With No More Excuses, Hoch Has Hope : Golf: Non-winner since 1989 fires a 62 to take a three-shot lead over Clearwater after two rounds in the desert.

By FRED ROBLEDO

Feb. 18, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

INDIAN WELLS —

There must be something about the desert air. Apparently, anything is possible on the four courses used in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, especially if you throw a little rain into the mix.

Thursday, a day after Hal Sutton shot 63, his best round in three years, Scott Hoch shot his lifetime best, a 10-under-par 62 on the Palmer Course at PGA West to equal the record Tom Kite set last year in the final round.

Hoch’s 36-hole total of 16-under-par 128 is a Hope record, breaking the mark of 129 set by Craig Stadler in 1983, but falls a stroke short of the PGA Tour record of 17 under par set by Robert Gamez at Milwaukee in 1991.

Not even a Keith Clearwater revival was enough to stay close to Hoch on a cloudy day. Clearwater, who says he has been golf’s angry man for the last five years, was at peace at Indian Wells with a 64 that left him at 131, three strokes behind Hoch.

Jodie Mudd, who won the Players Championship in 1990 but has done little since because he devotes much of his time to raising thoroughbreds in his native Kentucky, shot a 66 at Indian Wells and is third at 132.

Hoch was quick to put it all into perspective.

“Tom Kite set his record on the final day,” Hoch said. “His was to win. We still have three more rounds to play. This is like being the leader after the first round.”

Hoch knows that a three-stroke lead after two rounds is less important in a 90-hole event. He’s just happy with his game.

He hasn’t played well since having shoulder surgery in 1992, but no longer blames it on the operation.

“My shoulder has been fine for a while, but my game has not,” Hoch said. “I had to mentally learn how to play again.”

Hoch knows a little bit about mental recoveries.

He received a pretty stiff jolt in the 1989 Masters, where he missed a two-foot putt on the first playoff hole that would have given him the victory. Nick Faldo won it on the next hole.

Hoch won the Las Vegas Invitational in a playoff a few weeks later.

That was his last victory.

“I could have used the shoulder surgery as an excuse for about a year. It takes a while to heal,” he said. “There was some detached cartilage in there that had to be reattached.”

Hoch had lost some power, but has since increased his strength with daily workouts.

“I don’t have excuses now,” he said. “It’s nice to be playing well again.”

Clearwater has had a different problem. He hasn’t always reacted well when he wasn’t playing well.

“There have been times when I wouldn’t have wanted to play with somebody who acted like me,” said Clearwater, whose two tour victories came in his rookie season of 1987.

The change in his attitude occurred when he took on John Sullivan as his caddie.

“He is absolutely great for me,” Clearwater said. “He has worked for (Jack) Nicklaus and (Johnny) Miller, and he knows what he’s doing. He told me he wanted to work for me because he saw some potential and wanted to help me.

“What he has done for me is help me concentrate on the present and to forget everything else. If you get mad after a bad shot, it can hurt you for several holes after that. And if you’re playing well, sometimes you start thinking ahead and don’t fully concentrate on each shot.

“Now, the only thing I focus on is my shot. And after I hit it, I chase it and get on with the next shot. I know it sounds simple, and it is, but it helps to have somebody out there to help you make the right decisions.”

Golf Notes

Scott Hoch opened his round by missing a 3 1/2-foot putt, but went on to make nine birdies, an eagle and one bogey. “It was as easy as a 62 could be,” he said. “I was in danger of making only one bogey, and I made it.” . . . Keith Clearwater had the best streak of the day. Starting at the second hole, he birdied five in a row, bogeyed the seventh, then birdied the next four. He had one more birdie, at the 15th, then finished with a bogey. . . . Hal Sutton, the first-round leader, followed his 63 with a 70 and is five strokes behind with five others at 133. . . . Defending champion Tom Kite shot a 70 at La Quinta and is tied with eight others at 142. . . . Los Angeles Open champion Corey Pavin, a two-time Hope winner, shot a 69 at La Quinta but is far behind at 140.

Scores

36-hole scores from the $1.1-million Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at Indian Wells.

LEADERSPlayer: Score

Scott Hoch: 66-62--128

Keith Clearwater: 67-64--131

Jodie Mudd: 66-66--132

Paul Stankowski: 67-66--133

Doug Martin: 67-66--133

Hal Sutton: 63-70--133

Jim Gallagher: 66-67--133

Guy Boros: 66-67--133

Bob Burns: 67-66--133