At Hope, Dirt Rises to the Top

PALM DESERT —  Can you use a nine-iron as a vacuum cleaner attachment? Sure, if you’re Dr. Dirt, who really cleaned up Friday at Indian Ridge.

Brad Bryant, a rumpled, mustache-wearing Huckleberry Hound look-alike, threw a 65 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and took the third-round lead, even if he would probably just as soon be off fishing somewhere.

Bryant, nicknamed “Dr. Dirt,” would rather be operating some little outboard motor than almost anything else, but that simply means he has developed a keen understanding of one of life’s simple truths.

“One thing about fishing, the fishing’s always great,” Bryant said. “The catching isn’t always great, but the fishing always is.”

Heading into today’s fourth round, the field is trying to catch Bryant. Many of the pros don’t have far to go.

Bryant’s 54-hole total of 201 is 15 under par but only one shot ahead of Nolan Henke, who eagled the last hole and toured Indian Wells in 64 shots.

Fulton Allem, Mark Wiebe, Paul Goydos, Donnie Hammond and Mark Brooks are two shots off the lead at 203, and nine others are within five shots. That group includes Fred Couples, who had a 67 at Indian Ridge.

Bryant’s second consecutive 65 put him in position to win for the second time in his 19-year career. He won last year at Disney World.

Experience, though, has taught him not to take anything for granted.

“Right now, anything can still happen,” Bryant said.

For Bryant, anything included four birdies in the first five holes, two in succession on 15-foot putts.

“I hit so many good putts, it’s like it wasn’t me playing,” he said.

Bryant did have one sort of shaky putt on the front that still fell in, but he said that’s what it’s all about.

“If it was a beauty contest, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Hammond wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for a sponsor’s exemption. He won the Bob Hope 10 years ago, but scored his last tournament victory seven years ago. He barely missed finishing in the top 125 on the money list in 1995, then missed qualifying at tour school by one spot.

“A win here would solve a lot of problems for me,” said Hammond, who had a 67 at Indian Ridge.

Part of Hammond’s problems were caused by an eight-week layoff last summer after a gardening accident. He strained his back digging.

Hammond has made some changes since then. Now he has two gardeners and no shovels.

Allem had a 67 at Bermuda Dunes and once again switched his putting grip, from cross-handed to conventional and back, depending on how he felt.

He said it was all a matter of confidence, something he hasn’t had much of lately, and he doesn’t know why it comes and goes.

“It’s a mystery,” he said. “You try to pinpoint it, and you go insane. It’s such a simple, beautiful game. You just hit it and add.”

Wiebe got back on the tour by finishing in a tie for ninth at San Antonio, the last tournament of 1995, and that pushed him into the top 125 on the money list.

Wiebe played last year with a special medical exemption after breaking his right shoulder in a skiing accident in 1994, when he wound up taking seven months off. It wasn’t an easy period, he said.

“In the back of your mind, you wonder, ‘Have I hit my last shot?’ ” he said. “The doubts creep in.”

They go away just as fast when you shoot 65, which is what Wiebe did at Indian Ridge.

“I’ve got my confidence back,” he said.

Bryant’s confidence may be at an all-time high. Swing guru David Leadbetter is working on Bryant’s putting stroke and his swing. Bryant hopes it’s going to work for him.

“If I can get these two things right in the next couple of years, I can go home,” he said.

In the meantime, Bryant can devote himself to other pursuits, such as fishing, keeping his shirttail tucked in and coming up with alternative nicknames to Dr. Dirt.

He already has thought of a few: Dr. Paydirt. Commander in Chief of All Dirt Forces. Mr. Clean.

Hey, it’s a dirty job, but it’s steady.