Wadkins Takes Lead With 65 : Golf: Kite and Beck are three strokes back in the Tournament of Champions.

Lanny Wadkins likes to play fast and get off to a fast start every year. But the 41-year-old veteran didn’t play as fast as he usually does in the opening round of the Infiniti Tournament of Champions Thursday at La Costa.

The moderate to light rain made him a bit more deliberate.

However, he got a jump on the new year by shooting a seven-under-par 65 to lead Tom Kite and Chip Beck by three strokes.

Wadkins, who has been on the PGA Tour since 1971, has recorded 11 of his 19 victories early in the season.

“I always place a lot of emphasis on getting a good start,” Wadkins said. “There’s also more of a fear of failing than anything else, and that motivates you to work a little harder and get after it.”

Wadkins said he has been successful as both a leader and coming from behind in his career.

And the wet weather didn’t bother him. “It wasn’t that bad; it never rained that hard,” he said. “Some can play in rain, some can’t.”

Wadkins said he putted well all day, and that might be an understatement. He had eight birdies and one bogey. Four of his birdie putts ranged between 15 and 40 feet.

He said he almost holed out a sand wedge on the 15th green, the ball spinning back 2 1/2 feet for an easy birdie opportunity.

Wadkins, who is fifth on the career money-winning list and the T. of C. champion in 1982 and ‘83, said his goals are to win “another major or two” and play on the Ryder Cup team again.

A member of six Ryder Cup teams, he said he enjoys the camaraderie of playing with some of his fellow pros instead of always trying to beat them.

It was a good day for Kite, another 41-year-old pro, who was born on Dec. 9, 1949, five days after Wadkins.

Kite, the tour’s all-time money-winning leader with earnings of $6,258,893, shot a 68. He had six birdies and two bogeys.

“I was pleased with the 68. I had no clue what to expect,” said Kite, who added that he hadn’t played a competitive round since the Nabisco Championships in late October.

Kite said the main reason for his layoff was a tendinitis condition in his left elbow that needed time for rehabilitation.

Kite was the player of the year in 1989 when he was the leading money-winner. Last year he finished 15th on the earnings list and won only one tournament.

“It was not what I anticipated,” Kite said of 1990. “It really was one of the first times that I didn’t perform like I should have.

“I was not satisfied. I think I lost sight of what it takes to play good out here. I got a little lazy for me. I got swing-conscious and was thinking about the mechanics and not the scoring part of the game, and consequently my short game went to pot.

“I didn’t putt or chip well, and those are some of the things that I’ve always done very well.”

Kite, who has 14 victories in a career that began in 1972, said he has dedicated himself in 1991 to having his best year.

Beck, 34, who also shot a 68, said he has revamped his swing.

“I hit the ball much better last year than I did the year before,” he said. “I believe it’s really coming around for me.”

Beck was 17th on the money list in 1990 and has three victories in 11 years on the tour.

Wayne Grady shot a 69. Paul Azinger, the defending champion, was nine shots behind Wadkins with a 74.

* KITE’S FLIGHT

Sticking with the cross-handed putting style he tried in 1989, Tom Kite shot a first-round 68 in the T of C. C7A