Pregnant Pause in Parnevik Schedule

It’s time for roll call at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where David Duval, Fred Couples, Justin Leonard and Jose Maria Olazabal are among the headliners who will tee it up in the 90-hole event that begins today.

Meanwhile, who’s not here: Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson . . . and now Jesper Parnevik.

Woods, Love and Mickelson didn’t put the Hope on their schedules and planned to sit this one out, but Parnevik joined them Tuesday night.

Instead of playing a practice round Tuesday, the defending champion was at home with his wife in Jupiter, Fla., waiting for the birth of the couple’s fourth child.

Mia Parnevik was expected to deliver last week when Parnevik was off, the week between events at Pebble Beach and the Hope, but that’s not the way it worked out. Parnevik, who had a private plane ready, waited until 9 p.m. EST to decide he couldn’t leave his wife without the baby being born.

“It just got to the point where he ran out of time,” said Andy Pierce of IMG. “He was very concerned for the tournament and for the alternate.”

Cameron Beckmann took Parnevik’s place in the field. Parnevik had a 9:56 a.m. tee time at Bermuda Dunes in a group that included pitcher Roger Clemens and actor John O’Hurley. So, for the first time in 42 years of the tournament, the reigning champion will not return to defend his title.

“I’ve been part of the birth of my three daughters, and I want to be a part of this too,” Parnevik said. “I guess the baby is happy where it is for the time being.”

There are 128 players in the pro field, including three winners this year. Jim Furyk (Mercedes), Mark Calcavecchia (Phoenix) and Brad Faxon (Honolulu) decided to put the Hope on their schedules. Chances are, it’s going to be the usual grind of five days, 90 holes, four courses, celebrities, 384 amateurs, slow play.

The Palmer Course at PGA West is the home course for the $3.5-million tournament, which pays $630,000 to the winner. The other courses in the rotation are Indian Wells Country Club, La Quinta Country Club and Bermuda Dunes.

Duval won in 1999, the last time the host course was the Palmer. On the last round that Sunday, Duval shot a 59, which matched the lowest 18-hole score in PGA Tour history. In 1993, the previous Hope when the Palmer Course was the host course, Tom Kite’s 90-hole score of 325, 35 under par, set a tour record.

Duval took last week off after missing the cut in his previous two events, at Phoenix and Pebble Beach. He said it is “no big deal” visiting the Palmer Course again.

“I have no special feelings about it,” Duval said. “I just need to play well again, that’s all, no matter where it is.”

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Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

* Site: La Quinta.

* Courses: PGA West, Arnold Palmer Private Course (6,950 yards, par 72), Bermuda Dunes Country Club (6,829 yards, par 71), La Quinta Country Club (7,060 yards, par 72) and Indian Wells Country Club (6,478 yards, par 72).

* Purse: $3.5 million. Winner’s share: $630,000.

* Television: ESPN (today, 1-3 p.m.; Thursday-Friday, noon-3 p.m.) and Channel 7 (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

* Last year: Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik birdied the final hole for a one-stroke victory over South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini.

* On the Net: https://www.pgatour.com.