Rest Is History for Lietzke as He Takes Lead in Desert

It was another grueling off-season for golfer Bruce Lietzke. Sure it was.

To begin with, he doesn’t believe in practicing. At all. And if he played any less, he’d be retired.

But that off-season, oh, it was brutal, Lietzke said.

“You can’t believe all the calluses on my hands. Must be from my fishin’ pole.”

This is from a guy who would install a recliner in his golf cart if he could figure out a way. Lietzke didn’t play a single round of golf from the time he won the Shark Shootout in November to this week’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where he’s the second-round leader.

The 46-year-old from Dallas shot his second consecutive seven-under 65, this one Thursday at perpetually cooperative Indian Wells, and finds himself with a one-shot lead as the Hope continued on its merry way toward its 90-hole conclusion Sunday.

Lietzke’s 36-hole score of 130 is 14-under par and one shot ahead of first-round leader Andrew Magee, who had a 68 at La Quinta and wasted no time saying what that meant.

“I’ve got 54 holes to play and anything can happen,” he said.

True enough, to be sure. Stewart Cink, who said the four Hope courses amount to a pliant foursome of resort courses, treated Indian Wells as such and put up a five-under 67 to move into a tie for third.

Cink and David Duval, who produced a 67 at La Quinta, are two shots behind Lietzke at 132. Bob Tway, P.H. Horgan III and Blaine McCallister are at 11 under and Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara, Scott Gump, Hal Sutton and Brad Fabel are 10 under.

Couples had reached 14 under at PGA West, but bogeyed four of the last five holes.

Lietzke is the 1981 Bob Hope champion, so he obviously knows his way around the desert courses even if his natural tendency is to avoid golf courses in general, given a choice.

Last year, Lietzke’s choice was to play in nine official events, only one after June 1. That means the Hope is Lietzke’s second tournament in more than seven months, so as far as off-seasons go, Lietzke measured the extent of his.

“I guess 1997 was my off-season, just about,” he said.

The reason Lietzke doesn’t play much any more is that he doesn’t want to. He’d rather spend time with his family and get ready for the Senior PGA Tour. But after two rounds here, Lietzke is performing as if he belongs right where he is.

His round started on the back at Indian Wells and was uneventful until he birdied No. 14, his fifth hole. Lietzke birdied the next two, then eagled No. 18 when he hit a three-wood second shot to 22 feet behind the hole, where he made the putt.

Now Lietzke plays the two so-called more difficult courses in the rotation--La Quinta and the Palmer Course at PGA West--so Magee is undoubtedly correct. Anything can happen.

Magee’s round would have been better except that he began each nine with a bogey.

“I started off a little scruffy, but I brought it back,” he said.

Duval’s round featured a streak of five consecutive birdies, but he wasn’t all that thrilled.

“I played mediocre,” he said. “I’m not quite as sharp as I want to be, but it’s close.”

Meanwhile, the birdie total continued to mount, which caused Magee to do some quick figuring. The winner might have to get to anywhere from 26 under to 29 under par, he said. That’s a lot of birdies, all right.

“I’m just trying to rack as many birdies as I can,” he said.

And so is everyone else.