Tom Pernice Jr. and celebs finding their way at Legends of Golf
While Justin Timberlake and other celebrities got most of the attention from fans on Saturday during a shootout at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, a Kansas City native was thriving in the official PGA Tour Champions tournament.
Tom Pernice Jr. and his partner, Scott Hoch, shot 6-under 48 while twice playing the par-3, nine-hole Top of the Rock course.
Pernice and Hoch, who played the par-71 Ozarks National course on Friday, are at 15-under after two rounds. They are 3 shots ahead of the teams of Jesper Parnevik and Jeff Maggert, who shot 62 at Ozarks National, and Paul Goydos and Kevin Sutherland, who had a 66 at Ozarks National.
Pernice and Hoch had five birdies on their first nine holes, when the wind wasn’t as bad as it was later in their round.
“The wind was not as gusty as it was in the afternoon and you could control your ball against the wind a little bit better,” Pernice said.
We were both hitting some pretty Good iron shots and we were able to capitalize on that.”
Hoch said he and Pernice are having success as a team even though Pernice is more serious about the game.
“He just goes and does his thing,” Hoch said. “He’s into it. He concentrates hard. And hey, I like to have a good time and hopefully if I’m playing well, I have a good time. But we’re working well because he’s helping me a lot.”
This is the first time Pernice and Hoch have played together in a team event.
“It’s nice,” Pernice said. “Scott and I go way back. We played the Tour together, we traveled all around the world. We went to Korea and played some tournaments and spent some time together. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s always a pleasure playing with somebody that’s such a good iron player as he is.”
Kansas City’s Tom Watson and Andy North shot 4-over 76 at Ozarks National and were at even-par after 36 holes.
The event continues Sunday with the Champions Tour pros playing 18 holes and the celebrities taking part in a nine-hole competition, all at Top of the Rock.