Former Teacher Goes to Head of Class

Paul Goydos is a former junior high substitute teacher from Long Beach who has never finished higher than seventh on the PGA Tour. He had never led a tournament on the big tour . . . until Thursday.

Yes, there is no substitute for golf, a strange and wild ride across fairways and greens, sand and water, where new names produce unexpected results. Which is where Goydos comes in.

Your 36-hole leader in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is a 31-year-old former math and physical education teacher who recorded his only pro victory in the 1992 Ben Hogan Yuma Open on what is now the Nike Tour.

Goydos put up a brisk 64 at Tamarisk, a career-best score that propelled him into an unfamiliar position. Usually, the only thing Goydos led was the multiplication tables back in the Long Beach Unified School District.

“You’re shaping young minds,” Goydos said of his teaching experience. “Not that I did any of that.”

Anyway, Goydos has put up rounds of 69-64 for 133, 11 under par, which gives him a one-shot lead over Brian Kamm and Mark Brooks. Tied for fourth are John Adams and Mark Calcavecchia at nine-under 135.

Think about it: Goydos, Kamm and Brooks. It may sound more like a law firm or mime troupe, but it’s actually the leading group in this $1.3-million tournament.

For marquee value, you have to go a little deeper. Former U.S. Open champions Tom Kite and Payne Stewart are in a pack of six at eight-under 136, three shots behind Goydos.

It took Goydos two trips to qualifying school, but he is beginning his fourth year on the PGA Tour and he has earned a reputation as a worker. Goydos plays nearly every week and made it to 35 tournaments last season, when he managed to keep his card by winning $33,462 in his last two tournaments.

But it wasn’t a good year for him, Goydos said.

“I stunk,” he said. “I lost my confidence and I lost my patience. I played a lot of events and they started tumbling together.”

The key to Goydos’ round Thursday was that the ball kept tumbling into the hole. He had six birdies and an eagle on the 482-yard, par-five No. 1, his 10th hole.

Goydos nailed a four-wood and got the ball to stop eight feet from the hole. Then he rolled it in for the eagle and the lead.

“It’s never bad to be leading,” he said. “Not that I know of, anyway.”

Brooks had a 68 at Tamarisk that would have been better without the bogey on the last hole, where he missed an eight-footer for par.

Then again, it could have been worse. His drive on the par-five fourth hole hit the cart path twice, but stayed inbounds. Brooks punched the ball back out to the fairway, pitched to four feet and made a birdie.

“That’s golf,” Brooks said.

And so it is. Kamm played at Indian Ridge and shot 68, matching his first-round score. He closed with a birdie after having bogeyed the preceding hole.

“That puts me in a good frame of mind,” he said.

It also puts him in decent position to make a run at his first tournament victory in nine years on the PGA Tour.

Kamm’s swing, which he has entrusted to golf guru David Leadbetter, ran sort of hot and cold Thursday. In fact, it reminded him of something.

“A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde swing,” he said.

As for his putting, Kamm got a tip from his caddie, who told him he was crouching too much.

“He told me to stand taller,” said the 5-foot-6 Kamm.

It must have worked. The only player who stood taller than Kamm was Goydos, who was matter-of-fact about his position in the 90-hole tournament, even if it was something new to him.

“It’s like being the first-round leader in a normal tournament,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s leading now. What matters is who’s leading after 90 holes.”

It almost sounds as if he’s been there before.