2 Tied for Lead in the Bob Hope Classic

Friday, January 19th 2007, 6:30 am

By: News On 6

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (AP) _ Scott Verplank fully realizes that being at the top can be a fleeting thing. When his name popped up atop the leaderboard Thursday at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he captured the moment.

``I just told my caddie to get the camera out and take a picture and we'll go from there,'' Verplank said with a grin after his 6-under 66 gave him a share of the second-round lead with Justin Rose.

Rose holed a pair of bunker shots on his way to a 65.

The front-runners agreed that a lead after two days of the five-day Hope marathon doesn't mean much.

``I don't think you can get too excited about 36 holes in a 72-hole tournament, let alone _ I don't even know how many holes it is,'' Rose said. ``Ninety, is it?''

It is indeed, with the first four days a pro-am played at four courses. Sunday's final round, with the 70 low-scoring pros and ties, will be at the Classic Club.

Verplank seemed headed off the course with the second-round lead in tow, but he bogeyed the final hole _ his first bogey of the tournament _ to fall back into a tie.

The first question fired at him when he finished was about the bogey.

``I only had one screw-up in two days and you want to know about that first,'' Verplank said, shaking his head and chuckling.

Verplank began the day on the back nine at the Classic Club, so he closed on the 595-yard, par-5 ninth. His second shot, out of the rough, wound up wet.

``It just didn't come out like I thought it was going to, and it was a little bit right of where I was aiming. It hit the hill and overran and went into the water,'' he said. ``I dropped the ball into a bad lie and I hit another bad shot.

``At that point, I was just ready to get done. The only thing that made me mad was how I left this 30-foot putt for par about 5 feet short. I was not happy about that.''

The 42-year-old Verplank, who tied for second last year, is looking for his fifth tour title. But he hasn't won since the Canadian Open in 2001.

Rose, a 26-year-old who was born in South Africa and grew up in England, tied for 10th in the 2006 Hope.

During the second round this time, he knocked in his bunker shot for an eagle on the par-5, 516-yard fifth at La Quinta Country Club, then duplicated it with another out of the sand for a birdie on the par-3, 202-yard 12th.

``I obviously was very pleased with the way I played,'' he said.

First-round leader Robert Allenby followed his opening 63 with a 70 and was tied for third at 11 under with tour rookie Johnson Wagner. Wagner had a 67.

Phil Mickelson, in his first event of the year, bogeyed the last two holes and shot his second consecutive 70, leaving him eight shots behind the leaders.

``I'm enjoying it, and I'm starting to hit some good shots,'' said Mickelson, the tournament champion in 2002 and 2004. ``I just haven't scored.

``I think that's the last piece to come around after a long layoff, getting those little shots around the green and getting your putts to go in.''

Defending champion Chad Campbell stumbled to a 74 at La Quinta, dropping him 12 strokes back at even par.