LA QUINTA — Pat Perez roared past the previous marks in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic's record book Thursday and didn't stop until he grabbed a few PGA Tour all-time marks, as well.

With a birdie on his final hole, Perez etched his name into the PGA Tour annals with a two-day score of 20-under 124. That's the lowest score for the first two rounds in the history of the PGA Tour, and it ties the tour's record for scoring in consecutive rounds set by Mark Calcavecchia in the second and third rounds of the Phoenix Open in 2001.

“It doesn't really mean anything,” Perez said of the Tour records. “It's nice. It means you can get hot for two days. I would like to have all kinds of records at the end of the week. Three-day, four-day, five-day, you know, the trophy, Vegas, booze, all that stuff. That's what I want.”

But even with a tour record in his bag, Perez couldn't shake the low-scoring Hope field. Briny Baird is two shots behind entering today's third round, matching Perez's 63 on Thursday on the Jack Nicklaus Private Course. That put Baird at 18-under 126, tying the old tournament mark for 36 holes set by Joe Durant in 2001.

Durant won that 2001 tournament at 36-under, a record that seems in serious jeopardy as pros start the third round today.

“What's the cut going to be, 16, 17?” Perez said. “I think (a friend) actually asked me if 40 (under) is in play. And I said if there is no wind, I don't know. That's awful low, but I definitely think it's going to be mid-30s.”

David Berganio Jr., who lost the Hope in a playoff in 2002 to Phil Mickelson, is third at 17 under after a 64 on the Palmer Course at PGA West. Four players, Richard S. Johnson, Tom Pernice Jr., Chris Stroud and Jason Dufner, are all at 16 under, four shots back.

Perez's play has been so spectacular that when he parred the 15th, 16th and 17th holes Thursday, it was the first time in the first two rounds he had gone three holes without a birdie.

“That's pretty awesome, it really is,” Baird said of Perez's start. “I don't care how easy the conditions are or how easy they set up a golf course, that's a heck of a lot of birdies and you're doing a heck of a lot of things right.”

What Perez did right Thursday was make some longer putts for birdies and to save par, putts he didn't face Wednesday when he seemed to hit the ball at the flag on every hole of the Palmer Course. Perez said it was his putting that carried the rest of his game Thursday.

“When you putt well, you don't have to worry about hitting it three feet every hole,” Perez said. “So I don't have to play at every pin. I can play just right or just left. I know I can make it.”

Perez was never close to a bogey Thursday, making nine pars and nine birdies a day after making 10 birdies and an eagle in his opening round.

“I just played two of the best rounds I ever played in a row,” Perez said.

But he said he's still not surprised by his play, because he's played so well in the months leading up to the tour. He's been working on his game at Madison Club in La Quinta for much of that time.

“I worked like hell this offseason. So this is kind of what I expected when I got here,” he said.

Baird's second 63 of the week was punctuated by a hole in one on the 146-yard seventh hole. Baird hit a 9-iron that skipped behind the hole and then spun back into the cup. He added eight other birdies and even had a bogey on the par-5 fourth hole.

“It's the conditions. It's everything factored in,” Baird said. “It's the wind. When the wind howled today, it howled 2 mph.”

Baird also said the greens, rolling well but perhaps a bit slower than in past Hopes, made for good scoring.

“I think that early in my round (Wednesday) I was not quite used to them and I really struggled getting the ball to the hole,” Baird said. “And I like to say I made a second-half adjustment when I made the turn.”

The putting confidence stayed with Baird on Thursday, when he made putts of 20 and 25 feet for birdies on his first two holes.

Perez, Baird and the other top players in the field now leave PGA West for the next two days, to play Bermuda Dunes and SilverRock Resort. Perez said the rotation changes shouldn't matter.

“I shot 61 at Bermuda Dunes, so I'm not afraid of that place,” he said. “SilverRock, I only played once, but there are so many low scores coming out of there. Pins are right in the middle, moved some tees up on the par-5s. You can land a 747 on some of those fairways.”

But Baird said it is unlikely the leaders will continue the same torrid pace of the first 36 holes.

“Typically, you don't look for a leader to continue that same ridiculous pace,” Baird said. “It's not going to be 50 under par, you know.”