Everyone stays low and dry in desert

It was your typical third round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where birdies were as prevalent as desert cactus, Robert Gamez dipped to 18 under with a 67 for a one-shot lead and someone threw a scare into the rest of the field.

Boo.

That would be Boo Weekley, whose 10-under-par 62 at PGA West catapulted him from a tie for 34th place into fourth.

And, yes, he’s the same fellow who made a boo-boo while going through airport security on his way to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago when he forgot there were a couple of rifle bullets in his carry-on bag, left over from a hunting trip.

Weekley enjoys shooting birdies around this place and he really likes it in the desert, except the air is so dry he has nosebleeds in the morning. He said he doesn’t have nosebleeds back home in Jay, Fla.

“Not unless somebody hits me,” Weekley said.

As it turned out, the golf courses were the ones getting hit pretty hard on a warm, windless Friday. Gamez said he could have gone at least four shots lower and was surprised his five under didn’t drop him like a stone.

Scores at all four of the courses were lower than the second round, but drastically lower at the Palmer Course at PGA West, which played to an average of 68.41 -- 2 1/2 shots easier than Thursday. Of course, Weekley’s 11-birdie, one-bogey day helped those numbers.

At 18-under 198, Gamez is just a step ahead of Justin Leonard and D.J. Trahan. Leonard turned in a five-under 67 at PGA West, and Trahan, who began the day sharing the lead with Gamez, had a four-under 68 at La Quinta.

Weekley is three shots back at 15 under after his rounds of 69-70-62.

Anthony Kim moved into a tie for fifth with a 67 at SilverRock. The 22-year-old who went to La Quinta High is at 13-under, along with Tim Petrovic, Kenny Perry and Steve Elkington.

There are still 36 holes left in the Hope, which is plenty of time for a bunch of birdies. And that’s what it’s going to take to win the 49th edition of the tournament, which is shaping up as a near carbon copy of the previous 48.

Everyone understands the way it works. Birdies are best, pars are acceptable (but not on par fives) and bogeys are bigger no-nos than ever.

Gamez, who made two bogeys, came right back with birdies on the next hole both times, so he felt all right about that.

Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, Gamez is in his 18th Hope and shot a 60 in the third round of the 2004 event, at Indian Wells. So he knows how to go low.

Gamez, who turns 40 in July, also knows what it feels like when there’s no chance of going low, when his game has been stuck. He went 15 years between victories, from 1990 until he won the Valero Texas Open in 2005, with injuries to his hand, neck and back from a 1998 car wreck slowing him for nearly four years.

“I didn’t know if I was ever going to recover from that,” he said.

The last two years, Gamez has been out of the top 125 on the money list and that’s a circumstance he’d prefer to change for good. He was 132nd last year.

“It’s brutal,” he said. “I didn’t want to play all seven events at the end of the year, but I had to. It’s tough when you’re struggling a little bit.

“Sometimes you just think you’re going to play your way out of it, but then you get scared of taking a couple weeks off.”

Leonard has 11 PGA Tour victories and won the Hope in 2005 when he reached 28 under par. But he fell to a career low 109th on the money list in 2006 before rebounding last year, thanks to five top 10s and a victory at the Valero Texas Open.

Reunited with swing coach Randy Smith, Leonard said he’s just doing what comes naturally again, and it showed Friday.

“I think I hit everything on the button,” he said.

The 1997 British Open champion at 25, Leonard said he isn’t that far off from his form of that time.

“I feel like I’m as close now as I have been in a long time,” he said. “I’m playing with confidence, I like the way I’m rolling the ball, I don’t have a lot of swing thoughts, so the game, I’m just trying to make it as simple as possible.”

That’s the same thing Weekley is trying to do. The golf has been fine, it’s just the desert air is getting to him.

“I’m a little chafed,” he said. “It’s just a little dry for me. I like it a little more humidity.”

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thomas.bonk@latimes.com