Verplank’s 65 Takes Hope Lead : However, Steve Pate Has Day’s Top Round, a 62 at Indian Wells

Scott Verplank, who said he put too much pressure on himself in his first 2 years on the PGA Tour, applied some pressure of his own Friday in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Verplank shot a 65 for a 13-under-par 203 after 54 holes of the tournament. There has been a different name atop the leader board after every round.

Now it’s Verplank, who was regarded as an exciting newcomer and possibly another Ben Crenshaw, when he hit the tour in 1986, after winning the Western Open as an amateur the year before. However, after finishing 177th and 173rd on the money list in 1986 and ‘87, he was forced to return to qualifying school.

Verplank got his first tour win as a pro last year in the Buick Open and improved on the money-winning list to 31st, earning $366,044.

He has a 2-stroke lead over Tom Kite and Mark Calcavecchia, who shot 68 and 67, respectively, on a clear, mild day in the desert.

However, honors for the sensational round of the day went to Steve Pate, who shot a 62 at Indian Wells, including a hole-in-one on the par-3, 156-yard fourth hole, which was on the back side for him since he started on the 10th. He also had an eagle on the 483-yard, par-5 14th.

Pate, the former UCLA star, inspired an amateur partner, 71-year-old Bill Bailey, who followed Pate’s ace with one of his own. Bailey, driving from the amateur tee marker of 133 yards, hit an 8-iron for his hole-in-one.

Pate has run the gamut of scores here through 3 rounds. He shot 81 Wednesday, 71 Thursday and now the 62. But that still left him 11 strokes off the lead.

Par took a battering again Friday when the wind on the four courses became a gentle breeze.

Six players were grouped at 206, among them Peter Jacobsen, Lanny Wadkins, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer. There were three bracketed at 207--Jay Don Blake, Fred Couples, the first-day leader, and Paul Azinger.

Verplank, playing at Eldorado, had 7 birdies without a bogey.

“I was nervous this morning because of all the out-of-bounds stakes at Eldorado,” Verplank said. “I haven’t been driving too straight the last couple of months.

“But I drove right down the middle today and made a lot of putts.”

Verplank, the youngest player on the tour in 1988 at 23, was regarded as a sure thing when he joined the Tour.

When he won Western Open in 1985 as a junior at Oklahoma State, he was the first amateur to win a PGA tournament in 31 years, or since Gene Littler had last accomplished the feat.

But he was too intense. He once said, “I’ve always been dedicated and competitive, but I’ve never been loose enough.”

He consulted a sports psychologist, Bob Rotella, who advised him to have fun and relax.

“I just put pressure on myself,” Verplank said. “Everyone goes through that, but I might have been an extreme case.

“I feel more comfortable now. I don’t want to play as I have in the past, when I was so up-tight and nervous I could barely make a putt.”

Verplank is being chased by another young pro, 28-year-old Calcavecchia and a seasoned veteran, Tom Kite.

Calcavecchia birdied 4 of the first 5 holes at Bermuda Dunes and then birdied the eighth and ninth holes as well.

“It makes it easier when you’re 4 under after 5 holes,” he said. “I had an easy 30 on the first 9, if there is such a thing.”

However, he wasn’t satisfied with his round because he didn’t get a birdie in the final 9 holes and had a bogey at the 16th hole when he had to wait 20 minutes with his amateur partners before he could tee off.

Jacobsen said that Calcavecchia might have an edge over the rest of the field because he’s playing at Indian Wells today, which is regarded as the least demanding of the four courses.

“He can reach all the par-5s, so par for him is 68 (instead of 72),” Jacobsen said.

Kite, who played at Palmer PGA West, regarded as the toughest of the courses, said he was consistent Friday, as he has been so far through the tournament.

He had a 68 to go with a 68 and 69 in his previous 2 rounds.

“I haven’t played in a tournament since the Nabisco last November, so I didn’t know what to expect when I came here,” said Kite, who is in his 17th year on the tour.

Kite didn’t play in the Tournament of Champions last week at La Costa because he hadn’t won a tour event in 1988 after 7 straight years of at least 1 tour victory.

“I don’t mind watching a tournament on television, but not when it’s a forced absence,” he said. “I plan to be back there next year.”

Kite will play at Bermuda Dunes today, and Verplank will move over to Palmer PGA West.

Golf Notes

Steve Pate shot a blistering 28 on the back side of his round of 62, which is a stroke off the Indian Wells course record held by David Edwards and Bert Yancey. . . . Fuzzy Zoeller, who has a chronic back problem, withdrew for that reason. Mac O’Grady also withdrew, for the same reason.

Bill Bailey, the amateur who matched Pate’s hole-in-one, is playing in the Hope tournament for the 28th time. A member of Indian Wells, he has a 14 handicap. He first played in the 1961 Palm Springs Golf Classic, 2 years after he moved to the area. “In those days they were looking for people to play,” Bailey said. “And the price was right.” He recalled paying $300 to get into the tournament that year. It’s considerably more expensive now.

Johnny Lujack, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Notre Dame, is with a team with the lowest amateur score, 30 under par after 3 rounds.