opinion on it.

Q. Does the rain put a little bit of a damper on this week for you, getting a chance to come in and defend your title. It's not going to be a normal week, obviously, and who knows what's going to happen with the forecast and stuff. But does that put a little bit of a damper on this for you?

PAT PEREZ: Not at all. Just the rain itself is a damper. I don't like playing in the rain anyway. It's cold and I don't like being wet. It's just a damper.

No, it doesn't do anything for me as far as defending, because I'm still here and the tournament's still going to go on. And I just have a lot of great memories from last year and it will be a good week. It would be a better week if I won again, so.

Q. What did you think of your two weeks, your first TOC in Hawaii, SBS, and then Sony. Did you like the way you started the year?

PAT PEREZ: Yeah, I started -- I had a bad Sunday in Honolulu. So that wasn't very good. But I didn't get much sleep there. The hotel that I was in was terrible.

But Maui was unbelievable. It was everything I thought it was going to be. We got there nice and early. I was so tired of freezing and being in Scottsdale I couldn't wait to get over there and be warm and thaw out and wear shorts and a T-shirt.

We played golf every day. It was everything I thought it was going to be. It was just awesome. I could definitely start there every year without a problem.

But Honolulu was great too. It was nice and warm. We didn't get a lot of wind really. It was awesome. The conditions were so different with the Bermuda grass, that I was more worried about how I was going to play because the new grooves and wedges and all that stuff.

Q. Could you talk about, you brought it up, could you talk about the new grooves. Did you notice any affect on your game at all?

PAT PEREZ: A huge difference. It's not even close. I've always played square grooves so I never dealt with that. I was hitting 7-iron from 210, hoping it comes down. It is way different.

The chipping for me has just been a nightmare. Because I haven't been able to -- I can't stop it out of a bunker. You play with a certain wedge for so long you know exactly what you're doing. You look up and it's 10 feet farther than you think it's going to be. It's a lot different. I'm not real excited about it.

Q. I would imagine that wet conditions isn't going to help that much.

PAT PEREZ: No, but at least it will be softer so the ball will stop a little faster. The ryegrass, I'm used to that, so I know how it goes through the grass. Bermuda for me it was like hit and hope. Hit it and just hope that it stops somewhere near the flag. And it didn't. But the soft conditions will definitely help it out here.

Q. You mentioned you thought they got the west coast right this year, at least in terms of travel. How do you will feel about your chances out here on the west coast knowing that you come in having felt like you were ready to start the season, and that things seemed to fall the way you wanted them to fall.

PAT PEREZ: They did. I wish this tournament was actually a week later. I wish that after Hawaii that the tournament started on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Really, I just got here. The tournament starts tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock.

So it wouldn't be bad if the tournament was started Thursday and then came here. But it's not, obviously, it doesn't matter.

I'm looking forward to a good four days here. We got great courses to play and it's a great tournament. And I'm just looking forward to trying to do something right.

Q. You're at SilverRock tomorrow, right?

PAT PEREZ: Yeah. SilverRock, number 10.

Q. So you're with the celebrity field?

PAT PEREZ: Yeah.

Q. Do you know who your celebrities are this week and how do you feel?

PAT PEREZ: I got Evan Longoria tomorrow, who is my, I basically talked him into joining where I play. So I play with him all the time and I hang out with him. Good kid. I guess Sterling Sharp and Bruce Smith, I played with Sterling today as well. I got Don Felder, the Eagles guy. And I can't remember who I got the other day. I spaced on it. But, yeah I got good groups, some friends in there and should be a great week.

Q. Take us back to last year and just kind of tell us how special it was to win this tournament.

PAT PEREZ: Obviously it was very special. No matter where you win your first it's going to be really special. Here it was special, really special for me because I grew up in San Diego and it's basically halfway between here, here is halfway between San Diego and where I live.

So it was, I had a lot of friends, a lot of family, plus I've been on this course so many times. I won the member/guest here in '93 with my buddy. And I think that's a stat that people don't know about. I wonder if anyone as ever won a member/guest and a professional tournament on the same course. You might want to look into that.

DOUG MILNE: Could you go give me a few months.

(Laughter.)

PAT PEREZ: But, I love coming, I love coming to La Quinta. I got a lot of friends here. It's such a great area. The winters are just phenomenal. And it's just like Scottsdale and San Diego is right up the road.

It was a day that I'll never forget and I'm just, I'm glad it happened here.

Q. How much did life change or career change at all after that?

PAT PEREZ: Not are really much. I had to change my schedule a little bit because I was in the WGC's and a couple Majors and stuff like that. It didn't really change my life other than the fact that I was a winner now. Because I have been out here eight years already, so I don't know, it just basically gave me the confidence knowing that I could do it.

Q. On a different note what was it like to see your little brother win big break?

PAT PEREZ: I thought he was putting me on. I can't believe he won it. I said, you were three down with two to go, there's no way you can win this thing. So it was fun.

I got to see him about halfway through and they wouldn't let me talk to him, because they thought I was going to give him some advice or something. I went and hosted a show for three and a half hours and I was on the show about 40 seconds.

So it was fun though. It was great to see him go through the emotions and the trying to win and each challenge and not be eliminated and all that stuff. It was cool. I was happy for him.

DOUG MILNE: Lastly, real quick, in two days Jack Nicklaus hits the big 7 0. We have just been asking players to maybe share some experience you've had with him or some fond memory regarding Jack that stands out.

PAT PEREZ: You know, funny enough, I haven't really talked to Jack that much in detail ever. He probably doesn't know who the hell I am, to be honest with you.

I don't really know him at all. I've never been in a social setting with him. I kind of sat at the same table with him at the Memorial for about a second. And I think I told him -- I never played well in his tournament. I love his tournament. There's only 102 players and I'm usually about No. 100 in the field. I don't know why I cannot play that course. And I love it.

I shot like 78 the first day and I was sitting there at lunch and he walks in and he goes, "How you doing?" I said, "Well I have one more day left and I'm out of here." And he looked at me like, you know, what the hell are you talking about? How do you not think you can make the cut. I said, "Jack, I've been here six years and I've never made the cut, I never been close." I said, "78 is about average for me here." And that's about it. That's about all I ever talked to him about.

(Laughter.)

So obviously he's a phenomenal man. He's done a lot for golf. Him and Mr. Palmer. I wish I would have gotten to know those guys a little better, but obviously the age difference is a little much. But I just never, I didn't get to play on a Presidents Cup team and I haven't been on a Ryder Cup team and I haven't been in things that he would be involved in. So, unfortunately, I don't have much of a story other than that.

DOUG MILNE: Okay. We know it's nasty out, so thanks for coming in.

PAT PEREZ: You got it.

Hawaii is in the books and Pat Perez is headed back to Palm Desert to defend his crown at the Bob Hope Classic.

Perez opened the year at the SBS Championship in Maui, earning an invite as a 2009 winner. After opening with a 71-70, a strong weekend run - 67-69 - earned him a T10th finish.

From there, a quick trek to the main island for the Sony Open and a T46th finish. PP opened with a blazing 66 and followed up with a second round 70 and third round 69 before closing with a Sunday 73.

Two weeks in Hawaii yielded Perez $174,960 and put him at 23rd in the FedExCup standings and 21st on the money list. It also put him over the $10M mark in career earnings.

Next up, the Bob Hope Classic where Perez returns as defending champion. Last year's five-day even ended with a -33 finish. After opening with a blazing 61, Perez followed up with a 63, 67, 67 and final round 69, punctuated with a 198-yard strike rolling three feet from the hole. The tap in for eagle earned Perez his first Tour win, paving the way for his first title defense this week.

Tune in for the latest from Palm Desert all week.

Check out this piece from PGATour.com featuring Double P 'outside the ropes'. Anytime Filiberto's is ready to come correct with an "Eat For Free For Life" VIP card, email us at PPG.

Made it from Maui to Honolulu. T10th last week at the SBS, which was cool being it was my first event at Kapalua. Fired up for the Sony this week. Big fan of Waialae and I've had some pretty good finishes out there over the years. Always love starting the season in Hawaii and then next week we get the Bob Hope and it's back to the desert. First time anywhere as a defending champ, which should be a trip.

Played the pro-am with Kevin James yesterday. Fun day out there and fired up for the tourney to start tomorrow. I'll check back in soon. - P.P.

PP here. Made it to Kapalua and will be in Hawaii for the next few weeks. Sun is shining and there are definitely worse places to be. Check out the pic above. Snapped it on my iPhone while practicing yesterday.

Fired up for another season and looking forward to picking up where I left off last year. Check in here as we'll be blogging more throughout the season.

Happy New Year. More to come. - P.P.

PGATour.com has assembled their Top 100 for 2010 list and Pat Perez rolled in at No. 42.

"His first win finally behind him, Pat Perez is looking forward to a healthy 2010 to see if he can build on last year's breakthrough campaign. He missed six weeks midway through 2009 after tearing ligaments in his right ankle while running with his dog but closed out the year with ties for 13th at the Frys.com Open and 10th at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions to get back on track. Perez took advantage of Steve Stricker's free-fall and his own new-found sense of calm to win the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer on a windswept afternoon. He closed it out in style, too, knocking a 6-iron over the water and onto the green, setting up a 3-footer for eagle and a three-stroke win. Nine weeks later, the Arizona State product tied for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. He went on to win $1.7 million - just $35,000 shy of a career-best total - in the abbreviated season."

PP wrapped up last year's FedExCup ranked No. 46 and will look to improve on that in '10.

According to PGATour.com's John Maginnes, his "Quick Read" stated that "He didn't do much after picking up career victory No. 1 early in the season. Look for a solid West Coast swing from Perez."

The 'swing' is underway. Tune in for the latest, now through early Februrary.