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By Brett Avery
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

Editor's note: Brett Avery, PGATOUR.com's Fantasy Insider, is going to do a live blog direct from the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic this week. Check back frequently throughout the day for his next entry.

All times are pacific.

New tournament host George Lopez has his own name for this weekend's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

• Mickelson 'can't wait to get started' • Leaderboard • Explore The Course • Tournament Central

4:02 p.m.
Beautiful First Day
All in all a good first day here at the Hope. The weather turned around nicely, making for an ideal afternoon. The celebrities didn't rip Bermuda Dunes into shreds but the eventual winning pro-am team will have to do that here. After seeing this place during year after year of Hope telecasts, it's a pleasant experience to walk the property (even if too much time was spent thumbing on this tiny keyboard). Bermuda Dunes has that comfortable feel, like a favorite pair of slippers. It doesn't have the muscle of other courses in the valley but then everyone needs a breather in this busy week. That's not a knock but a note of affection for a place that has served this tournament well for nearly half a century. Finally got to a leaderboard after about three hours. Robert Allenby is 11 under through 17 holes at La Quinta, where the celebs play tomorrow. The team lead is 15 under, none of those three teams from Bermuda Dunes. Enjoy your Wednesday night. See you Thursday bright and early (Pacific time) at La Quinta.

3:29 p.m.
Idol Security
Celebrities have been all over Bermuda Dunes, wading into the galleries to give autographs and pose for photos. Can someone please explain why the only burly security guard on the property -- identifiable by the eight-inch-high letters on the back of his windbreaker -- is shadowing American Idol winner Taylor Hicks? Please.

3:18 p.m.
Rockin' Out
Note to self: Spend time tomorrow with amateur team 31 (Taylor Hicks, Scott Hamilton, Alice Cooper). May be the only time in golf-writing career to put groupies and stilettos in a sentence.

3:04 p.m.
Blimp Landing
There goes the blimp, setting slowly in the West. GOLF CHANNEL has completed work for another day.

2:56 p.m.
Fashion Police III
And in case you're keeping track, Kernen has a Baltusrol logo on his turtleneck, a Hope tournament logo on his sweater, a Netjets cap and tournament bag. That proves his life doesn't revolve entirely around medical companies.

2:42 p.m.
Fashion Police II
Check that: Poulter's pants have a small stripe of lilac and another of cobalt blue. That's the type of touch that doubles the cost of a pair of trousers.

2:35 p.m.
Fashion Police I
The person who did the pairings did no favors for Joe Kernen of CNBC. His pro, Poulter, is (for him) tastefully understated in white shirt and blue-checked slacks. Huey Lewis has shiny green pants, lime shirt and orange hat. Clothes designer Mossimo Giannulli has grey slacks, a black sweater with horizontal stripes and two-toned shoes. Kernen is in his discount-store finest: khaki slacks, dark blue turtleneck and sweater and blah black shoes. And the stock editor known as "The Hair" has a brown visor matting down those locks. Wardrobe, please get him a makeover before tomorrow. Another one-group wait at the fourth tee, a par 3. The boys spend it discussing the lack of portable toilets, the women in the gallery and Sasha Baron Cohen's "Borat" movie and deconstructing his commencement speech as Ali G. Just like the rest of us.

2:32 p.m.
Bundled Up
Backtracking to the Ian Poulter group at the third and just passed a woman wearing fur-lined boots, a fur jacket, leather gloves and warm pants. It's about 65 this afternoon. Someone needs to tell her this week all the ice storm people are in Texas, not California.

2:06 p.m.
Freestyle Golf
Cut over to the ninth to pick up Corey Pavin's team, sitting third on the board at 11 under. The celebrity is Toby Dawson, who won the only U.S. medal in freestyle skiing at the Turin Olympic Games (bronze). Dawson is listed as a 9 but shows far more composure at the end of the round. He has that athletic nature you'd expect from someone who hurtles down a mountain on slats of composite material. Dawson's only played for three years but seriously only for the year (not even) since Turin. He received a set of Cleveland clubs from ski company Rossignol, as a bonus following the Olympics, and saw his first competition in the pro-am last year in the LPGA event in Kingsmill, Va. Since then he's played more than 100 rounds, more than halving a 20 handicap. "I was a lot more nervous today because my game's so much better," he said after narrowly missing a birdie-putt at the last. "I try to play 27 a day. Before I couldn't play as much because I was training in the Southern Hemisdphere."

1:54 p.m.
New Hope in Lopez
There's a sign hanging from the roof of a home left of the eighth green: There's a new Hope in George. Popular sentiment in this town, which keeps that small-town flavor no matter who is here. It's a week of transition for another reason: the recent death of former President Ford, who was a mainstay in the Coachella Valley. U.S. Flags fly in many yards around Bermuda Dunes and they're all lowered in his memory.

1:35 p.m.
Not a Teflon Don
For those folks who watch stock car races for the wrecks, Don Cheadle is well worth the price of admission.

He has the lean build of a guy who shoots in the 60s, but his swing is all wrong. The backswing puts the clubhead around so far it's level with his left elbow, like he's trying to out-twist a young Phil Mickelson. he then tugs the grip too hard coming down toiward the ball, as if he's watched too many John Daly highlights.

The consequences lead one to believe his 15 handicap is as true as someone who drops 20 pounds from their announced weight.

What he needs is an hour with Burt Rutan, a science primer underscoring that a ball that weighs less than two ounces will be readily propelled if struck properly by an adult.

That, or one of those gizmos that prevents him from overswinging.

Cheadle's frustration gets the best of him at the par-4 second. His drive barely reaches the fairway and his second slices near a retaining wall beneath a home. Lucky to have an open corridor between trees, he slaps the ball dead right, OB. He shouts a word or two of displeasure and tries to throw his wedge in disgust, but flings it half-heartedly about three yards.

He's seen better days.

1:12 p.m.
This'll be good
And then all hell breaks loose on the front nine.

Both Cheech Marin and Don Cheadle smack their drives at the first tee into a towering eucalyptus tree less than 100 yards off the tee. They're both 15s, they each swing for the fences and they're erratic as hell.

This should be fun.

Marin is in the left rough, almost back to the 18th fairway, content to advance the ball with a fairway wood. As he begins turning his shoulders back, though, someone's second from the 18th dribbles past his eyes. He composes himself and bunts it back into play.

Cheadle takes four lunges at the ball to get within 100 yards of the hole only to rifle his fifth over the green and into someone's yard.

No problem, guys. Your am stalwart is Andy Garcia, who makes a solid 4 from the front fringe. Garcia looks the part of a touring pro, circa 1950: straw porkpie, salmon sweater over white shirt, a blush of tan in his slacks and two-tone leather shoes. By comparison their pro, Dean Wilson, looks drab in yellow shirt and black slacks.

12:32 p.m.
Back in contention
The football guys reach the turn as the leaderboard shows team 33 (first off the front nine at La Quinta) at 10 under. Sharpe reaches the par-5 18th in two and gives it a good run for eagle from 50 feet, hole high. Allen tidies up a regulation par before Sharpe taps in for 4. They're now 5 under and can make some ground is Bettis starts contributing.

Time for some lunch. There's a two-group wait at the first tee, the 10th for the celebrities, so the box lunches are a big hit, especially with the football guys and their big appetites.

12:14 p.m.
Can I get an autograph?
One of the biggest parties is behind the 18th tee at a backyard filled with lawn chairs and about 65 people basking in the sun.

Sharpe seizes the opportunity to continue the hazing of Bettis, a Hope rookie. Sharpe ducks under the rope and plops his considerable butt into a chair while Bettis and his pen work the rope line. As Bettis reaches the tee Sharpe, paper napkin in hand, rushes the rope.

"Oh Mr. Bettis,," he says with a mocking voice, "can I get you to sign this please?" The gallery cracks up, especially when Bettis spurns him.

"A------," Sharpe says, milking his role as dejected spectator.

Shaun Micheel is among those laughing loudest at the off-color exchange. "You can use that kind of language in the arena where you played, but we'd never use that out here."

12:05 p.m.
Watch out for that Bus
Jerry Foltz of The Golf Channel buttonholes Shaun Micheel after he hits at the short 17th. "Jerome is fine, he's settled down. Marcus [Allen] and Sterling [Sharpe] can hit it!"

Of course, the next moment Bettis comes up 40 yards short at the par 3. That's why he gets a shot on nearly every hole.

Micheel also passes along a few nuggets about course conditions: The greens are appreciably slower than his practice round at Bermuda yesterday, calling them "hairier" and more difficult to gauge speed.

Bettis is worth his weight as a partner, getting up and down for net 2 and stealing some of the luster of Allen's two-footer for a natural bird.

11:51 a.m.
A man's team
There's a ton of testosterone on amateur team 24: Sterling Sharpe (a 2), Marcus Allen (an 8) and Jerome Bettis (a 16). All three outdrive Shaun Micheel at the 16th and face easy wedge approaches.

This group's also a study in body composition. Sharpe has picked up a few pounds the small strain at the waistband a clue to his girth. Bettis remains comfortably roly-poly. But Allen remains a svelte god, the taut muscles in his forearms an indicator that he knows his workout routines.

Sharpe walks along the right gallery rope at the 16th, chatting with an acquaintance about the holidays and the prospects for this year. The friend asks about Bettis, who ran down a 30-foot birdie at the last green.

"I told him it's all about managing your expectations," Sharpe counseled. "We've all played in front of crowds and we all can get the ball in the hole. The thing in these is to let it happen. If you expect too much it won't happen."

11:26 a.m.
Come on, Lassie!
John Daly, over the ball for his second at the dogleg 15th, is interrupted by the unexpected barking of a small dog in a nearby backyard.

"C'mon, Lassie" he says with exasperation.

Crowd noise is a factor here at Bermuda, where every hole has at least one backyard-patio party in full swing. Barbecues are roaring away and the Bloody Marys are flowing.

There are more than a few oddball questions in the gallery, such as the older gent who asks, "Clemens, he's a ... pitcher?"

11:06 a.m.
A Rocket on the course, as well
Here's a guess: If you have a weak spirit, you don't want to be paired with Roger Clemens.

First, he knocks the snot out of the ball with his driver. Not just long but with a flight path you don't see with today's ball construction -- that low trajectory to start and then a steady climb to a hideously high elevation.

Second, he's a camera magnet. Spectators aren't supposed to have them but a half-dozen of them appear after he puts his peg in the 14th tee. Not surprisingly, none of the photographers are men.

Third, he's got that chatter that works so well on the diamond but can be a little unsettling in the relative silence of a golf course.

Amateur teammate Jeff Altman is prepping his fourth shot from behind the 13th green when Clemens gives his three different knock-em-dead pep talks, the last as he's ready to pull the trigger. Altman's chip goes about three feet. A similar fate befalls Carson Daly, the group's other amateur, who flubs a routine bunker shot. After these back-to-back indignities, Clemens looks as if he's ready to get in someone's face.

10:29 a.m.
Quite a putter
Burt Rutan is like Maury Povich in that he's highly accurate, especially for a 9 handicap. His swing has a bit of the Nancy Lopez pause-at-the-top flavor but his first move down is fluid and relaxed (eat your heart out Charles Barkley).

At the par-5 13th he has 154 for his third and scuffs it. The ball is hit well enough to dribble to the back of the green but poorly enough to leave him chagrined.

What sets Rutan apart from the other 500-plus golfers is his putter. It's some T-square thing on steroids, the clubface about 10 inches long with a rear fin nearly as big. Call it a moderate broomstick model, up to his navel and held with a funky split grip using some sort of Chris DiMarco claw with his right hand. Rutan has three feet for birdie and lips it out on the high side.

Now, this really makes you wonder whether he's onto something and keeping the secret from the rest of us. After the driver, golfers obsess about their putters. If Rutan, a guy who could probably make something that'll land on the moon, uses something that appears better-suited to choking a car tire while replacing a flat, what are the rest of us doing with the putters in our bags?

10:25 a.m.
But he IS a rocket scientist
Burt Rutan knows how a pro-am works. The designer of the SpaceShipOne, the first private craft into space and recipient of the Ansari X-Prize in 2002, is wearing a tan straw hat with blue band, deep blue long-sleeved shirt, matching plus-fours, red-and-blue argyle sweater and socks and white shoes. His caddie is wearing an identical outfit.

Who says rocket scientists aren't flamboyant?

9:54 a.m.
Maury, you ARE a good sport
Maury Povich has the kind of game that works well at any age and he has the pro-am temperament that works in any group, too.

He's quick with the supportive word for David Veit when the 16 handicap bangs his third from left of the green beneath a palm. Little surprise that Veit comes off an awkward stance and stops his shot about two feet from the hole. Povich leads the cheers, and not because he has a rooting interest in the team's welfare.

Povich is also unerringly straight off the tee and has plenty of length. Unfortunately his first two approach stray right and he's left standing, hands on hips, wondering whether it'll be one of those days.

One other thing: He's obviously played Bermuda Dunes plenty of times. When his caddie searches for the rake before Povich hits his escape from the front greenside bunker, Povich waves him over and shows off the little trap door beside the sand, hiding the vertical storage shaft housing the rake. He might not contribute any shots to the first two holes, but Povich is as good as a sherpa with this group.

9:33 a.m.
Where's my hazard pay?
Enough with the practice tee madness. Time to hit the course. Povich is in the next group and he's still complaining about not getting enough shots. Let's see how he does on the first few holes of the back nine.

Wait a second. This might not be the plum assignment it appears. Just peeked at the Bermuda Dunes course map in the pairings program and it's next to a box with advice if an earthquake hits:

During The Quake; 1. Remain Calm!

9:27 a.m.
Going into battle
Nothing like a little comic relief before going into battle. George Lopez's caddie is wearing one of those cross-chest ammo belts. It's loaded with about two-dozen golf balls. And one spot already is conspicuously empty.

9:05 a.m.
An unusual question
Here's a question that will probably go unasked on a TOUR practice tee the rest of the year, from a radio interviewer to Michael Bolton: "Why don't you do the Howard Stern show?"

In the true mark of a media-savvy celeb, Bolton doesn't flinch when he politely begins the response with, "well, I've never been asked to go on the show."

Bolton is teamed with Craig T. Nelson and Joe Pesci this week. Say a little prayer for Justin Rose, that he can keep his wits about himself with those guys today.

8:46 a.m.
He said what?
And already the trash talking begins. Maury Povich, 68 today and a 1 handicap, giving some radio interviewers guff over Carson Daly's 7. After a few questions, Povich goes back to hitting balls under the watchful eye of Doug Sanders. Today's color for Sanders is a soft purple, not quite lilac but close.

The atmosphere is loose but anticipatory. The ams are jazzed, but keep in mind that a decent number of pros are kicking off the 2007 season, too.

8:31 a.m.
Getting close
Brendle's going down the line on the practice tee announcing that the first groups will go out at 9 a.m. The tee's crammed with everyone trying to loosen up. Corey Pavin is hitting to the left of Charley Hoffman, about as big a disparity in swings as you can find this week. Pavin isn't the only one catching peeks at Hoffman as he pounds out drivers toward the line of homes at the far end of the tee.

Massive.

8:25 a.m.
A glimmer of hope
Here's a promising sign: A grounds crew cart filled with the flagsticks just headed out. This proves that during a frost delay, you take any small sign as a glimmer of hope.

8:06 a.m.
Hurry up and wait
Nothing like a little crunching, frosty turf under foot to get the day started. Saw Jon Brendle of the TOUR field staff heading out to check the course, he's confident we'll get going soon enough. In the meantime, you could make a mint selling woolen caps and mittens. The locals are bundled as if they're heading out on a dogsled while the players walk toward toward the clubhouse (and a warm wait) in light sweaters.

The practice areas remain closed, so for now it's hurry up and wait.

5:27 a.m.
Too excited to sleep

It's just too exciting a day to sleep late. In three hours the first groups are scheduled to begin play in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the tournament new host George Lopez is calling the "Hopez." For someone who grew up north of Buffalo, the opportunity to blog the first three days of play around Palm Springs is an irresistible assignment.

Oh, sure, it's 36 degrees outside and the sun won't rise for about two hours. But the daily forecasts are for highs in the 60s and gentle winds, suitable for shirtsleeves and a layer of SPF 30. Life is especially sweet for the 128 PGA TOUR pros, the 384 amateurs heck, even the caddies should have a good week.

The Hope field is split into four fields, named after Gerald R. Ford, Dolores Hope, John Curci (a California developer and benefactor) and Ernie Dunlevie (he¹s been on the tournament board since Hope came aboard in 1965).

Each plays a different course daily with the pro-am winners crowned late Saturday afternoon. Expect a winning score north of 60 under par for 72 holes.

Yes, 60 under par. And the max Handicap Index listed in the pairings is 18.

The Dunlevie field spends Wednesday at Bermuda Dunes CC, the only layout used every year going back to the original Palm Springs Golf Classic in 1960, won by Arnold Palmer. They'll hit La Quinta CC tomorrow, PGA West's Arnold Palmer Private Course for Friday and wind up Saturday at the host Classic Club. The pros making the cut will fight it out Sunday at the Classic.

Lopez has worked diligently to bolster the celebrity portion of the field, which admittedly waned following Bob Hope's death in 2003. And there¹s a decent chance one of these teams will take the pro-am title. Roger Clemens, Mike Eruzione and Matthew McConaughey shot 65-under last year, Clemens and Carson Daly joined Jeffery Altman in shooting a winning 59 under in 2004 and Mark Mulder teamed with John Higholt and Gary Mathews on 65 under in 2003.

Heck, even the inaugural had a celebrity in the winner's circle when Lawrence Welk, Curci and Victor LoBue shot 59 under.

OK, there's the 6 a.m. wakeup call. Time to jump in the shower, grab some breakfast, tuck the BlackBerry in the pocket and head out to Bermuda Dunes.