BOB HOPE CLASSIC GOLF : Azinger Fires 65 at Indian Wells and Ties Haas

By THOMAS BONK

Jan. 23, 1988 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

INDIAN WELLS —

All right, let’s see if this makes sense.

The first-round leader played Indian Wells. The leader after the second round had just played Indian Wells. The co-leader after the third round had just played Indian Wells.

There seems to be a trend in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Play Indian Wells and lead the tournament.

Only Jay Haas broke form Friday.

Haas, the first-round leader at Indian Wells, shot a 69 at the PGA West Palmer Course, tying Paul Azinger, who turned in a seven-under-par 65 at Indian Wells. They had total scores of 200 and the 54-hole lead in the $1-million tournament.

If anybody had any reservations about playing Indian Wells, they should have been dispelled by now. There are still 36 holes left to play, but the final 18 will be at Indian Wells, where Desi Arnaz was one of the original financial backers, and where Fred and Ethel Mertz could probably break par.

Haas had played only one practice round at the Palmer Course, but he goes next to Bermuda Dunes, which he said he has played 14 times.

Besides, said Haas: “It sure hasn’t affected Paul, where he’s playing.”

Only two shots behind Azinger and Haas is Bob Tway, the 1986 PGA champion who plummeted from No. 2 on the money list to No. 47 last year. He shot a 67, five under par, at Indian Wells. Andrew Magee is at 203, one shot behind Tway, after his 68 at the Palmer Course.

Azinger succeeded Tway as the PGA player of the year and is wary of experiencing the same drop-off that affected Tway. There is no evidence of it, though, after three rounds of the Hope.

In three rounds, Azinger’s scores are 67-68-65. He finished fast Friday with six birdies on the back nine and led the tournament until Haas birdied his 18th hole at the Palmer Course.

“You never really know who’s leading this tournament until you finish the fourth round,” Azinger said. “Until everybody plays every course, it’s really hard to say.”

Azinger will play La Quinta today, and it is regarded as probably the toughest of the four courses unless the wind is blowing at the PGA West Palmer course. Then, that is the toughest.

“I was fortunate to play there the first day without wind,” Azinger said.

Second-round leader Dan Forsman found La Quinta pretty tough. Forsman followed his 62 Thursday at Indian Wells with a 75 at La Quinta and is tied at 205 with three others, including Steve Pate, who won last week’s MONY Tournament of Champions.

“You have to watch for somebody 8-9-10 under (playing Indian Wells next),” said Haas, who has had rounds of 63-68-69.

At least one player besides Azinger found Indian Wells an exhilarating experience. Brett Upper shot a 67 that put him only four strokes behind Azinger and Haas at 204.

Upper, 29, joined the tour in 1984 but later lost his card and had to go back to qualifying school last fall. Upper said that was sort of a downer.

“The only way I got into this tournament was because I won the four-day overall pro-am here last year,” he said, claiming that he has at least as much incentive to win the Hope as just about anyone.

“I’m as hungry as anybody here,” he said. “My back is sort of against the wall.”

Upper is tied with Donnie Hammond, the 1986 Hope winner, who shot a 70 at Indian Wells and then sympathized with Upper.

“I’m sure he’d like to finish second, too, and pick up $108,000,” Hammond said. “But I’d like to win as much as Brett, although it probably means a lot more to him, coming out of school. I probably don’t have the pressure on me that’s on him.”

Hammond said he has spent more time taking flying lessons than playing golf recently. Only two solo flying hours short of taking the test for his pilot’s license, Hammond said he began flying lessons in earnest after getting bumped from a commercial flight in Florida.

He said the closest he has been to golf courses recently is when he flew over them. Hammond’s incentive for winning is to buy an airplane.

“Maybe if I win this week and win the Masters, maybe I can get a little better plane,” he said. “Maybe I can afford another engine.”

Tway’s psyche probably couldn’t afford another year like 1987. In 1986, he won four tournaments and $652,780. Last year, he won none and lost a lot of confidence.

But Tway has brought a new putter and a new attitude to the desert, where he plans to revive his game.

“You go through a lot of mental anguish out there,” Tway said of his last year on the tour. “Obviously, everybody asked me, ‘Why aren’t you playing well?’ If I knew, I’d have fixed it. I’m no dummy.”

Throw out two three-putt greens and Tway would be tied for the lead with Haas and Azinger. Right now, Tway is playing well, but he has no trouble remembering when he was not. He is often reminded of it and how Azinger needs to avoid a similar tumble.

“After a year like he had and I had a couple of years ago, people expect certain things,” Tway said. “If he plays good, people will leave him alone. If he plays bad, people won’t leave him alone.

“The same thing happened to Hal Sutton a couple of years ago. The next golf prodigy, they said. Hey, give the guy a couple of years. When you start playing poorly, you start pressing. When you’re not playing well, it’s tough to have confidence, no matter what you did in the past.”

The low 70 pros and ties will return to Indian Wells, the ultimate confidence builder, in just one more day.

THE LEADERS

Paul Azinger: 67-68-65--200

Jay Haas: 63-68-69--200

Bob Tway: 69-66-67--202

Andrew Magee: 65-70-68--203

Brett Upper: 69-68-67--204

Donnie Hammond: 67-67-70--204

Dan Forsman: 68-62-75--205

Steve Pate: 66-68-71--205

Mark O’Meara: 71-66-68--205

Gene Sauers: 69-67-69--205