Perez opens four shot lead

His temperature was 103 degrees. His body ached so much he couldn't even turn his neck. Pat Perez was so miserable that he was on the verge of packing in it before the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am even started.

``I thought the first two days would be a nightmare,'' he said Friday

Not quite.

The first two days brought him a four-stroke lead over Lee Janzen, the largest 36-hole margin in the tournament since 1973. Perez can attribute that to birdies on four of his last five holes at Pebble for a 7-under 65.

The only hole he didn't birdie down the stretch was No. 8, which is when he popped a few more pills for a fever that is quickly improving.

``I'm thankful to be in the position I'm in,'' said Perez, who was at 13-under 131.

He admits he is still a ``nobody'' as a rookie on the PGA Tour, and already Perez has plenty of experience getting overlooked.

He won Q-school in December, but all any one seemed to care about was 17-year-old Ty Tryon earning his card. Perez played with Tryon in Phoenix last week and got a dose of the circus-like atmosphere that usually accompanies Tiger Woods.

``There were 5,000 people out there following him,'' Perez said. ``I'd made a birdie and you could hear the wind blow.''

Who's Pat Perez?

``He was the medalist at Q-school ... who's faking a fever,'' Janzen cracked.

Janzen shares one thing in common with Perez -- he didn't want to be at the tournament, either. It had nothing to do with the illness, rather the soggy, six-hour rounds that Janzen swore off two years ago.

``I forgot I wasn't coming back here,'' he said.

Like Perez, he's making the most of it. Janzen had a bogey-free round at Spyglass, picking up his final birdie when he chipped in from about 20 feet.

The two-time U.S. Open champion wound up with a 67.

Jerry Smith was another stroke back after a 69 on Poppy Hills, while Fred Couples made eagle on his final hole at Poppy for a 68 that left him at 137.

Woods, thankful to be done with his round at Poppy Hills, found the reception even worse at Spyglass. He bogeyed three out of four holes at one point and finished with a 1-over 73, 12 strokes out of the lead.

Woods will play his final two rounds at Pebble Beach, but needs a good score Saturday to get back in the hunt.

``I got it around somehow and didn't hurt myself too bad,'' Woods said.

He missed eight out of 14 fairways and required 31 putts, which isn't all that bad considering the bumpy, spongy greens on the three courses.

``It's not too often I ever feel nervous over a 2-footer,'' Woods said.

It wasn't just him. Phil Mickelson was at Pebble and poised to make a move with three straight birdies. Then he got to No. 5 and promptly four-putted. Such is the grain, contour and condition of the greens that his par putt was from 4 feet -- and so was the putt that he made for double bogey.

``That took a lot of the momentum away,'' he said.

Mickelson also took triple bogey on No. 10 by hitting into the ocean, and finished his round by hitting driver off the fairway into the Big Blue -- just like last year, when he needed a birdie on the final hole to force a playoff and wound up with a double bogey.

At least this time he scraped out a bogey, but it still left him with a 76 and in jeopardy of missing the cut.

``Pebble is the kind of course where you either really get it going or you just stay there,'' Charles Howell III said after doing the latter in a round of 71 to finish at 142.

Perez was going places in a hurry.

He started on No. 10 under sunny skies, with a few people surfing off to the right and not many more watching him from behind the ropes. He estimated the gallery at 12, but he gave them something to cheer.

Perez hit 7-iron on the par-3 fifth hole into 10 feet for birdie, then was disgusted with a birdie on the par-5 sixth after hitting 4-iron up the hill into 8 feet for a chance at eagle. He finished off his round with a 35-foot putt up the slope and hard to the right on No. 9.

He grew up in San Diego, so Perez is familiar with the poa annua grass on the greens and the way everything breaks toward the Pacific.

Perez has had some success on the Monterey Peninsula, but he hasn't been able to finish the job. He had a four-stroke lead with eight holes to play in the Monterey Peninsula Classic on the Buy.com Tour two years ago, but failed to hang on.

He had a similar advantage at Q-school that fall, but failed to advance.

``Those are the ones I'd like to forget,'' he said.

Divots

Boo Weekley got his wish. The country boy from the Florida Panhandle played the second round at Pebble in camouflage rain pants. Weekley doesn't wear regular golf pants because they make his legs itch. He also wears tennis shoes. He shot a 77 for a 149 total. ... Jesper Parnevik was at 139 after an uneventful day at Poppy Hills. He made 18 pars. ... Jeff Julian, the 40-year-old with Lou Gehrig's disease, had a 78 on Poppy Hills and was 11 over. ... Frank Nobilo withdrew because of food poisoning, while David Berganiopulled out with a bad back.

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