Final-round notebook – Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
* Mike Weir, 2003 champion, finished T3 this week, his first start of the 2009 season. Weir continues where he left off in 2008, when he posted top-10 finishes in six of his final eight starts. Weir also began the 2008 season on a high note with a fourth-place effort at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He went on to finish No. 6 in the FedExCup standings and No. 14 on the season money list, earning a career-best $3,020,135.* Pat Perez stuffed a 6-iron to within 3 feet, 1 inch from 199 yards on the final hole Sunday to wrap up his first PGA Tour win. Perez, playing in the final threesome, rolled in the eagle putt at the closing par-5 to wind up at 33-under par, three better than John Merrick, who earned his career-best finish.
* Pat Perez becomes the fifth player in the 50 years of the Bob Hope Classic to earn his first PGA Tour win in this event:
2009 Pat Perez 1st win 198th career start
2007 Charlie Hoffman 1st win 41st career start
1986 Donnie Hammond 1st of 2 87th career start
1980 Craig Stadler 1st of 13 106th career start
1978 Bill Rogers 1st of 6 68th career start
* Pat Perez joins a growing list of comeback winners in this event. Perez came from three strokes off the pace in the final round to reach the winner’s circle, joining several others in the past dozen years.
Year Winner After 72 Final day Result
2009 Pat Perez trailed by 3 shot 69 won by 3
2008 D.J. Trahan trailed by 4 shot 65 won by 3
2007 Charley Hoffman trailed by 4 shot 71 won playoff over John Rollins
2005 Justin Leonard trailed by 2 shot 67 won by 3
2003 Mike Weir trailed by 4 shot 67 won by 2
2002 Phil Mickelson trailed by 4 shot 64 won playoff over David Berganio, Jr.
2000 Jesper Parnevik trailed by 2 shot 65 won by 1
1999 David Duval trailed by 7 shot 59 won by 1
1998 Fred Couples trailed by 3 shot 66 won playoff over Bruce Lietzke
1997 John Cook trailed by 3 shot 63 won by 1
* Low rounds of the day:
63 Stephen Ames
64 Chad Campbell, Matt Kuchar
65 Brad Adamonis, Nick Watney
* Steve Stricker’s 5-over-par 77 Sunday ties the second-highest final-round score by a 72-hole leader in Tournament history. The highest final-round score by a leader/co-leader was an 80 turned in by Lucas Glover, who held a share of the lead in 2007 before posting an 8-over 80 at the Classic Club. Co-leader Billy Casper also posted a 77 in 1962
* When Tournament leader Steve Stricker made a triple-bogey at No. 7 Sunday, it halted his bogey-free streak at 45 holes. Stricker’s last hiccup had come on the 15th hole at SilverRock in round two. He then negotiated the third and fourth rounds without a bogey.
* Sunday’s windy conditions turned the otherwise benign Palmer Private course into a much different layout. Below are the scoring conditions for each of the five rounds at the host course:
Wednesday 67.469
Thursday 68.781
Friday 67.406
Saturday 68.031
Sunday 70.351
* Biggest movers on the final day:
Player Started Shot Finished Moved UP
Matt Kuchar T68 64 T25 43 spots
Stephen Ames T45 63 T4 41
Chad Campbell T45 64 T9 36
Nick Watney T60 65 T25 35
Brad Adamonis T39 65 T9 30
Brian Gay T45 66 T18 27
* Players who were bogey-free on the final day:
64 Matt Kuchar
66 Brian Gay
* Stephen Ames must love the California desert. Ames, who has earned $1,515,000 in his last three starts in the LG Skins game (winner in 2006, 2007), shot a 9-under 63 Sunday. His day included a pair of eagles on par-5s (Nos. 11 and 2) to vault him up the leaderboard. Ames wound up at 27-under par 333 and T4.
* Rookie Webb Simpson is off to an impressive start in 2009. The 23-year old Wake Forest graduate posted a final-round 69 Sunday to finish T4, his second straight top-10 finish. Simpson rolled in a short birdie putt on the final hole, which added an additional $54,570 to his pocket. Simpson, who played on the 2008 Nationwide Tour, wound up T9 at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Simpson earned $192,270 this week and is currently No. 12 on the money list.
* Scott Piercy saw his bogey-free steak in this event end Sunday. The 30-year old rookie suffered a bogey on the 5th hole, stopping his streak at 76 holes. Piercy was the only player in the field to negotiate each of the first four rounds without a bogey.
* John Mallinger recorded the third ace of the week during Sunday’s final round. Mallinger used a 5-iron on the 183-yard, 3rd hole for his hole-in-one. John Senden and Briny Baird registered aces earlier in the week.
* Cameron Beckman’s 6-under 66 featured only four pars Sunday. Beckman had nine birdies, three bogeys, one eagle and one double-bogey.
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