Bob Hope Classic, Round 1

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Pat Perez shot a 33-under 327 at last year's Bob Hope Classic to get his first career victory on TOUR.

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Bob Hope Classic

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Bob Hope Classic, and we'll be providing updates all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live Scoring | PGA TOUR Network | Facebook | Twitter | FanZone | TOUR iPhone app

CAREER LOW (6:40 p.m.): Shane Bertsch just shot his career-low, a 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Course, to grab the lead at the Bob Hope Classic as first-round play wraps up.

As mentioned, it's a career-low for Bertsch, who missed only three fairways and two greens all day. He also took just 25 putts.

This isn't the first time we've seen Bertsch have success, though. In a career that's been marred by injury, Bertsch had eight top-10s on the PGA TOUR in 2008, finishing in a tie for ninth at the Wyndham Championship. He also had an opening-round 63 at the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii.

More importantly, his 62 on Wednesday puts him in the lead by two in a tournament with a lot of uncertainty in terms of weather the next few days. It's supposed to get nasty and that 62 could go a long, long way. -- Brian Wacker

10 ... AND COUNTING (6:25 p.m.): The Nicklaus Course at PGA West has only been in the rotation for the Bob Hope Classic since last year, so talking about the course record seems sort of ridiculous. But Shane Bertsch is currently 10 under with one hole left to play on the course, which was the easiest on the PGA TOUR last year and is under 7,000 yards.

If Bertsch can shoot a final-round 65 at q-school, going low here will certainly feel a lot easier. Bertsch has 10 birdies and no bogeys with 11 of 14 fairways hit and 15 of 17 greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker

LOOK WHO'S LEADING (6:05 p.m.): The top of the leaderboard at the Bob Hope Classic is starting to look like an old Nationwide Tour leaderboard with Shane Bertsch and Alex Prugh both going low.

Bertsch still has a couple of holes left and is 9 under, while Prugh is the clubhouse leader at 8 under.

Prugh finished 16th on the Nationwide Tour money list last year after getting his first career victory at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open, where he shot ... an 8-under 64.

Bertsch, on the other hand, has bounced between the PGA TOUR and the Nationwide Tour -- in 2007 he suffered from Vertigo. In 2008, he finished 126th on the PGA TOUR money list, but he shot a final-round 65 at q-school last year to secure his card. -- Brian Wacker

SHOT OF THE DAY CANDIDATE (5:35 p.m.): The early candidate for today's shot of the day? Garrett Willis' hole-out for eagle on the first hole at the Nicklaus Course. That helped Willis shoot a 66 that has him just one off the current lead. -- Brian Wacker

CRAZY EIGHTS (5:15 p.m.): In 2002, J.P. Hayes set the record for most consecutive birdies in this event with eight. How many birdies did Hayes have today? Yep, eight -- just not in a row. The PGA TOUR record for most consecutive birdies in any event is Mark Calcavecchia, who made nine in a row at last year's RBC Canadian Open. -- Brian Wacker

THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE BOARD (5:05 p.m.): So much for J.P. Hayes' round of 8 under. The veteran just missed a 12-footer to save par on the 18th hole at the Palmer Course. That drops Hayes back to 7 under and gives him the clubhouse lead, for now at least. Three others -- Heath Slocum, Bubba Watson and Martin Flores -- are one back with rounds of 66, while Shane Bertsch is 7 under through his first 12 holes at the Nicklaus Course.

At the other end of the leaderboard? Jeff Maggert (6 over through 12), Chad Campbell (5 over through 13), Craig Stadler (4 over through 11) and Rocco Mediate (4 over through 15). -- Brian Wacker

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (4:45 p.m.): There are currently 23 players at 4 under or better right now. How many of them are playing Silver Rock? Zero. -- Brian Wacker

EIGHT IS ENOUGH (4:30 p.m.): J.P. Hayes has set the early pace at the Bob Hope Classic at 8 under with one hole left in his round. Hayes has missed just two fairways and taken only 23 putts while making eight birdies and no bogeys.

Hayes has company, though, with Shane Bertsch at 7 under through his first 11 holes. Heath Slocum, meanwhile, is now in the clubhouse with a 6-under 66. And there's still a couple of hours of golf left to play today. -- Brian Wacker

THE COURSE STORY (4 p.m.): Taking an early look at how the four courses here at the Bob Hope Classic are playing so far, not surprisingly Silver Rock is playing as the most difficult -- by nearly two strokes. It's also the longest at nearly 7,400 yards. The other three? All are under par. -- Brian Wacker

HAYES HOT (3:45 p.m.): J.P. Hayes hasn't missed much today -- eight of nine fairways, 11 of 13 greens in regulation, 18 putts through 13 holes. No wonder he has seven birdies and no bogeys and is the early leader here in the first round of the Bob Hope Classic. Hayes still has plenty of work to do to catch the Palmer Course record of 59 shot by David Duval in 1999, but he is within reach of his own career-best score of 61. Hayes has birdied his last three holes -- the second time he's birdied three-in-a-row today -- and he still has a par-5 to play. Click here to follow Hayes live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

FLORES OUT FAST (3:30 p.m.): What you might not know about Martin Flores: He was a teammate of Anthony Kim's at Oklahoma, never travels with his iPhone, likes the TV show "Entourage" and movie "Hangover" and he doesn't believe in superstitions or lucky charms.

What you need to know about Flores: He's 5 under through his first 12 holes on the Palmer Private Course and hovering near the lead.

Flores made the cut in just four of nine Nationwide Tour events in 2009, but earned his PGA TOUR card via q-school. So far, his career is off to a solid start in what is his rookie season on TOUR. He opened with a 66 at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii before fading to a tie for 59th, and he's off to another strong start with five birdies and no bogeys today. -- Brian Wacker

WEATHER UPDATE (3:05 p.m.): The weather in La Quinta, Calif., right now is pretty good -- about 62 degrees and cloudy, though that's quickly changing. Storms have battered the West Coast all week and will continue to later today in Southern California. The rain is expected to begin around 3 p.m. local time with the forecast calling for heavy rain to continue late Wednesday and into Thursday with possible flooding. That storm, according to a severe weather statement that has been issued for the area, will be followed by another on Thursday that is expected to bring lightning, hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph.

"When it rains in the desert I don't go outside," said defending champion Pat Perez. With weather like that, no one will be. -- Brian Wacker

TAKING IT LOW (2:48 p.m.): No one is going super low just yet -- J.P. Hayes is your early leader at 5 under through 10 holes on the Palmer Private Course at PGA West. But give it time. We mentioned already how defending champion Pat Perez shot 60 at the Palmer Private Course in 2006 (the lowest opening-round record in the event), but that's only part of the story. David Edwards shot 61 at Indian Wells in 1987 (and Perez shot 61 at the Palmer Private Course last year) and 23 players in all have recorded opening-round 63s.

We also mentioned how first-round success translates here. In all, a dozen players who have led or shared the lead have gone on to win this event (see below for more). -- Brian Wacker

WATSON'S WORLD (2:30 p.m.): One of the names to keep an eye on near the top of the leaderboard: Bubba Watson. He just made the turn at La Quinta, where he's 3 under after hitting all of his first nine greens in regulation. Here's where it gets interesting, though. Watson is apparently a fan of the Ellen show. So much so that he's tweeted multiple times about wanting to be on the show. Then there's this, Watson singing happy birthday to Ellen Degeneres. Click here to follow Watson live on Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

LOOK FOR SOMEONE TO GO LOW EARLY (2:10 p.m.): It's a no-brainer that you have to go low to win this tournament and that usually includes doing so early on. Case in point: Pat Perez shot an 11-under 61 in last year's first round. Of course, he shot a 60 in 2006 and went on to make 22 bogeys over the next four rounds, so shooting a low number in Round 1 doesn't always lead to a home run. The Palmer Course at PGA West, though, is the place to make all those birdies (see chart below).

Perez, by the way, is even par through his first three holes on Silver Rock today. Click here to follow him live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

EARLY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CANDIDATE (1:55 p.m.): Leave it to Yogi Berra to provide another good one-liner.

"I get a lot of kick out of sometimes the airport, a guy comes up to me, says, 'Boy, you just look like Yogi Berra,' and I say, 'Yeah, a lot of people tell me that.'"

Berra, who is the ambassador for the Bob Hope Classic, was reacting to being asked about how it feels when people still come up to him and want a picture or just to say hi.

For the full transcript of his interview, click here. It's worth a read. -- Brian Wacker

FEDEXCUP FOCUS (1:33 p.m.): Nine players that finished in the top 30 of last year's final FedExCup standings are in the Bob Hope Classic field, including Heath Slocum (eighth), Scott Verplank (10th), Jason Dufner (11th), David Toms (19th), Brian Gay (21st), Jerry Kelly (22nd), Kevin Na (26th), Mike Weir (29th) and John Senden (30th).

Coincidentally, Slocum is also at the top of the leaderboard after the first few holes of the Bob Hope Classic. -- Lauren Deason

STILL GOT IT (1:13 p.m.): Brad Faxon, who announced last week that he will serve as an NBC analyst in a number of 2010 events, birdied two of his first four holes on Wednesday at the Bob Hope Classic. His hope is to one day walk right off the course and into the booth for a firsthand account. Based on his start at the Bob Hope, it looks like he shouldn't be trading his spikes for a mic just yet.

Veterans J.P. Hayes, Bob Estes, Lee Janzen and Billy Mayfair are also playing well in Round 1, but it's still too early to tell where anyone will end up. In this event, though, familiarity with the four courses and the unique format doesn't hurt. -- Lauren Deason

THIS AND THAT (12:50 p.m.): The Stadlers, Craig and Kevin, will be competing together in a PGA TOUR event for the first time since the 2005 RBC Canadian Open. Craig was the 1980 Bob Hope Classic champion. ...

With his runner-up finish at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii, Robert Allenby has 49 top-10 finishes since his last victory at the 2001 Marconi Pennsylvania Classic. ...

Ryan Palmer failed to make the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup last year, but it doesn't look like that will be an issue this year. He earned 500 points for his Sony Open in Hawaii victory last week and it took just 354 points to qualify for the Playoffs last year. Palmer's victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii was the 261st by a former Nationwide Tour player on the PGA TOUR. -- Brian Wacker

CELEBS IN THE FIELD (12:40 p.m.): Someone just inquired, "Derek Anderson is in the field?" He is indeed and he actually has a pretty good golf game. Or at least it's better than his results with the Cleveland Browns lately. Anderson, a one-time Pro Bowl quarterback, lost his starting gig to Brady Quinn and the Browns went 5-11 this season.

There are plenty of other football players in the field, too, among others, as you can see by the list below. -- Brian Wacker

LET THE BIRDIE BARRAGE BEGIN (12:30 p.m.): The first round of the Bob Hope Classic is under way, which means two things: A lot of celebrity glad-handing and a ton of birdies. To prepare you for the latter, GOLF CHANNEL was running highlights of the 1999 event earlier this week. David Duval won that year ... making eagle on the final hole ... to shoot 59.

The four courses used last year were the four easiest on the PGA TOUR in 2009 and three of them are in the rotation again this year. The Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West yielded a ridiculously low scoring average of 66.984. That's the lowest scoring average ever recorded since the TOUR began tracking the stat in 1983.

Even the amateurs get into the act here -- there were eight total holes-in-one last year, five of them by amateurs. -- Brian Wacker

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   12:30 p.m. ET, Hole No. 1, La Quintana Mike Weir Weir makes his 2010 debut this week in Palm Springs, where the 90-hole format -- and the need for birdies -- puts him at a decided advantage. 11:48 a.m. ET, Hole No. 1, Palmer Brandt Snedeker Snedeker has already shown in his young career that he has the tools to go 25 under in a tournament. He will need it this week. 1 p.m. ET, Hole No. 1, La Quintana Ryan Moore Moore skipped the Sony Open last week, so will be interesting to see how he follows up his sixth-place finish from Kapalua.

MORE ROUND 1: Tee times | Inside the field | Inside the courses

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