Durant’s 61 a Cut Above at the Hope

Joe Durant, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour who failed to make the cut in three previous tries at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, shot an 11-under-par 61 in the second round Thursday to take a three-stroke lead.

Normally a 61 is something to get excited about, but in the Hope it is almost routine.

Bob Tway, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Billy Mayfair shot 62 Thursday.

Those are the kinds of scores you get when you play in ideal weather conditions on four courses that are relatively short, have virtually no rough and have immaculate fairways and greens.

“You figure you’d better shoot at least six under each day to get anywhere close,” Tway said.

Chris Smith, who was on the Buy.com Tour last year, put together rounds of 65 and 64 and trails Durant by three shots. Smith is alone in second at 129, with Tway, Jimenez and Mark Calcavecchia another stroke back.

Calcavecchia had a 66 Thursday despite a four-putt double bogey on No. 3.

“Statistically, it was a three-putt,” he said, “but I was about two inches off the front fringe and hit it four times with my putter. So I consider that a four-jack.”

His putt off the fringe still left him a 20-footer, which he sent four feet past the hole. He yanked the next one and had to make a three-footer to save double bogey.

Double bogeys are bigger news here than eagles and birdies.

Asked how he kept a positive frame of mind after that, Calcavecchia said, “You’ve got to remember, we are playing Indian Wells, not Southern Hills [site of this year’s U.S. Open].

“I just said to myself, ‘I’m swinging great, I’m putting great. I’m going to make a bunch of birdies.’ ”

He made eight over the next 15 holes.

Durant, 36, finished his round with six birdies in a row. His 61 at Indian Wells tied the course record and his 126 total, 18 under par, is a Hope record for 36 holes.

The 61 didn’t come totally out of the blue. He also had a 61 in January in the pro-am at the Tucson Open.

“Everybody was giving me hell because I shot it on Wednesday,” he said.

But Durant said that 61 gave him momentum.

“I think it paid off for me today because I got it going and I kept it going,” he said. “If a pro-am can help you, I think that Wednesday in Tucson helped me today.”

Durant’s group, which started this five-round tournament Wednesday at La Quinta before playing Indian Wells on Thursday, plays the Arnold Palmer course at PGA West today and Bermuda Dunes on Saturday.

The pros who make the 72-hole cut play the Palmer course Sunday.

Asked how he could go from not making the cut in three previous tries here to being the second-round leader, Durant said, “You tell me. I have no idea.

“I think the one thing that hurt me in the past is that oftentimes it’s been one of the first tournaments of the year. I take a lot of time off in November and December.”

Durant, a three-time NAIA All-American at Huntingdon College in Alabama, turned pro in 1987 but played in only one PGA event. He didn’t make it back to the PGA Tour until 1993 and won the Western Open in 1998. He has also had only one victory on the Buy.com tour.

He got off to a good start on the PGA Tour in 1999 but was injured throwing a duffel bag during the pro-am at Pebble Beach that year. At first he thought it was a pulled muscle, but it was later diagnosed as a broken hip.

He finished out of the top 100 in 1999, and last year was only 76th in money earnings despite ranking second in driving accuracy and greens reached in regulation. But the putting stroke and short game weren’t there, and his best finish was fifth in the Tampa Bay Classic.

Now he has put together a 65 and a 61 in conditions he calls unbelievable.

“I have never seen it,” he said. “My caddie, Pablo, and I were commenting earlier this week, the courses are just immaculate.

“I have never seen the greens as consistent as they are. I played La Quinta [Wednesday] and the greens were excellent. Indian Wells was in beautiful shape. It was almost like playing in a dome. There was virtually no wind.”