LA QUINTA — Ben Crane was the first pro off the back tee at the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West on Wednesday. By the end of the day, Crane found himself in the record books.

With his 9-under-par 63, Crane set the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic course record at the the Nicklaus Course, which was added to the tournament for the first time this year.

Crane's 9-under performance places the former La Quinta resident in a tie for fourth place with five others, two strokes behind leader Pat Perez going into day two.

“This is my first round of the year, so coming out (I had) very low expectations,” Crane said. “I've been practicing very hard with my instructor and caddie, and we put a lot of effort in, but your certainly don't know how it's going to come out. Things came together a lot better than we thought.”

The 63 surprised Crane, and he was also unaware that he was the owner of the inaugural tournament course record.

“I'm very confident about my game right now ... but I certainly didn't have a target score of 63,” he said.

Crane put the round together by shooting par or better on every hole, including seven birdies, and culminating with an eagle on the 528-yard 13th hole that came on a 30-foot putt from just off the green.

“I parred the first few holes and I was happy that I was hitting some decent shots, and hit some decent putts that just didn't go in,” Crane said of the back nine. “Then all of a sudden I had a couple good shots there, and I was just off the green about four feet, and hit a nice putt and it went in.”

Although he now lives in Westlake, Texas, as a former La Quinta resident, Crane is familiar with all of the courses in the tournament.

Although this is the first year the tournament has used the Nicklaus Course, it's old hat for Crane.

“I played tour school here — that would be nine years ago, and I played a lot here,” he said. “My instructor used to be over here at the Jim McLean Golf School, so we used to come over here and play a bunch. So I played all these PGA West courses probably at least half a dozen times.”

Besides his familiarity with the course, Crane agreed with the conventional wisdom that by removing the Classic Club course from the tournament and replacing it with the Nicklaus Course, scores will drop.

“This course isn't quite as long as the Classic Club, and obviously you don't have the element of wind,” Crane said. “So if you're playing well, you're going to make a few more birdies over here.

“I remember at the Classic Club, I think I hit 5-woods and 4-irons and 3-irons into some par 4s, and you don't do that all that often out here.”