LA QUINTA, Calif.- Tom Pernice and Ben Bates, who both have been knocking golf balls around for a lot of years without ever really hitting it big, agree that they like playing the game the way most people do -- talking and joking and having fun in between shots.

Pernice and Bates, both journeymen players looking for their first PGA Tour victory, and five-time winner John Huston all shot 9-under-par 63s today to share the opening lead in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

While some of the tour's bigger names had so-so rounds, that trio cashed in on warm, sunny weather and flat, relatively easy desert courses to jump to the top of a crowded leader board.

Defending champion Fred Couples shot a 72 and David Duval, who set a tour earnings record last year and was a runaway winner of his only 1999 tournament so far, the Mercedes Champinships two weeks ago, had a first-round 70. Both played at Bermuda Dunes.

Jeff Freeman and Jonathan Kaye were tied at 8-under after the first 18 holes of the 90-hole event.

Also within striking distance of the lead were Fred Funk, Rocco Mediate and Bo Van Pelt, grouped at 7-under.

Pernice, whose second-place finish in the six-month-rain-delayed AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last year was the best of his career, said he enjoys the pro-am format, which also is used for the first four days of the Hope.

"I enjoy playing the pro-ams,'' he said. "Some of the guys don't, and skip them. Some of my best friends are people that I have played with in pro-ams, so I actually enjoy them.''

Pernice said his intensity on the course actually has hurt him, so he's trying to be more relaxed and playing with amateurs seemsto help.

"It's still a game, even though we are doing it for a living. You know when you are out playing with your buddies, you are not grinding,'' Pernice explained. "You are relaxed, talking about sports, or the stock market or whatever, then you concentrate for 20 or 30 seconds and hit your shots. That's when I've always played the best.''

Bates, an eight-year veteran of the Nike Tour who finally has made it to the PGA Tour's big show, feels pretty much the same way about playing with amateur partners.

"You're talking, getting to know each other. There are some really interesting people, and it's enjoyable,'' he said. "Some of the guys who play out here (the touring pros), you look at them and you wonder if they ever smile.''

Huston, asked about the pro-am format, said, "I think you interact a little bit, but you still have to concentrate on what you're doing.''

Four courses are used for the first four days of the Hope, and the largest gallery today seemed to be at Bermuda Dunes Country Club, trailing an amateur golfer -- Michael Jordan.

Jordan, playing in a foursome with pal Charles Barkley, former NFL star Roy Green and former U.S. Open and PGA champion Payne Stewart, hit some good shots, sprayed a few, and made one birdie a side.

The team competition is best ball, so individual scores aren't kept for the amateurs. Stewart, who didn't seem to mind being in the middle of what was a bit of a walking circus, shot a 71.

DIVOTS: Tournament namesake Bob Hope, 95, was on hand when Jordan began his round. Jordan and Barkley each gave Hope souvenir basketballs and had their photos taken with him. Hope, for the first time, didn't play. ... Arnold Palmer, who won the inaugural Hope in 1960 and came back to win it four more times, still draws "Arnie's Army.'' With an enthusiastic gallery following his group, Palmer shot an opening 76. ... Fuzzy Zoeller (77) and Lennie Clements (84) were the only players with a higher scores.