Shane Bertsch opened with a 10-under 62 at the Hope Classic for a
two-stroke lead over Alex Prugh and Jeff Quinney on Wednesday.
Bertsch was the last player to register for the five-day,
four-course tournament because of travel delays from Hawaii. He
still posted the best round of his PGA Tour career, making 10
birdies without a bogey even while helping line up putts for his
pro-am playing partners under intermittent rain and wind.
Bertsch had 10 birdies without a bogey even while helping
line up putts for his pro-am playing partners under intermittent
rain and wind.
"I was just comfortable,'' Bertsch said. "I always like these
formats, because I help the guys out, and it keeps me maybe not so
focused on myself until it's time to hit, and then I just go and
hit.''
J.P. Hayes, George McNeill, Joe Ogilvie and Garrett Willis
were three strokes back. Heath Slocum, who skipped last week's Sony
Open while his wife gave birth, was in a large group at 6 under.
The rain pelting Southern California this week didn't really
cause trouble until later Wednesday, with many players beginning
the day wearing nothing thicker than golf shirts before the wind
and moisture whipped up.
"It was Palm Springs golf — not a lot of wind, starting
to warm up,'' Slocum said. "And then all of a sudden when I made
the turn, it definitely kicked right back up. The wind started
blowing, and it cooled off. I put the sweater back on, and
obviously golf is a little more difficult.''
Not for Bertsch — although after missing just two
greens and three fairways in a sizzling 25-putt round, he realized
he certainly couldn't chalk up his career day to rest or
preparation.
He was stuck in Hawaii for a day following the Sony Open,
where he finished an encouraging 25th, with his wife and daughters
when their red-eye flight was canceled. They eventually flew Monday
night from Hawaii to Phoenix, where the Denver native picked up his
RV and drove across the desert to blustery Palm Springs, arriving
late Tuesday afternoon.
Quinney, Bertsch and the 25-year-old Prugh all played the
idiosyncratic Nicklaus Private course, which is considered among
the easiest on tour — but Bertsch hadn't visited it since
qualifying school in the 1990s. Thanks to his travel woes, he
didn't even get a refresher look before teeing it up.
"It was like a new adventure over every hill,'' Bertsch said.
"I didn't know really what to expect. It was one of those courses I
just didn't remember a lot about.''
Yet Bertsch is no stranger to difficult paths through golf.
His entire career has been one big challenge.
He was off the tour from 1997 until 2006, when his comeback
was derailed by a bout of vertigo, which sidelined him for most of
2007. He got a medical exemption to play in 2008, but finished
126th on the money list after sitting out late-season tournaments
when he mistakenly thought his card for 2009 was safe.
Bertsch then he broke his right foot while slipping on the
stairs at his home in late 2008, limiting him to two PGA Tour
events and four Nationwide Tour stops last year. A solid
performance in Q-school last month got him back on track.
Although the weather largely behaved, the field might not get
as lucky Thursday, when heavier rain is expected — and
Bertsch's outstanding opening round could loom even larger.
"It was moist. It wasn't wet,'' said Hayes, making his season
debut after a strong Q-school comeback. "We played the ball up,
(but) we didn't really have to. It's probably more in anticipation
of what might come than what was today.''
