Headset Set Wins Another : Golf: Jacobsen shoots 65 at Pebble Beach for tournament-record total of 271 and his first victory in five years.

By THOMAS BONK

Feb. 6, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PEBBLE BEACH —

Want to surf Carmel Bay, commune with the sea gulls and win the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am? Well, get out of that television booth.

Last year, it was 46-year-old Johnny Miller who put down his microphone to win, and Sunday it was the turn of 40-year-old Peter Jacobsen, the sometimes TV commentator who produced an entire reel of highlights on the Pebble Beach course.

What Jacobsen the commentator might have said about Jacobsen the player Sunday was: “Can you believe it?”

After not winning a tournament in five years, Jacobsen basically came out of nowhere to shoot a closing-round 65 and set a tournament scoring record of 271, 17-under par.

Jacobsen’s margin of victory was two shots over David Duval, 23, who would have had the out-of-nowhere honors wrapped up if not for Jacobsen.

“I knew I’d win again,” Jacobsen said. “To come down here and (win) at Pebble Beach, it’s a dream come true.”

Anyone who thought Jacobsen would be a threat to win here was dreaming. There wasn’t much to indicate that Jacobsen was going to make himself about as much at home around Pebble Beach as the Spanish moss hanging from the cypress trees.

In his two previous outings, Jacobsen finished tied for 47th in Hawaii and missed the cut at Phoenix.

Tom Watson set the previous record with a 273 total in 1977 and Watson didn’t have the advantage that Jacobsen did of being able to lift, clean and place the ball in the fairway at Pebble Beach.

Jacobsen said his record score deserved an asterisk.

“I’m not delirious enough to think I’m in Tom Watson’s league,” Jacobsen said.

No, the way he played Sunday, Jacobsen was in Ben Hogan’s league. From the start, he was off and running with birdies on the first three holes and four of the first six.

By then, Jacobsen knew things were going to go his way.

“I had a good feeling,” he said.

Jacobsen wound up playing 36 holes at Pebble Beach without a bogey.

“For me, that’s Hall of Fame stuff,” he said.

There wasn’t anyone within two shots of Jacobsen after the 11th hole, when he drilled a nine-iron to six feet and rolled in the putt.

Third-round leader Kenny Perry could do no better than par 72 and finished in a tie for third at 275 with Davis Love III, who closed with a 68.

Love eagled the 516-yard No. 6 when he delivered a four-iron from 214 yards to within two feet, but bogeys on two of the last three holes cost him.

When he thought about it, Love wasn’t sure he would have been able to catch Jacobsen anyway.

“If I had done everything right, I might have had a chance,” Love said. “But he shot 65. You shoot that kind of score, you’re going to win.”

Duval, who will turn 24 Thursday, is a former Georgia Tech All-American who turned pro in 1993. He shot 67-67-67 his last three rounds for a 273 total and his best finish.

“I feel wonderful,” he said. “I feel I played well enough to have a chance to win, but Peter played spectacularly.

“He drove it on the fairway, he hit it on the greens and he made the putts. What else is there?”

Not much, apparently. Jacobsen’s first victory since the 1990 Bob Hope Classic was worth $252,000 and might have signaled the return to prominence of one of the tour’s most popular players.

It wasn’t that long ago that Jacobsen seemed on his way off the course and up into the television booth for good. Jacobsen’s father died in 1992 and Jacobsen said he lost his desire to play.

He finished 127th on the money list in 1992 and lost his tour card, so Jacobsen played under sponsors’ exemptions in 1993 and got his card back, splitting his time between playing and working in the booth for ABC.

“It was too early to see him back up there in the TV trailer,” Love said. “When his dad died, he lost a little focus, like what happened to me. It’s tough. You’ve got to live your life as well as play golf and sometimes it’s not a lot of fun.”

In any event, Jacobsen knew that he needed to play again. He thought he could beat the guys he was talking about, but that wasn’t the only reason.

“Putting on a coat and tie and sitting in a booth and watching a monitor and having some director scream into your ear, that’s motivation right there,” Jacobsen said.

And now he knows he isn’t done playing yet. He has developed tunnel vision.

Tunnel vision?

“When you’re 40 years old and you look at the end of the tunnel, you want to extend that tunnel,” Jacobsen said. “You want to keep playing.”

After what happened Sunday, who can blame him? That TV booth might stay empty for a while.

The duo of pro Bruce Vaughan and amateur Masashi Yamada, a Japanese businessman, won the team competition with a 37-under 251. Scott Simpson and Bill Murray, who attracted the loudest crowds and biggest laughs throughout the weekend, were eight strokes back.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

FINAL SCORES

Player: Peter Jacobsen

Score: 67-73-66-65--271

Player: David Duval

Score: 72-67-67-67--273

Player: Kenny Perry

Score: 68-68-67-72--275

Player: Davis Love III

Score: 65-71-71-68--275

Player: Payne Stewart

Score: 71-67-69-70--277