The Live Report, Round 5: The 50th Bob Hope Classic

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Pat Perez captured his first PGA TOUR victory on Sunday, shooting a final-round 69 to win the Bob Hope Classic.

The 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer is the first tournament of the West Coast swing this season. PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report will provide updates all day long for each of the five rounds, so check back often. (All timestamps listed for Eastern Time.)
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PEREZ GETS HIS FIRST (7:20 p.m.): Pat Perez closed out his first win in style, stuffing his second shot on the par-5 18th to kick-in distance.

On a day when the wind was blowing as hard as 40 mph, Perez kept his game and his temperament together, proving that his swing and his approach have changed.

In the past, a double-bogey on No. 5 today, or a bogey on No. 15 might have sent him off the deep end. Instead, Perez bounced back with a perfect drive on No. 18 and an even more perfect second shot that he hit right at the stick -- rather than having to cut it in from over the water like he would have had to do in the past.

This certainly should help make that triple-bogey on 18 at Pebble Beach in 2002 a distant memory, if it wasn't already for Perez. -- Brian Wacker

Here's a look at Perez's final-round card:

DOWN THE STRETCH (6:32 p.m.): Pat Perez and John Merrick are both looking for their first PGA TOUR win and are deadlocked at 31 under as the fifth round winds down.

Neither was able to take advantage of historically one of the easiest par-3s on TOUR -- No. 15 at the Palmer Course. Perez bogeyed it, while Merrick made par. Last year, in fact, it ranked as the easiest par 3 on TOUR. This year, the wind obviously had something to do with it. -- Brian Wacker

AMES GOES LOW (6:08 p.m.): Stephen Ames came within just two strokes of matching his career-low round with a 9-under 63 today that moved him from 45th to a tie for fourth at the moment.

Ames erased a bogey on No. 11 today with six birdies and two eagles on Nos. 2 and 11, where he rolled in putts from 17 and 9 feet, respectively.

This was Ames' first event of the 2009 season, but not the first time he's gone low recently. Late last year, he fired a 62 at the Valero Texas Open to finish T6. -- Brian Wacker

Here's a look at Ames' card from today:

PEREZ CLOSING IN? (5:47 p.m.): It didn't take long for Pat Perez to reclaim the lead at the Bob Hope Classic, where he's in front by two through 12 holes today.

If Perez can hang on, it'll be the first win of his 8-year PGA TOUR career. He's come close twice before, finishing second at the 2002 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the 2002 Buick Classic.

At Pebble Beach, Perez actually held the lead coming to the final hole before making a triple bogey to lose by three. At the Buick Classic, he posted a pair of 67s to finish two back of winner Chris Smith. -- Brian Wacker

MORE ON MERRICK (5:25 p.m.): John Merrick has moved into a share of the lead (for the moment) with Pat Perez at 31 under after draining a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th hole. That moved Merrick one step closer to his first PGA TOUR title, in this, just his third season out here. -- Brian Wacker

Here's a look at Merrick's best results from last year:

WIND CAUSING HAVOC (5:00 p.m.): The wind is blowing hard across the Palmer Course at PGA West and Steve Stricker's score is blowing up. After hitting his tee shot OB on No. 10, his next tee ball found the water. His next tee ball after that found a fairway bunker. He somehow managed to find the green on what was his sixth shot, but two-putted for a quadruple-bogey 8.

That's the second time Stricker has posted a number over par today and only the third all week -- he triple-bogeyed No. 7 -- but this one could be costly. Pat Perez is now in the lead, but given the conditions and the fact that both players have struggled today, they've managed to bring a handful of other players into the picture.

The wind didn't seem to affect Brad Adamonis, however. He's in with the best score of the day so far, a 7-under 65 that moved him from T39 to T10 at the moment. -- Brian Wacker

MERRICK SNEAKS UP (4:44 p.m.): While Pat Perez and Steve Stricker are doing their best to make the Bob Hope Classic look more like a U.S. Open with the way they're grinding it out, third-year man John Merrick has snuck up on the leaders and is now just two shots back.

Merrick, who already had his TOUR card secured but chose to go to q-school anyway to improve his position, hasn't made a bogey since mid-round on Friday and just made the turn here in 32.

Merrick last year finished T3 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and also factored in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the U.S. Open, finishing T7 and T6, respectively.

One other interesting note on the former UCLA standout: In 2001, he won the Southern California Golf Association Amateur at age 19, becoming the youngest person to do so since ... Tiger Woods in 1994. -- Brian Wacker

AT THE TURN (4:25 p.m.): Pat Perez has pulled even with Steve Stricker, who triple-bogeyed No. 7 after finding the water with his tee shot. They're closing in on closing out their front nine at the moment so now seems like a good time to check out their best final rounds of 2008, starting with Stricker's. -- Brian Wacker

SCORING RECORDS SAFE? (4:08 p.m.): Joe Durant's record 36-under 324 in the 2001 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic may still be in jeopardy, but no one appears to be going super low today, the way some were earlier in the week. Here's a look at the lowest final rounds in PGA TOUR history:

SHORT LIVED (3:48 p.m.): Pat Perez strung together three straight birdies to grab a share of the lead with Steve Stricker, but he just gave two of them back by rinsing his tee shot on the 233-yard par-3 fifth, where he pulled it well left and into the water off the tee before making a double bogey.

That hole has been problematic for Perez this week. On Wednesday, he bogeyed it when his tee shot came up short of the green, 25 yards from the hole. -- Brian Wacker

ROOKIE WATCH (3:39 p.m.): Wake Forest and q-school graduate Webb Simpson is off to the best start among this year's rookie class.

Simpson, who finished T7 in q-school, picked up his first career top 10 last week with a T9 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and right now he's tied for third. Only once in eight full rounds has Simpson, a great ballstriker and very good putter, shot above 68. -- Brian Wacker

Follow Simspon's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.

STRICKER VS. PEREZ (3:25 p.m.): On Wednesday, Pat Perez blistered the par fives at the Palmer Private course. He made four birdies and an eagle on his way to carding 61. He may need to duplicate that feat today if he is going to reel in Steve Stricker.

However, Stricker is no slouch on these par fives either. He birdied them all on Friday en route to shooting a 61 of his own. If these players can duplicate their par-five prowess on Sunday they can effectively eliminate all comers and make this a two-horse race.

Early in the final round the leader Steve Stricker failed to get it up and down for birdie at te par-5 second, while Perez picked up right where he left off five days ago with the first of three straight birdies to pull even with Stricker. -- John Maginnes

ROUND OF THE DAY (3:15 p.m.): Bill Haas has the day's best round going at 6 under through his first 10 holes after a bogey-free 30 on the back nine.

Right now, Haas is trying to play himself into the top 10 for a second straight week after finishing T9 last week in Hawaii. In 2008, he had just two top 10s -- a T9 at the FBR Open and a T4 at the Viking Classic. But he did have a career-best 10 top 25s on his way to earning more than $1 million in what was his third year on the PGA TOUR.

Meanwhile, Bill's father Jay is just one off the lead over at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

HOW LOW IS LOW? (2:59 p.m.): Through the first four rounds this week, there were 10 scores of 62 or lower. That hasn't occured in a PGA TOUR event since the 1992 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. That year, John Cook won with a five-day total of 24-under 336. He beat Rick Fehr, Tom Kite, Mark O'Meara and Gene Sauers in a playoff. -- Brian Wacker

NEXT LEVEL ON PEREZ (2:45 p.m.): Pat Perez is playing the same course today -- the Palmer Course at PGA West -- that he played in the opening round when he shot a 61.

His history on this course, however, is mixed. In seven rounds on the Palmer Course, Perez is averaging 70.29 with a high of 5 over in 2005 and a low of 12 under in 2006. -- Brian Wacker

Here is a look at Perez's earlier round at the Palmer Course vs. how he's fared on the other courses:

MARINO MAKES A MOVE (2:30 p.m.): Steve Marino has moved up the leaderboard from T3 to T13 at the moment thanks to a 4-under 32 on the front nine today. In just his third season on the PGA TOUR, Marino looks like a player who's ready to win.

The 28-year-old is long enough off the tee and a very good ballstriker -- he's eighth this week in greens in regulation. He's also coming off a T7 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he posted three rounds in the 60s, including a final-round 66, on one of the toughest courses these guys will see all year. -- Brian Wacker

A SPECIAL WISH (1:40 p.m. ET): Arnold Palmer took time from his duties as the tournament host to give a special guest from the Make-A-Wish Foundation a golf lesson on Saturday.

Brock Marvin, a 15-year-old from Elizabethtown, N.J., suffers from familial dilated cardiomyopathy, a genetic disorder that has enlarged his heart to about 4 times its normal size.

He suffered a heart attack nine months ago, and doctors told him the only sport that would not put too much strain on his heart was golf. Brock had asked to attend the Bob Hope Classic but the meeting with Palmer was a complete surprise.

For more on this special visit, click here.

EAGLE EYE (1:25 p.m.): Chris DiMarco must have had his Wheaties this morning. He eagled the par-5 second hole, hitting his third shot from the right rough into the hole. That eagle moved him from a tie for 25th into a tie for 12th.

If DiMarco were to keep up that pace and finish inside the top 10, it would give the former PGA TOUR winner positive momentum at the start of the year. DiMarco did not give off to a strong start in 2008, missing eight cuts in his first 11 starts (including the 2008 Bob Hope Classic).

DiMarco's only top 10 last season came at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October.

However, he's tied for 13th in driving accuracy this week, tied for 12th in hitting the green in regulation and tied for first in sand saves. With numbers like those, perhaps another top 10 is just 14 holes away for DiMarco. -- Lauren Deason

BOGEY WATCH (12:10 p.m.): Steve Stricker has made it through 72 holes with just one bogey. His last one came at the par-4 15th in the second round at SilverRock.

Pat Perez's week has included two blemishes, with bogeys at the par-4 sixth hole at SilverRock in the fourth round and the par-3 fifth hole at the Palmer Course in the first round.

It will be the first time that the two will play the same course on the same day. Perez teed it up on the Palmer Course in the first round while Stricker didn't face the Palmer Course -- which is where the field will compete in the final round -- until the third day. --- Lauren Deason

How did the two fare?

Check out Perez's scorecard:

And Stricker's:

FINAL ROUND BEGINS (12:10 p.m.): For the first time all week, every player will be on the same course. The field will play the PGA West (Palmer Course) on Sunday.

The hole locations will likely be tougher in Round 5 without the amateur players. Still, it won't take much for more records to fall at the Palmer Course.

The PGA TOUR and Bob Hope Classic scoring record is 36-under par, set by Joe Durant in 2001. With Stricker currently at 33-under par, he needs only a 67 in the final round to break the record.

Click here to see what records were set on Saturday. -- Lauren Deason

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Player   2:10 p.m. ET (11:10 a.m. in California) Steve Stricker/Pat Perez How could we not watch the final group? Together, Perez and Stricker have carded two 61s, a 62 and a 63. The worst round either of them have had all week is a 67. 2:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. in California) Bubba Watson He's led the Driving Distance category for years, but Bubba Watson still hasn't captured his first TOUR title. Is this his week? 1:40 p.m. ET (10:40 a.m. in California) D.J. Trahan Don't count the defending champion out just yet. He's tied for 12th at the start of the final round and poised to make an early run before the leaders hit the course.

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