The Daily Wrap-up, Round 2: The 50th Bob Hope Classic
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) -- Pat Perez shot a 9-under 63 on Thursday to become the first player in PGA TOUR history to play a 36-hole stretch in a tournament in 20 under, keeping him two strokes in front in the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer.
After opening with a 61, Perez had nine birdies during a bogey-free second round and was at 124 through the first two days of the 90-hole tournament. Along with setting a PGA TOUR low against par for consecutive rounds, his 36-hole total was the lowest ever to begin a tournament.
Mark Calcavecchia was at 124 through two rounds of the 2001 Phoenix Open, but that was on a par-71 course. Perez had his opening 61 at the Palmer Course at PGA West, and followed it with the 63 on the Nicklaus Course at PGA West.
On another mild, still day in the desert, Perez's sizzling scoring still wasn't enough to give him a pad -- six players were within four shots. Briny Baird aced the par-3, 140-yard seventh at the Nicklaus Course with a 9-iron on the way to his second 63 and an 18-under 126 total.
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JOHNSON NOT SKATING BY ANYMORE
By Larry Bohannan, Special to PGATOUR.COM
LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Richard S. Johnson has had only moderate success at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, making the cut in three pervious starts in the event but never finishing higher than 24th.
So his performance in the first two rounds of the 50th annual Classic might come as a surprise to some people. But not Johnson.
With rounds of 63 and 65, Johnson moved to 16-under 128, remarkable scoring but still four shots back of record-setting Pat Perez though 36 holes of the PGA TOUR's only 90-hole tournament.
"The one year I finished 24th or something, I was actually fifth or something going into the last day," Johnson recalled Thursday afternoon. "So I've been up there after four rounds here before. This is what I'm pretty good at, short irons and drive it straight usually. So no, I'm not too surprised. I'm more surprised to be three behind or four."
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| Thursday's Best |
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The par-5 13th hole on the Nicklaus Course at PGA West was the easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.219.
The par-4 ninth at Silver Rock was the toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.281.
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Amateur Gary Levine made a hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth hole -- the second hole-in-one by an amateur this week. 
There was one round lower than Perez's, but his nine-birdie, no-bogey effort helped him set a new 36-hole record on the PGA TOUR. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Thursday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.com.
Tom Pernice, Jr. puts the Bob Hope Classic's unique pro-am format in perspective when he says, "There are some guys who like it and some who don't, and the ones who don't don't come here." Tournament leader Pat Perez clearly loves playing with amateur partners -- his record-setting 36 holes here aren't the first time he's succeeded with others to keep his mind off his own game. His career-best finish came at Pebble Beach in 2002. Anytime he's about to beat himself up over a shot he doesn't like, he seeks solace in the company of his amateur partners, and it's working wonders this week.
Jack Nicklaus should still be proud of his design at PGA West, even though the players are tearing it up. His layout, with severe elevation changes just off the fairways, is a brute for the amateurs, and the holes could be tucked in very difficult positions that would make par a good score. But with those severe conditions for wayward shots, the hole locations have been made a lot easier, giving guys like Pat Perez and Briny Baird the green light to throw darts at the pins.
Now Perez, Baird, David Berganio and most of the top 15 players have to go play SilverRock and Bermuda Dunes, while Jason Dufner, Vaughn Taylor and others come over to PGA West, where most of the damage has been done. With the crossover, expect a very different leaderboard over the next 48 hours.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||||||
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| Read full interview transcripts | ||||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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SECOND-ROUND NOTEBOOK: BOB HOPE CLASSIC
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Records of all kinds are being set and tied during the first two rounds of the 50th Bob Hope Classic.
• Pat Perez set the PGA TOUR record for the lowest opening-36 hole score with his 124 total. Several players had reached 125. They include: Carl Pettersson (64-61) 15 under at 2008 Wyndham Championship; Corey Pavin (61-64) 15 under at 2006 U.S. Bank Championship; Tom Lehman (63-62) 19 under at 2001 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas; Marc Calcavecchia (65-60) 17 under at 2001 Phoenix Open; and Tiger Woods (64-61) 15 under at 2000 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational.
• Pat Perez is the first player in PGA TOUR history to reach double-double figures for any 36-hole stretch. Perez' rounds of 61-63 put him at 20 under par. Several players have posted 19-under totals over the years but Perez is the first to reach 20 under. Those reaching 19 under were: Gay Brewer in Rounds 2 and 3 at the 1967 Pensacola Open; John Cook in Rounds 4 and 5 at the 1997 Bob Hope Classic; Tom Lehman in Rounds 1 and 2 at the 2001 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas; and Tim Herron in Rounds 2 and 3 at the 2003 Bob Hope Classic.
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