Gamez Finds Oasis of Birdies : Golf: Second-year player shoots 64 at Indian Wells. Eighty-seven players are under par after one round of the 90-hole tournament.

When he was a rookie last year, Robert Gamez made an immediate impact by winning at Tucson in his first tournament as a PGA Tour member.

After having a little early season trouble this year, Gamez is charging again, shooting an eight-under-par 64 Wednesday at Indian Wells in the first round of the 32nd annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

It was a par-battering day for the pros, and Indian Wells, regarded as the least demanding of the four courses in the tournament, yielded an abundance of low scores.

Seven players shot 66s at Indian Wells, including Bob Tway and Mark O’Meara, and 87 players had under-par rounds.

Corey Pavin, the former UCLA star, shot a 65 on the Palmer Course at PGA West, and Curtis Strange had a 66 there.

So, Indian Wells wasn’t the only layout that proved to be a fast track for the pros in near-perfect weather: mild temperatures and minimal wind.

Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion, anticipates low scores for the entire 90-hole tournament. “There are two reasons,” he said. “The weather is good and we don’t have any elements to concern ourselves with, and the golf courses are in immaculate condition. When these guys start running the tables, they can really run them.”

Gamez, starting on the 10th tee, began his run with five birdies through 10 holes.

He climaxed his round with an eagle at the 515-yard eighth hole, hitting a three-wood within seven feet of the cup before making the putt.

A birdie followed on his last hole when he hit an eight-iron within 15 feet of the hole and made another putt.

Gamez, 22, won two tournaments last year and earned $461,406. However, the victories were his only top-10 finishes in 25 tournaments.

And he faltered in his first four tournaments this year, missing the cut at Phoenix and in Hawaii, finishing 30th and next to last in the Tournament of Champions and placing 46th at Tucson.

“It was just one of those days when a few putts dropped,” Gamez said. “It’s nice to play well again. It’s been a while since I had a decent round.”

Gamez said he hit 17 greens and missed only two or three fairways.

“When you shoot low rounds anywhere, it gives you confidence,” the former University of Arizona player said, “especially since the last round of the tournament will be played here (at Indian Wells).”

Asked if his 64 was his low competitive round on the tour, Gamez said: “Matter of fact, I think it is.”

Pavin is picking up where he left off Sunday in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, when he shot a 67 to tie for second place with Brian Claar.

“I was eight under the last two days at Pebble,” Pavin said. “I feel I’m striking the ball as well as I ever have.”

Pavin had eight birdies and one bogey in his round of 65. He chipped in from 50 feet for a birdie on the par-three 12th hole and had four birdie putts from 10 to 12 feet.

Strange didn’t win on the tour last year. He said he was mentally tired and lost some enthusiasm for the game. So he took time off.

“I’m just starting from scratch, and building on each week and taking something positive away each week,” Strange said.

Strange failed to retain his U.S. Open championship last year after winning in 1988 and ’89.

He wouldn’t use the pressure of trying to win a third consecutive Open as an excuse for his sub-standard season, when he failed to win a tournament for the first time since 1982.

“I was let down for a couple of weeks,” Strange said, referring to the Open. “However, if I had been playing decent when I came back, I would have survived pretty well. But when you’re not playing any good, you’re mentally not as tough as you normally are.

“I’m trying to build some momentum for the year, and this round helps.”

It was obviously a confidence builder for a lot of players. Consider: Fourteen golfers shot 68s, and they’re already four strokes behind the leader.

Tway said that the scores are lower here because the pros have been playing for five weeks. The tournament has been held earlier in the season in other years. “In the past, players have come here and it might have been their first start,” Tway said.

Whatever the reason, they’re off to a fast start in the desert.

Golf Notes

Defending champion Peter Jacobsen shot a two-under-par 70 on the Palmer Course and is six strokes behind. . . . Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela’s amateur team is tied for the lead at 17 under par. Valenzuela, a six-handicapper, shot a three-over-par 75 on the Palmer Course with five birdies and an eagle. . . . Two graduates of the Hogan Tour, Jim McGovern and Mike Springer, got off to a fast start with their 66s at Indian Wells. McGovern didn’t make the cut in the first four tournaments--Tucson, Hawaii, Phoenix and Pebble Beach. “I was struggling, but I have an excuse: The Giants were in the (NFL) playoffs and they’re my team,” said McGovern, who is a New Jersey native. “Last week was the first week I didn’t have an excuse for missing the cut.” . . . Springer, a former University of Arizona player, struggled early in the year, making only one cut, at Tucson. He said he was playing Indian Wells for the first time, which disputes theories that course knowledge is a prerogative for success.