American Express co-leader Rico Hoey recalls his junior golf days in the desert

Posted by Admin January 18, 2025 Golf

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Rico Hoey has played in The American Express golf event in La Quinta just once, missing the cut last year. But his history of golf in the desert goes back much deeper than that.

“I remember growing up and when I was five and six, like there was a tour called the CV tour, the Coachella Valley Tour,” said Hoey, who grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, about 90 minutes from the Coachella Valley. “I played those one-day events and even SCPGA, SCGA stuff.

“The desert has been great to a lot of junior golfers, hosting a lot of tournament play, so coming back as a pro now and reminiscing on some of the old days that I used to do,” he said.

Hoey made some fresh memories Friday, shooting a 9-under 63 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West to share the second-round lead with Charley Hoffman at 16 under.

“I wish we were playing like four rounds out here. Yeah, I just like Nicklaus,” Hoey said. “I played a lot of junior events out here, so just feels like I’m home and just, yeah, it’s great. Weather’s awesome, so we don’t really have too many tough conditions with the wind and whatnot. Made it a lot easier to score.”

Hoey also had a good playing partner for the first two rounds in J.J. Spaun.

“I love playing with J.J. He hits the ball great, he putts it really great too, so everything he does is awesome,” Hoey said. “For me watching it firsthand up close, it’s pretty cool. He’s just striping it, so I’m like, alright, it makes the target a lot easier knowing the guy’s inside 15 feet every hole, so it’s like, ‘all right, there’s a lot of room there.’”

A tough course

The Stadium Course at PGA West is playing to a 71.9 average, more than four shots higher than the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West this week. But Sepp Straka managed an 8-under 64 on the Stadium Course on Friday and is just one shot out of the lead at The American Express.

The key to Straka’s round was two separate runs of three consecutive birdies, one on the front nine and one on the back nine.

“That was really nice. Any time you can make a turke,y it’s good, especially on a golf course like that,” he said. “Yeah, there’s zero wind, so if you hit good shots you can definitely get yourself some birdie looks. The greens are really firm because they’re new, and that made it tough to get it close. Yeah, fortunate I was able to make some putts when I got it close.”

Cowboy, not Sooner

When Rickie Fowler was walking on the 10th hole of the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West to start his second round Friday, a fan shouted out,” Hey, Rickie, Boomer Sooner.”

Fowler didn’t respond, which figures, since Boomer Sooner is the cry for the University of Oklahoma, and Fowler actually played his college golf at Oklahoma State. Fowler went on to tie the low score of the week with a bogey-free 62 on the Nicklaus Course to move into contention.

“Body felt a little better today, freed up a little bit more. Good to have the first round out of the way after a bit of time off,” said Fowler, who opened with a 69 at La Quinta Country Club. “Haven’t played a whole lot since July, a few tournaments in the fall, and get back at it here. A lot of good stuff at home, and had some good finishes in the fall, so I was just looking to kind of get back and get going from that. So a little rusty yesterday, but a lot of good stuff today. See if we can just continue riding that from here on out.”