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Ames & Tway share lead with 63's

Golf took a back seat for Bob Tway for three months, as he turned into a ``basketball pop.''

Tway, polishing some rust off his game after the layoff, eagled his second hole and went on to shoot a 9-under-par 63 Wednesday and share the Bob Hope Classic lead with Stephen Ames.

``That was really the longest time I had ever been home in one stretch,'' Tway said of the stretch he spent with his wife, 14-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. ``I practiced a little bit, worked out and went skiing a little bit.

``But mainly I saw a lot of basketball practices and basketball games and things we don't get to do as often as we would like. I'm 43 and my kids are at a great age. It was just a fun time to see things that I miss a lot of times.''

Tway and Ames were one shot in front of two-time Hope champion John Cook and Chris DiMarco after the opening day of the five-day tournament.

David Duval, playing his first tournament of the year, was in a group another shot back at 65. Defending champion Phil Mickelson had a 70.

Tway struggled his first tournament back, shooting 76-71 and missing the cut at Phoenix last week.

But he was on target with both his irons and his putter during the opening round of the five-day Hope, jump-starting his day by knocking a 5-iron within 5 feet of the hole, then grinning as he walked onto the green before making the eagle putt on the 512-yard par 5 No. 11 at PGA West.

Tway began his round on the back nine and quickly went to 3-under when he rolled in a twisting 25-footer for a birdie on the par-3 No. 11.

A seven-time Tour winner looking for his first victory since 1995, Tway made six more birdies during a bogey-free round on a sunny, windless day in the desert when temperatures reached the high 70s.

``Even though I had practiced, I just wasn't ready to play last week. I thought I came out early to Phoenix, but it wasn't enough,'' Tway said. ``But playing two rounds there and a few more practice rounds over the weekend made a difference.''

Ames, a native of Calgary, Alberta, who finished second in The Players Championship last year, also played PGA West, one of four courses used during the 90-hole tournament. He two-putted from 35 feet on No. 18 to go to 9-under and tie Tway.

Ames also had a bogey-free round.

``Everybody comes here thinking it's going to be a putting contest, which basically it ends up being,'' Ames said of the Hope, which traditionally produces very low scores. ``The golf courses are so short and the greens are absolutely perfect. The weather is perfect. You know you're going to have to make some putts.''

Cook, the Hope champion in 1992 and 1997, began the tournament this time with an 8-under 64 at Indian Wells.

DiMarco, who finished third in the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this month and tied for 14th at Phoenix last weekend, shot his 64 at Bermuda Dunes.

Duval, who won the Hope in 1999 with a closing 59 that tied Al Geiberger and Chip Beck for the Tour's lowest round ever, eagled No. 5 from the fairway as he opened this year's tournament with a 65 at Indian Wells.

Also at 65 were Dave Stockton Jr., Robert Gamez, Shaun Micheel, Rod Pampling, Frank Lickliter and Matt Gogel.

Others within striking distance of the lead included Justin Leonard and John Huston at 66, Peter Jacobsen at 67, and John Daly at 68.

The pros play the first four days of the Chrysler-sponsored Hope with a group of three amateurs, then the low-scoring 70 pros and ties play for the tournament title on Sunday.

DIVOTS: Vijay Singh and Ernie Els have two victories apiece as foreign-born players have won the last five PGA Tour events, which officials believe is the longest streak ever. Singh (Fiji) won the Tour Championship and Luke Donald (England) took the Southern Farm Bureau Classic title on the same weekend to close out the regular season Nov. 3. Then Els (South Africa) took both the Mercedes and Sony titles in Hawaii to start off this year, and Singh came back to win at Phoenix last weekend. None of those three players is at the Hope, but Canadian Ames was tied for the first-round lead. ... Davis Love III, playing for the first time this year, shot a 67.

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