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Golf

Two take early Hope lead

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Golf took a back seat for Bob Tway for three months, as he turned into a "basketball pop."

Tway, polishing rust off his game after the layoff, eagled his second hole and went on to shoot 9-under 63 Wednesday and share the Bob Hope Classic lead with Stephen Ames.

"That was really the longest time I had ever been home in one stretch," Tway said of the stretch he spent with his wife, 14-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. "I practiced a little bit, worked out and went skiing a little bit.

"But mainly I saw a lot of basketball practices and basketball games and things we don't get to do as often as we would like. I'm 43 and my kids are at a great age. It was just a fun time to see things that I miss a lot of times."

Tway and Ames were one shot ahead of two-time Hope champion John Cook and Chris DiMarco.

David Duval, playing his first PGA tournament of the year, was in a group another shot back at 65. Defending champion Phil Mickelson had 70.

Tway struggled in his first tournament back, shooting 76-71 and missing the cut at Phoenix last week.

But he was on target with his irons and his putter during the opening round of the five-day event, jumpstarting his day by knocking a 5-iron within 5 feet of the hole, then grinning as he walked onto the green before making the eagle putt on No.11, a 512-yard par-5, at PGA West.

Tway began his round on the back nine and quickly went to 3-under with a twisting 25-footer for birdie on the par-3 No.12.

A seven-time tour winner looking for his first victory since 1995, Tway made six more birdies during a bogey-free round.

"Even though I had practiced, I just wasn't ready to play last week. I thought I came out early to Phoenix, but it wasn't enough," Tway said. "But playing two rounds there and a few more practice rounds over the weekend made a difference."

Ames, who finished second in the Players Championship last year, also played PGA West, one of four courses used during the 90-hole tournament, and two-putted from 35 feet on No.18 to go to 9-under and tie Tway. Ames also had a bogey-free round.

"Everybody comes here thinking it's going to be a putting contest, which basically it ends up being," Ames said of the Hope, which traditionally produces low scores. "The golf courses are so short and the greens are absolutely perfect. The weather is perfect. You know you're going to have to make some putts."

Cook, the champion in 1992 and 1997, began the tournament with 8-under 64 at Indian Wells.

DiMarco, who finished third in the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this month and tied for 14th at Phoenix last weekend, shot 64 at Bermuda Dunes.

Duval, who won the Hope in 1999 with a closing 59 that tied Al Geiberger and Chip Beck for the tour's lowest round ever, eagled No.5 from the fairway as he opened with 65 at Indian Wells.

Also at 65 were Dave Stockton Jr., Robert Gamez, Shaun Micheel, Rod Pampling, Frank Lickliter and Matt Gogel.

Others within striking distance of the lead included Justin Leonard and John Huston at 66, Peter Jacobsen at 67 and John Daly at 68.

The pros play the first four days with a group of three amateurs, then the low-scoring 70 pros and ties play for the title Sunday.

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