Stewart Shoots 63, Takes Place With Leaders of Pack

With only one round left in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, there are about as many golfers with a chance to win as sand in a dune.

It has taken four days and 72 holes on four different golf courses, but there still are enough questions to fill a bunker, although they’re not quite as alarming as the clothes in Payne Stewart’s closet.

Can Stewart equal the 63 he shot at Indian Ridge, which moved him into a four-way tie for the lead?

Does he have any more red-and-black outfits like the one he wore Saturday, or do the palace guards in Monaco have them all?

Will John Huston wake up with a sudden surge in confidence? “I wouldn’t say I’ve been knocking the flag down on every hole,” he said.

Huston is only sitting on a score of 18-under-par 270 and tied for the lead with Stewart, Mark Brooks and Jeff Maggert.

The question for Maggert, who had a 64 at Tamarisk, is whether he is too hung up on making birdies to keep the pressure on. For Brooks, it’s whether he can mellow out a little bit when he’s tossed softball questions about holding off Stewart or Fred Couples.

“I don’t know if you’ve kept up, but they haven’t won every tournament they’ve played in,” said Brooks after his 67 at Indian Ridge.

And so it goes out here in the desert, where they’re finally going to divide up $1.3 million and settle this thing once and for all today at Indian Ridge.

Chances are it’s not going to be easy. Brooks, Huston, Stewart and Maggert are in the lead, but there are eight others within three shots.

Couples produced a 65 at Bermuda Dunes to get close at 271, which is what Nolan Henke starts at today, following his 69 at Indian Ridge.

Two shots behind the leaders are Brad Bryant, Jesper Parnevik and Paul Goydos, while Tom Kite, Fulton Allem and Jim Furyk are at 15-under 273.

Maggert must know about shooting low scores because he has four rounds in the 60s, but he is sort of unclear about what it will take today to win.

“I don’t know . . . a pretty good score,” he said.

That’s probably a good guess. Stewart’s 63 tied the course record at Indian Ridge, which Kenny Perry set last year on his way to winning the Hope. Stewart said he also can do that if he plays like, well, himself.

“I have to go out and play Payne Stewart’s golf game and see if that’s good enough,” he said. “Payne Stewart knows how to swing the golf club, hot to get the ball in the hole and how to win.”

Payne Stewart has made a few changes nonetheless.

He stuck a new wedge in his bag, took his one-iron out, put a loop back in his swing, went to teacher Dave Pelz and started his own line of clothes.

Add it up and you had a stirring combination Saturday. Stewart made no bogeys, hit 17 fairways, made five birdie putts that were 15 feet or longer and was generally thrilled with himself.

“I’m 18 under par, that’s great,” he said. “It’s better than being 14 under par and trying to catch them.”

That’s close to what Maggert thought was happening to him. He feared he was getting left behind after starting with six pars, but he birdied eight of the next 10 holes, and that improved his outlook.

“If you’re not shooting four or five under every day, you’re losing ground,” Maggert said. “You’re moving backward. You’ve got to make birdies out here because everybody else will be.”

Maggert is playing with a new set of irons, and Huston is playing Indian Ridge today for only the third time. He doesn’t count the other two times he saw the layout because he merely toured it in a golf cart.

Maybe that’s the way to win a golf tournament anyway. Whatever gets you there.