Hoch Thinks 59, Settles for 63 : Golf: He was going after a $500,000 bonus after making the turn in 29 at La Quinta.

Scott Hoch got greedy. There was no getting around it, and he didn’t try to deny it.

His thoughts were on a $500,000 bonus instead of his position in the fourth round of the 90-hole Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Players don’t tend to apologize after shooting 63 or tying a course record, but Hoch said he felt like he had a lump in his throat playing his last six holes at La Quinta Country Club, where his 63 tied the course record set by Rocco Mediate on Thursday and equaled by Blaine McCallister on Friday.

Hoch’s mistake was thinking about the bonus ($500,000 to charity, $500,000 to the player) being offered by Hilton Hotel for breaking 60 in a PGA Tour event.

“It’s hard not to think about it,” Hoch said. “You make $500,000 in one day and it can carry you a long way.”

It’s also difficult not thinking about it after making the turn in 29 and getting birdies on two of the next three holes.

“Nine under through 12 holes is pretty strong,” Hoch said. “And I was coming up to a par-five hole. I had thoughts of shooting in the 50s. I knew that I needed at least a birdie on the par-five and a few more over the last five holes, which are among the most difficult on the course.”

After a decent drive on the 508-yard 13th hole, Hoch decided against a safe four-wood and went for the green with a three-wood. The shot landed in a bunker and he wound up taking a par on the hole.

“That really hurt,” Hoch said. “I hit the three-wood because I wanted to have a chance at an eagle. That might have taken some of the pressure off the final holes because it would have meant one less birdie.”

Hoch could have set a course record with one more birdie, but that never entered his mind.

He was still intent on shooting as low a number as possible and felt the pressure trying to do it with holes running out.

“For the first 13 holes, there was no wind and conditions were perfect,” Hoch said. “Then I started feeling it on the last five holes and it made those holes that much tougher.”

Trying to get extra distance on the 435-yard 14th hole, Hoch hit a driver into the rough and had to scramble to save par. Normally he would have hit a three-wood.

He also had to chip back and save par at the 15th after hitting his second shot over the green. That ended any realistic chance of breaking 60.

“Something that hurt me was failing to get birdies on any of the par-five holes,” said Hoch, who neglected to add that it didn’t hurt that he did get an eagle on one of them.

“As well as I played today, I think I played better at Indian Wells (Thursday) when I shot a 64,” he said. “I hit the cup seven times that day without the ball going in the hole. I must have set a record for lip-outs this week.”

Hoch’s 63 moved him into contention at 20-under-par 268. He is four strokes off the lead of Mark O’Meara after starting the day trailing by eight.

Hoch didn’t start fast. He parred the first two holes and had no indication he was about to play the next 10 holes in nine under.

He started his run with birdie putts of 12 and six feet at the third and fourth holes, then reached the 492-yard fifth hole on his second shot with a four-wood and made a 20-foot eagle putt.

Hoch missed the sixth green, but chipped close enough to save par, then had three more birdies to make the turn in 29.

“That’s when it hits you,” Hoch said, indicating the rarity of a 29, even on a desert course.

Hoch then birdied the 10th by rolling in a 20-foot putt but came away disappointed at the 11th, a par-five, when his third shot was 30 feet from the pin and he had to settle for a par.

But he birdied the 12th with a four-foot putt, setting up his adventure at the 13th hole.