Weiskopf Familiar with Place : Golf: He began playing in this tournament 25 years ago. Now, Weiskopf plans to go back and create more memories at this event.

The name has changed, but 25 years ago when they began playing this professional golf tournament at Torrey Pines, the first person to throw his arms up in victory was Tom Weiskopf.

An eagle on No. 18. His first Tour victory. Beat Jack Nicklaus by four strokes, Ray Floyd by two and Al Geiberger by one. The grand old days.

“I can tell you every shot,” said Weiskopf, who will begin play on the North Course today in the first round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. “I jumped up in the air, and I can still remember, I was just so overwhelmed. It was the first one.”

“You remember all the hard times, you remember all the good times. And then of course you feel like you are at that moment the most important guy of the week. And you don’t think it’s ever going to be anything but that, but then life goes on from there.”

The hair is a little thinner, and it’s now Buick rather than Andy Williams’ tournament, but nothing really has changed.

It’s still Torrey Pines, and after 15 Tour victories and $2,249,955 in prize money, Weiskopf is starting over where it first began.

“I’m always a very honest guy,” Weiskopf said. “It would be a miracle for me to win right now at this particular stage. If I can prepare myself, like I know I have to, and just give myself some time, I’m still very capable.

“Right now? I haven’t played enough and I’m not prepared like I would like to be.”

The man who would beat Arnie and Jack and Lee, and everyone else who thought themselves a champion, won the British Open in 1973. He won $151,821 in 1982, including the Western Open, and then plummeted from the leader boards.

“I’ve played in 10 tournaments since 1984,” Weiskopf said. “I just didn’t want to compete anymore. I didn’t want to make the effort to stay competitive, and it’s an effort, the requirement of practice, the requirement of motivation.

“I needed to pursue something else because I was going nowhere in my happiness. I just felt like I was going nowhere in the game. I had two teen-agers I wanted to spend some time with, and I always wanted to pursue golf course architecture, which I have done. I just didn’t want to be a golfer all my life.”

Weiskopf walked off the fairways and became a TV commentator and a successful golf architect. He didn’t touch a golf club for 18 months at one stretch.

“I have a boy who is a freshman in college,” Weiskopf said. “Actually he got me started back in golf about three years ago. I’d go months without playing.

“He said, ‘you know, dad, I’ve read and heard so much about you. I want to see you play. I want to play with you.’ That’s all it was. I wanted to show him how to play the game. I wanted to get him started. In doing so, it became fun again.”

Eric Weiskopf has gone on now to play golf to a two handicap at Ohio State--his father’s alma mater--and Tom Weiskopf is preparing his game for the Seniors Tour. On Nov. 9, that young kid who won the Andy Williams San Diego Open, turns 50, and how old does that make you?

“It was very easy for me to play this game; I had a lot of ability,” Weiskopf said. “But when it concerns your happiness and maybe even your well-being, (leaving) was the best thing I did.

“Now I have another opportunity and I’m going to try and make the best of it as patiently as I can. I guess I wish before ’82 I would have practiced harder or done a few more things differently, but that’s the way I was.

“All I know is I have two wonderful kids; there have been no problems. I’ve been married for 25 years. Great friends. Successful business and I had a successful career. And I can still play, still play that game that has done so much for me.”

Weiskopf had a reputation for allowing his temper to get the best of him during his heyday, and while always opinionated, he was not always the most approachable after a poor round of golf.

“I have worn many hats,” Weiskopf said with a grin. “I was very tough on myself. I was what you would classify a heavy. I was just very intense, very demanding, and I didn’t look around very much and see what was happening around me. I wasn’t aware of what this arena is like that you’re in.

“After you’ve been out of it awhile it’s pretty to easy to see, yeah, I could look back and see a lot of mistakes and better ways to do things. But that’s all part of growing up.”

A grown-up Weiskopf joins a field of 156 for the four-round Buick Invitational, which will be played over the North and South courses the first two days. Saturday and Sunday the tournament will confine itself to the longer South Course.

“The course is playing long,” said Fred Couples, the PGA player of the year in 1991. “Sunday there won’t be 15 guys with a chance to win (as there have been in the past). I would think four-under a day would be pretty good.

“I just don’t see anyone shooting under 65 on the South Course. On the last day in the past you’ve had to shoot 65 or 66 to win because there are so many guys in contention. I can see this year shooting 68 on the last day to win because there won’t be so many guys with a chance to win because the course is playing longer and harder.”

Defending champion Jay Don Blake, who posted a 20-under 268 to claim his first Tour victory in last year’s Shearson Lehman Brothers Open, placed fourth last week in the Northern Telecom Open in Tuscon.

A frustrated Blake had thrown his putter into a pond while playing golf shortly before his visit to Torrey, and he credited a new-found putter with his success. He shot back-to-back 67s for a two-stroke victory over runner-up Bill Sander and earned $180,000.

Phil Mickelson, a San Diego standout junior golf who is now a senior at Arizona State, won the 1991 event in Tucson, and has chosen this hometown event as one of his five designated professional tournament appearances this year. Kevin Riley, a sophomore at San Diego State who attended Madison High School, earned admission to the tournament with a 68 in the amateur qualifying tournament.

Floyd, who like Weiskopf becomes eligible for the Seniors Tour this year, was scheduled to play here, but was forced to withdraw when he learned his home in Florida suffered extensive fire damage. Tom Purtzer also withdrew because of a back injury.

John Cook, who has already claimed victories in the Bob Hope Classic and the Hawaiian Open this season, joins big-hitting John Daly and popular Ben Crenshaw as top draws in the tournament.

“I think because of the equipment that the guys have available to them,” Weiskopf said, “I really doubt whether there is ever going to be a dominant player. It has equalized the game too much.

“It’s a different game now. I enjoy watching these guys play. What amazes me is the hardest thing to do is hit the ball straight, and that’s all they do. They don’t move it around like we did. They are better players, although you really can’t compare. I just know these guys shoot some scores that I can’t believe.”

BUICK INVITATIONAL

Site--Torrey Pines

Time--Tee times beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday; Tee times beginning at 8:15 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

TV--Channel 39 (1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday)

Purse--$1 million, with winner receiving $180,000

Defending champion--Jay Don Blake (20-under-par 268)

Top players--Ben Crenshaw, John Daley, Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson

Admission--Daily tickets $15; juniors (17 and younger) $2

General parking--Torrey Pines Glider Port, $3