Pat Perez, in search of his first US PGA Tour title, maintained a two-shot lead on Friday after three rounds of the US$5.1 million Bob Hope Classic.
Teeing off at the 10th hole, Perez made consistent but relatively low-key start with one birdie in his first nine holes.
He then had five birdies in his second nine holes — along with one bogey — en route to a five-under-par 67.
PHOTO: AFP
Perez’s 54-hole total of 25-under 191 put him two shots in front of fellow American Steve Stricker in the five-round event.
Perez started the day two strokes ahead of Briny Baird, after putting together rounds of 61 and 63 on Wednesday and Thursday for a PGA Tour record for the best 36-hole start to a tournament.
Perez, 32, caught fire after his turn, with birdies at one, two, four and five.
After just his second bogey of the tournament at par-four fifth hole, Perez responded with his 25th birdie of the tournament at the next.
Despite his hot start, Perez said he wouldn’t be setting any specific targets for the weekend.
“I’m just going to try to go as low as I can and make a lot of putts,” he said. “That’s all I’m going to do.”
“I’m not going to worry about a number. If I play great and I come up short, I come up short. But I’m not going to worry about a number or anything the other guys are doing, I can only do what I can control. So I’m just taking it one hole at a time and we’ll go from there,” he said.
Stricker, who started the day eight strokes adrift, played his way into contention with a 61 for 193.
“Just gave myself a lot of opportunities today,” said Stricker, who played on America’s victorious Ryder Cup team at Valhalla in September.
Vaughan Taylor shot a 64 for sole possession of third place on 194.
David Berganio (68), Chris Stroud (67), Sweden’s Richard Johnson (67) and Jason Dufner (67) shared fourth on 195.
Baird, who briefly took the lead on Friday, stumbled late and settle for a 70. He was among five golfers on 196, a group that also included South Korea’s Charlie Wi, whose 61 matched Stricker for best round of the day.
The 90-hole event is being played on four courses and carries a first prize of US$918,000.
■MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC
AP, KAUPULEHU-KONA, HAWAII
Bernhard Langer had seven birdies on the back nine on his way to an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Brad Bryant in the Champions Tour’s season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship on Friday.
Langer, the tour’s player and rookie of the year, was 1 over through six holes, then birdied nine of his last 12 holes in the first round.
After hitting out of the bunker and sinking a 12-foot putt to save par on the par-4 sixth, Langer turned to his caddie and said, “We’ve got to stop the bleeding.”
The two-time Masters champion was coming off a three-win season when he was the lone player to break US$2 million in earnings.
Both Langer and Bryant each had a bogey and nine birdies in their rounds.
Hale Irwin, who turns 64 in June and was the second oldest player in the winners-only field, opened with a 65 to match Jeff Sluman and Jay Haas.
R.W. Eaks, who carded a rare double eagle, was at 66, along with Tom Kite.
Bryant was coming off his first winless season in three season, but broke the US$1 million mark for the third straight season with seven top-10 finishes.
After birdieing four of six holes to make the turn at 32, Bryant birdied three of four holes to start the back side. He took the outright lead by holing a curling 21-foot left-to-right putt on the par-4 16th.
Langer hit a wedge from 110 yards to set up an 8-foot birdie on 18 to tie Bryant.
Irwin was trying to become the oldest player in the tour’s 30-year history. Mike Fetchick won the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational on his 63rd birthday.
With his son Steve carrying his bag, Irwin putted just 22 times in his round. He wants to put a disappointing year behind him where he failed to finish in the top-10 for the first time in his illustrious career.
And there’s no better place than Hawaii, where Irwin has won nine official events, including the US PGA Tour’s 1981 Hawaiian Open and twice at Hualalai, where he was making his 14th straight appearance. The 45-time Champions Tour winner won here in 2007 and 1997.
Irwin got it going by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and chipped in from the fringe, about 25 feet away, on the par-3 17th.
Sluman got off a torrid start with five birdies in the first seven holes.
Conditions were ideal at the scenic layout, which features forgiving fairways and immaculate greens. With only a gentle wind, the players attacked the pins.
Hualalai was the tour’s easiest layout in the last six years with an average score below 70.
Eaks turned in the shot of the day with a double eagle on the 551-yard seventh. After blasting a drive and catching a solid roll on the downhill fairway, Eaks holed his second shot using a 5-wood from 246 yards.
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