Record-setting Stricker snatches lead from Perez
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La Quinta, CA (Sports Network) - Steve Stricker snatched the lead from Pat Perez -- and set several PGA Tour scoring records -- with a 10-under 62 in the fourth round of the Bob Hope Classic on Saturday.
Stricker, finishing his two-round rotation on the easier PGA West courses, followed his 61 in the third round with a 10-birdie performance on Saturday that moved him to 33-under-par 255 for the tournament.
It set a new PGA Tour record for scoring in relation to par after 72 holes, passing Ernie Els' 31-under performance at the 2003 Mercedes Championship.
Stricker also set a scoring record for two consecutive rounds, posting a 123 over the last two days to pass the 124 Perez had in the first two rounds this week on the PGA West courses. Mark Calcavecchia previously held the record alone at 124.
Stricker birdied the last four holes, and six of his last seven, on the Nicklaus Private course to take a three-shot lead over Perez.
The tournament, played across four courses and lasting 90 holes, wraps up with the final round on Sunday.
"I don't know what to say. Everything was going well," said Stricker. "I made a lot of putts, I drove it really well, gave myself a lot of opportunities again and I kept telling myself just to keep making birdies because of the way the scoring is out here this year. It's crazy low."
Perez, who led after each of the first three rounds, didn't make a bogey on Saturday. But he managed only a five-under 67 at Bermuda Dunes -- a middling score for this shootout -- to slip three shots off Stricker's lead at 30-under 258.
Bubba Watson (63), Robert Garrigus (66) and Vaughn Taylor (68) were four strokes further back at 26-under 262, while John Merrick (63) was the only other player within eight strokes of Stricker at 263.
Stricker has posted only one bogey over the first 72 rounds. The highest- ranked player in the field at world No. 16 -- No. 8 Anthony Kim withdrew because of a shoulder injury -- Stricker claimed his scoring records despite starting his fourth round with four consecutive pars.
He made three straight birdies beginning at No. 5 and ending with a 15-foot putt at No. 7, drawing within three shots of Perez's lead. He rolled in a three-foot putt at No. 9 for another birdie, but didn't really catch fire until the end of the round.
Stricker started a birdie run by rolling in a two-footer at the 12th. He would birdie six of his last seven holes for the three-shot lead, finally passing Perez when he knocked an uphill chip shot within three feet at the 16th.
Suddenly on fire, Stricker's last two birdies came from 15 feet at the 17th and 12 feet at the last.
"I just tried to keep the pedal to the metal and keep it going," said Stricker. "My goal coming into this week was just to try to stay away from the bogeys, and I've done that for the most part."
Perez had a stranglehold on the lead after each of the first three rounds, boosted by his 61 on Wednesday and a 63 on Thursday.
But those two scores came on the easier courses at PGA West -- the Palmer and Nicklaus Private courses -- while his last two rounds were played at SilverRock and Bermuda Dunes.
The 32-year-old grinder started Saturday with a birdie on No. 1 at Bermuda Dunes -- beginning a round that was both bogey-free and a little disappointing.
Perez scrambled to make scores, stringing together six pars before making his second birdie at No. 8, which extended his lead to three shots. Back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 pushed his lead to four, but he wouldn't make another birdie until the 18th.
By then, Stricker was making his move.
"I didn't hit it really well today," said Perez. "I missed some greens early, I got some drives going left, but I scrambled well and came back and I've just been putting great all week.
"The putting's really been saving me. I've had some five-, six-footers for par and I've had some 25-footers for birdies. Some are going in and the last couple days the longer ones have kind of crept out of the hole, but overall from short length I've putted really well."
Perez, who is making his 198th start on the PGA Tour, stopped short of saying that he expected to claim his first career win on Sunday. But his face told a different story.
"I'm not going to say it's my time (to win) -- it's no one's real time to win -- but I'm playing well," said Perez, whose best finish the last two seasons was a tie for third place at the 2007 AT&T National. "I don't want it to seem like I'm expecting to win, but I have it in my mind that I really am just going to give it my all."
The cut line -- finally made after four rounds -- fell at 15-under 273. In a good example of the low scores being posted this week, Jesper Parnevik fired a 61 on Saturday and still missed the cut.
The final round will be played on the Palmer Private course, where Stricker shot a 61 on Friday. Perez also had a 61 on the Palmer course Wednesday.
01/24 19:59:59 ET |
