Crane Pleasantly Surprised with First Round in 2009

an. 21, 2009
By Larry Bohannan, Special to PGATOUR.COM

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Ben Crane's first round of the 2009 PGA TOUR season was hardly expected, he said.

"I certainly didn't have a target score of 63 today," Crane laughed after finishing 9 under on the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West in the first round of the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer.

Crane's round of one eagle and seven birdies did more than just keep him near the lead in a charge on the Nicklaus Private Course, which is joining the four-course rotation this year.
Crane after 18 holes
Stats Rd. 1 Total
Eagles 1 1
Birdies 7 7
Pars 10 10
Bogeys -- 0
Double bogeys -- 0
Other -- 0
Driving accuracy 86 85.7
Driving distance -- 0
Putts per round 25 25.0
Putts per GIR 1.467 1.467
Greens in REG 83 83.3

Crane didn't want any part of the record, though, remembering that David Gossett had shot 59 on the Nicklaus Private in the 2000 PGA TOUR Qualifying finals. Told that didn't count as a tournament record, Crane mocked disdain.

"OK well, that's still four shots better," Crane said.

As for his own round Wednesday, matching his low round for the entire 2008 season, Crane said the key was an eagle on the par-5 13th, his fourth hole of the day.

"I parred the first hole and I was happy I was hitting some decent shots and hit decent putts that just didn't go in," Crane said. "Then all of a sudden I had a couple of good shots there and I was just off the green about four feet and hit a nice putt and it went in. So that was like, whoa, all right."

Crane took significant time away from the golf course during the off-season because of the birth of his second child three months ago. But in recent weeks he said he has been working hard again, especially on his putting.

"We changed b=my swing slightly, so we're doing some stuff with that," Crane said. "And then we worked particularly hard for the last two and a half weeks, really, we have been working on my putting. And today was probably the best day of putting we've had in that stretch. So it just kind of happened at the right time."

Part of the change in putting was switching to a different putter that Crane believes will speed up his pre-putt routine.

"I have some trouble with alignment, so I changed putters so that when I set the putter down I wouldn't have to correct it so much," he said. "When I set it down it just all of a sudden is sitting more on my line. And that has been a huge help."

The last of Crane's two PGA TOUR wins came in the 2005 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, but 2008 presented a major bounce-back year for the Westlake, Texas, resident. In 2007 Crane played just nine events, because of lower back problems. In 2008, he managed 25 starts and finished 64th on the TOUR money list with $1,488,505. That run included four top-10 finishes, something Crane is hoping to improve on in 2009. He just wasn't expecting to start so low in the Bob Hope Classic.

"I'm very confident about my game now, I'm excited about all the stuff I'm working on," Crane said. "I feel like I'm working on just great stuff."

Crane might also have a bit of an edge playing the new course in the Hope rotation. Crane used to live in the La Quinta area and work with an instructor at the Jim McLean golf school at PGA West. He also played in the 2000 qualifying tournament when Gossett shot his 59.

"So I played all these PGA West courses probably at least half a dozen times," Crane said.