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Bob Hope Classic
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LA QUINTA, Calif.—The horrid rainstorms that have been sweeping Southern California forced Shane Bertsch into arriving less than 18 hours before his first-round tee time at the PGA Tour’s Bob Hope Classic. The 39-year-old journeyman may not have had as much time as he wanted to become acclimated to the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West — a layout he hadn’t seen since Qualifying School 10 years ago — but ultimately, that wasn’t an issue. Bertsch posted a bogey-free score of 10-under-par 62 to grab the lead Wednesday, while Alex Prugh and Jeff Quinney, who also played the Nicklaus layout, posted 64s to position themselves two strokes back at 8-under par. After finishing tied for 25th at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday, Bertsch had to spend an extra night there after his red-eye flight to Phoenix, Ariz. — where his RV was stationed — was canceled that evening. Then, his non-stop flight on Monday didn’t land until midnight, meaning Bertsch, his wife and two daughters weren’t able to start driving to the Coachella Valley until Tuesday. Bertsch arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon, about 17-and-a-half hours before he was scheduled to begin play. “I got over here and was the last one to register and just thought I would come out and tee it up,” he said. Sixty-two strokes later — only 25 of which were taken on the greens — the Denver, Colo., native had a career-low round. In 132 PGA Tour events, Bertsch has only recorded three top-10 finishes. However, he has done well in pro-am formats before, winning the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am at the Cliffs in 2005 and finishing tied for 16th in two of his three most recent starts at the Hope. It’s a great start, but four rounds remain. Plus, there are those rainstorms, which have resurfaced Wednesday night and could linger into Thursday. Though the sun barely came out on Wednesday and the weather was cold and often windy, birdies were abundant — except at SilverRock Resort. The scoring average there was even-par 72.0 and 12 players posted rounds over par, including 2006 Hope champion Chad Campbell, whose 7-over-par 79 was the worst score in the field. By comparison, scoring averages at Nicklaus (69.59), Palmer Private at PGA West (69.53) and La Quinta Country Club (69.67) were more on par with the usual red-number tenor of the event. Here’s how notable Southern Californians fared in the first round of the Bob Hope Classic: • USC alumnus Roger Tambellini, who finished tied for 52nd at the Sony Open in his first PGA Tour start since graduating from the Nationwide Tour last year, opened with a 6-under-par 66 at La Quinta C.C. and is tied for eighth. • La Quinta resident Scott McCarron is tied for 14th after a 5-under 67 on the Nicklaus course. Also at that mark is Kevin Stadler, whose dad, Craig, received a sponsor’s exemption into the field and shot a 4-over 76 at SilverRock. • Former San Diego resident Pat Perez and Long Beach native John Merrick are tied for 25th after shooting 68s. Perez is the defending champion, while Merrick is the defending runner-up. • Long Beach native Paul Goydos, Poway native Charley Hoffman and former Diamond Bar resident Kevin Na are tied for 39th at 3-under par. • Murrieta native Rickie Fowler, who missed the cut at last week’s Sony Open, again struggled to find his form, shooting a 2-over-par 74 at SilverRock. For complete scores, visit PGATour.com. Check back throughout the week for more coverage of the Bob Hope Classic. ALSO SEE: 10 players who could win the Bob Hope Classic Celebrities to watch at the Bob Hope Classic Vital information on the Bob Hope Classic |
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