Snedeker’s 61 doesn’t feel real

Brandt Snedeker shot an 11-under 61 Thursday on the North Course at Torrey Pines and leads the Buick Invitational by two shots after shooting a nine-under 27 on his a front nine. He said it felt like a video game.

“The only time I’ve been nine under through nine is playing Tiger Woods on PlayStation,” he said. “I’ve never even sniffed it being that low.”

A 26-year-old rookie from Tennessee who won the 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, Snedeker made the jump from the Nationwide Tour after finishing ninth on the 2006 money list and is in his first year on the PGA Tour.

His previous career low was 62 on the Nationwide Tour last year, but he started thinking about history with a 59 when he made the turn.

“I tried to tee the ball up ... and the ball fell out of my hand I was shaking so bad,” he said. “That’s when I knew I had a chance.”

He missed short birdie putts on his 12th and 13th holes, then gave up the dream.

But what about his dream of holding his lead for three more days and ending Woods’ string of six PGA Tour victories?

“I can’t even beat him on PlayStation,” Snedeker said. “I don’t even want to think about beating him out here.”

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Charlie Wi, a Westlake High graduate who said he has played “every tour in the world” and has nine worldwide victories, is in second place after shooting 63.

Wi played college golf at California and won the 1995 Pacific 10 Conference championship, beating, among others, Woods, who was playing at Stanford.

“I didn’t beat him that many times,” Wi said. “I think I beat him once.”

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Phil Mickelson shot two-over 74 on the South Course, a round that included a double bogey on the par-four 14th.

“It was a struggle for me, obviously,” Mickelson said. “The course was there to be had. There were a lot of hard holes and hard pins, but there were also a lot of birdie holes. With the weather being perfect, you expect to go low. I just didn’t.”

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Parker McLachlin used a six-iron to make a hole in one on the 198-yard third hole on the South Course. He shot 70.... David Duval, who made only 11 of 24 cuts last year and has only two top-20 finishes the last three years, had nine birdies and shot 66 on the North Course. The nine birdies tied three others for the most on Thursday.

peter.yoon@latimes.com