LOS ANGELES OPEN : A Year Ago, Schulz Was Just Cutting Up : Golf: Then he won at Riviera and went on to finish 29th on PGA Tour money list.

By MAL FLORENCE

Feb. 27, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

When Ted Schulz came to the Nissan Los Angeles Open last year, he wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence.

He had missed four cuts in a row and was putting poorly.

“Last year, coming here, I didn’t feel good at all,” Schulz said. “But I started playing well, and when I got to the middle of the third round, I had a feeling I could do it. I got more confidence as I went along.”

Schulz had four rounds in the 60s with a final round of 68 to beat Jeff Sluman by one stroke.

Schulz said he feels comfortable at Riviera and that the course sets up well for his game.

Odds, though, are against his repeating as champion in the 66th edition of the event that begins today. Arnold Palmer was the last player to win consecutive titles, in 1966-67 when the L.A. Open was held at Rancho Park.

Ben Hogan is the only player to win consecutive titles at Riviera, in 1947-48.

“It’s hard to repeat anywhere,” Schulz said. “It’s hard to win a tournament period. You have to have so many breaks. There are so many things you don’t have control over.”

Schulz, 32, won the 1989 Southern Open for his only other PGA Tour victory. He finished 29th on the money list last year and is currently 63rd.

“I’ve made every cut, but I haven’t had a real good tournament,” he said. “I’ve been 30th to 50th every week. Of course, that’s better than last year coming in here, when I had missed four cuts in a row.”

Even though there is parity on the tour, Schulz says there are still levels that separate the top players from the others.

“Look at the guys who have won this year, a lot of them are Ryder Cup players,” he said, referring to Mark Calcavecchia, Mark O’Meara and Steve Pate. “There is a select group out there.

“When I’m playing with confidence, I feel I can play with those guys, but I’m not doing it consistently. I’m not a top 10 player, (money list in 1991), so I’m a notch below.

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel that I can beat them in a given tournament. I feel I’m close to playing good, but I haven’t got it going yet. I feel pretty confident this week, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to win.”

Schulz said there are courses on which he doesn’t feel he has a chance to win. Riviera isn’t among them.

“I really love the course,” he said. “I know what I’m hitting on each hole. A lot of decisions have already been made.”

“I’d like to shoot my 12 under again and take my chances.”

Schulz, who grew up in Louisville, Ky., wasn’t a phenomenal player as a youngster, such as Tiger Woods.

“When I was 15, I was working in my dad’s grocery store,” he said. “I wanted to be a baseball player. I couldn’t make my high school team, nor my college team until I was a junior.”

He worked at the Bermuda Dunes driving range in 1984 and joined the tour in 1987. He finished 190th on the money list and lost his tour card. He was back again in 1989.

Schulz acknowledged there was an intimidation factor a few years ago while playing with some of the game’s best players.

“In the first five or six tournaments in 1989, I had a chance to win every one of them,” he recalled. “And in every tournament I was paired with guys like Tom Kite, Paul Azinger or Tom Watson.

“I was nervous playing with those guys, but as the year went on, I had done it so much I got used to it. Watson was always my idol as a kid. I even tried to swing like him.”

Now, another youngster, 16-year-old Tiger Woods, is playing in his first tour event.

Said Schulz: “I think it’s neat that he got in. He’ll be a drawing card and people will want to watch him play.”

Woods, asked if he believed he would be intimidated, said:

“By who? It’s not that big of a tournament. It’s not like the Masters, or U.S. Open. It’s a regular tour event. And I’m just the local hero, or guy.”

His plans for Wednesday night?

“I’ll get a cheeseburger, some fries, a milkshake, do some homework and go to bed,” Woods said.

Woods will tee off at 8:28 today and is paired with Dicky Thompson and Robert Friend, son of former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Bob Friend.

“That’s perfect,” he said. “School (Western High) starts about eight. I’d be in math class.”

Golf Notes

Gary Hallberg, who played with Tiger Woods in Wednesday’s pro-am, said that Woods has no weaknesses. “You can’t give him any advice,” Hallberg said. “He’ll learn by experience.” . . . Said Woods: “The galleries today were bigger than the biggest junior tournament that I’ve played in and it was only a practice round.” Asked what his feeling was when he stood on the first tee, Woods said: “I had the wrong club, I usually don’t hit a driver on that hole, usually a three-wood. So I went out of bounds” . . . Woods said he shot a 76.

Woods said he was practicing in his garage during the recent storm: “I found out I wasn’t making a full turn on my backswing. I practice every time I can. If I don’t have any homework, I’ll rush to the course and practice before it gets dark and I can’t see the ball anymore.”

Woods, 6 feet 1 and 140 pounds, said he isn’t ready to become a pro. “I have a lot of growing to do, physically and mentally. I have to put on some weight.”