Celebrities Kick Off Tournament Week

Will Jack Wagner, who plays Dr. Peter Burns on the TV show “Melrose Place,” end up with Amanda Woodward, played by Heather Locklear?

Will the female lawyer who represents Amanda’s current boyfriend forgive Burns for looking through her briefcase in the middle of the night?

Will Burns end his medical partnership with Dr. Michael Mancini, whom he despises?

Will Burns ever be able to make his par-three on the 236-yard fourth hole at Riviera Country Club?

Will Wagner? He is a lot more concerned about that par-three, to be completely honest, which is something Dr. Peter Burns is not.

The golf plot at Riviera has more twists and turns than a branch on a eucalyptus, or maybe as many as “Melrose Place,” which Wagner calls home.

“Melrose is really rocking,” Wagner said. “There’s a lot of heat around it.”

Beginning this morning, Riviera’s temperature begins to rise too. Wagner and a group of celebrity golfers start Nissan Open week with a celebrity-amateur tournament. Among those scheduled to play are James Woods, Joe Pesci, Peter Falk, Sugar Ray Leonard, Susan Anton, Morgan Brittany, Joe Mantegna, Mikael Chiklis and Buddy Hackett.

Wagner is a two-time Bel-Air Country Club champion, plays to a one-handicap and competes as a pro on the Celebrity Golf Assn. Tour when he isn’t up to something bad on “Melrose Place.”

Last week, Wagner played in a celebrity tour event in Miami and described in colorful words how he played.

“Like a dog,” he said.

Despite Wagner’s visibility on the Fox network show as the duplicitous Dr. Burns, he said he usually hears about other subjects from the gallery when he is on the golf course.

“I get more golf comments than character comments,” Wagner said. “They say I probably should take up tennis.”

Growing up in Washington, Mo., Wagner tagged along with his father, Peter, to play a nearby nine-hole course. When Jack wasn’t doing that, he was hitting golf balls in fields near his house.

Wagner went to the University of Arizona and, though not on the golf team, played golf when he wasn’t in theater classes. He teamed with John Cook to win the Pro-Am part of the 1989 AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and won a celebrity tour event in Austin, Texas, in 1994.

Off the course, Wagner tapes “Melrose Place” in Santa Clarita three or four days a week, sometimes five.

When taping halts in the summer, Wagner has time to stop acting and pick up the clubs in earnest.

“There’s no comparison between acting and golf,” he said. “That’s why you can’t make a successful golf movie, although they’re trying hard with ‘Tin Cup.’ Golf has always been kind of a breed of its own. You can’t capture or get a handle on the game on film . . . or in real life.”

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Time warped: It was no minor coincidence that Jack Nicklaus indicated last week he’s ending his major streak.

The last time Jack Nicklaus made the cut in all four majors in one year was five years ago. The last time he won a major was 10 years ago.

Nicklaus knows better than anyone that at age 56, he needs to reconsider his competitive schedule. He has played in every major since the 1962 Masters--136 in a row, but that remarkable streak probably is about to end.

He will play in the Masters in April and in his 40th consecutive U.S. Open in June, but Nicklaus said he probably won’t enter the British Open in July unless he is playing well.

The USGA gave Nicklaus a special exemption to play the U.S. Open this year, but Nicklaus said he doesn’t want another one. He prefers to play his way into the Open, if he decides to play at all, that is.

“I’m very proud of that 40th straight Open,” Nicklaus said. “I remember my first one in 1957. . . . A lot has changed since then.”

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Clothes horse: It had to happen, or did it? There was a new entry in the golf apparel business recently when touring pro Brett Ogle launched his own line--better make that a punch line.

The loud, cartoon-like shirts spoof golf, such as the one of a golfer kicking his ball out from behind a tree stump. The shirt is called “Line of Sight Relief.”

Ogle, a 6-foot-2, 147-pound Australian, is known for his humor. He once referred to himself as a “one-iron with ears.”

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Golf Notes

Spectators who contribute a new or used golf club to the Clubs for Kids program will be admitted free to Riviera Country Club for the Nissan Open Celebrity-Am today and to the pro-am Wednesday. . . . The Corey Pavin golf classic will be played Feb. 26 at Las Posas Country Club in Camarillo. The event benefits Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Details: (805) 485-6114. . . . Qualifying for players over 50 will be held March 11 at Marbella Golf and Country Club in San Juan Capistrano to fill four places in the field of the $1-million Toshiba Senior Classic. Lee Trevino, Jim Colbert and Dave Stockton headline the Senior PGA Tour event that begins March 15 at Newport Beach Country Club. Details: (714) 646-9007.

The first Tony Bennett Celebrity Pro-Am will be played March 4 at North Ranch in Westlake Village. The event, which benefits the National Easter Seal Society, will include 25 LPGA pros, 25 celebrities and 75 amateurs. Details: (800) 436-3726. . . . The seventh Southern California PGA’s Golf Expo will be March 8-10 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Details: (714) 999-8900. . . . A Pair of Jacks Open celebrity golf tournament, hosted by executives Jack Faulkner of the St. Louis Rams and Jack Ferreira of the Mighty Ducks, will be played April 1 at Los Coyotes in Buena Park. The event benefits the American Diabetes Foundation. Details: (714) 662-7940.

The British Open increased its prize money $226,500 to $2.11 million and increased the winner’s share $113,250 to $302,000. . . . Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will receive the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism at the Golf Writers Assn. of America annual spring awards ceremony April 10 at Augusta, Ga. Jim Murray of The Times won the award in 1993.