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Golf
January 31, 2003
LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Jay Haas shot 61, the second 11-under-par round of the day, to take a one-shot lead as scores went low Thursday on a sunny, windless day at the Bob Hope Classic.
"It was just a magical day for me. Unbelievable," Haas said. "Everything is just perfect here, the weather, the greens. If you miss a 10-footer, it's like you can't believe it. So I felt somebody was going to shoot low and I said 61 yesterday. I guess it just took a day to get used to everything."
Haas, who won the Hope in 1988, rolled in a 3-foot putt on No. 18 for his third birdie in a row and the best round of his 26 years on tour. He went to 16-under 128 through 36 holes of the five-day tournament.
Second-year tour player Pat Perez also shot 61, which put him in a tie for third place.
Harrison Frazar's 62 left him one behind Haas, and first-round co-leader Stephen Ames had a 67 and was tied with Perez and Joe Durant at 14 under. Durant, the tournament champion two years ago, had 63.
The 61s were only two shots off the PGA Tour record of 59, set by Al Geiberger in 1977, equaled by Chip Beck in 1991, and matched again by David Duval when he won the Hope in 1999.
Duval, this time making the Hope his first event of the year, ballooned to a second-round 78 after an opening 65.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson had 68 and was 10 shots off the lead.
Perez, who birdied his first six holes and 10 of the first 11 before getting pars on five consecutive holes, played at the 6,972-yard Bermuda Dunes Country Club.
Four courses are used for the first four days of the tournament, with the low 70 players and ties playing for the title at PGA West on Sunday.
Davis Love III, making his 2003 debut, shot 64 to leave him at 131 with Mike Weir, who also had 64 and Rod Pampling, who shot 66.
After 36 holes of the 90-hole event, 25 players were at 10 under or better.
Perez, 26, shot 8-under 28 on his first nine holes, then had 33 over the next nine.
His best finish is a pair of seconds, last year at San Diego and at Pebble Beach. He led going into the final hole at Pebble Beach, but took triple bogey, and Matt Gogel beat him by three shots.
HEINEKEN CLASSIC: Paul Casey shot 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the PGA European/Australasian Tour event in Melbourne, Australia. Ernie Els fell five strokes behind Casey, who had a one-stroke lead over Santiago Luna. Nick Faldo was 5 under after 13 holes before a late-morning storm hit, but finished with 69. Greg Norman had 73.
"I was very disappointed with the way I played," Norman said. "I putted terribly."