Simpson, O’Meara Tie for Two-Stroke Lead : Golf: Each has a 66 to go to 19 under par in Hope Classic. McCallister is in third after a record-tying 63.

Tim Simpson said he wouldn’t be surprised if the eventual winner of the Bob Hope Classic finishes 30 under par.

Blaine McCallister figured that 27 under par could be good enough to win. Mark O’Meara liked McCallister’s figure. In any event, an “ordinary” 68 or 69 won’t keep pace in this tournament. The pros say the four courses are in excellent condition, contributing to the low scores.

Simpson shot a six-under-par 66 at Indian Wells Friday, a round matched by O’Meara at La Quinta. They are 19 under par and tied for the lead at 197 after 54 holes.

McCallister shot a 63 at La Quinta, tying the course record set there Thursday by Rocco Mediate, and is two strokes behind the leaders.

Corey Pavin and Fred Couples are also in contention at 16 under par. Couples shot an eight-under-par 64 at the Palmer Course at PGA West.

“I’m 17 under (par) and two shots behind,” McCallister said. “What do you have to do to win the tournament? If you don’t shoot the pants off here, you’re going to get run over.”

O’Meara was not run over by some pushy spectators in a golf cart, but he was obviously disturbed by them when he approached the 13th tee.

“Two members in a cart came up and parked right behind the ropes. I thought, ‘That’s fine if you’re having a beer and playing with the members out there.’

“But this isn’t a college tournament, or an amateur tournament. It’s a professional golf tournament. I thought to myself, ‘I should say something. If they want to watch, they should walk like everybody else.’ But I didn’t say anything. If I said something, it’s like here’s this pro complaining again.

“Just that little thought process might have had something to do with a poor tee shot. But I didn’t say anything to them.”

O’Meara hooked his tee shot out of bounds on No. 13 and wound up with a bogey.

He then decided not to play another hole until officials got the carts off the course. He even had his caddy tell cart drivers to back off. O’Meara said the carts thinned out a bit until he reached the 18th tee.

After he hit his tee shot, he looked behind him, and sure enough, a man in a golf cart was right behind him on the fairway.

“I thought, ‘What are you doing back there?’ So then he moved over to another part of the fairway,” O’Meara said.

O’Meara, who is usually even-tempered, compared the presence of the carts to reporters trying to write while someone was looking over their shoulders.

“It’s a very tough game . . . it takes a lot of concentration, and there’s a lot of money on the line,” O’Meara said. “Certain guys can handle (distractions) better than other guys, and I handle it pretty good. But today was the borderline.

“I just want people to understand that we’re not playing a club championship, or a shootout at a men’s stag. We’re playing a professional tournament.”

And it’s some shootout. If anyone winds up at 30 under par in the 90-hole tournament that concludes Sunday, it would be a record score.

The record for the tournament is 27 under par, by Mike Souchak, Ben Hogan, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler and Greg Norman.

Simpson suggested that he might have had an even better round, saying he is playing to only about 80% of his potential.

“I left four shots out there,” Simpson said. “I’ve had some success here because I drive the ball straight and I’m a good iron player, but I missed some birdie putts today.”

As it was, he had six birdies without a bogey.

McCallister had seven birdies and an eagle during his round of 63. And he barely missed an eagle on the par-five, 492-yard fifth hole when his putt lipped out.

Golf Notes

Blaine McCallister won the Vines Invitational in Australia two weeks ago and got some bonus money. Through legal betting in Australia, he bet on himself at 33 to 1 odds. He won the tournament to get $98,000 in American money and picked up and an extra $17,500 from the bookies, he said. . . Corey Pavin, who shot a 66 at Bermuda Dunes, is looking forward to the final round Sunday at Indian Wells. “I love the course. “It’s very similar to courses that I grew up on,” said the former UCLA player. . . Mark O’Meara’s highest score after 54 holes is 66.

Jim McGovern, a rookie and graduate of the Ben Hogan tour, stayed in contention by shooting a 69 at La Quinta for a 54-hole total of 202. “If you shoot five 69s here, it will get you (only) in the top 20,” McGovern said, referring to the routine subpar scores. McGovern said he’s playing with Nolan Henke, the Phoenix Open winner, today at Bermuda Dunes. “Nothing bothers him,” McGovern said. “He can shoot the most boring 67s”.