JESPER NOT NORMAL, BUT IMPROVING FIRST-ROUND 65 PUTS WACKY SWEDE IN THE LEAD, COMES AMID STRUGGLES.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Valentine's Day was a good day for Pink Pants Parnevik.

Jesper Parnevik, the outgoing Swede who nearly won the 2000 Nissan Open while wearing bright pink pants in the final round, was greeted by a crooning ape in a pink tutu Thursday after shooting his best round of the year.

The gorilla-costumed singer, hired by Parnevik's wife, Mia, belted out a rendition of ``Close to You,'' on the practice range, with several touring pros chiming in to help celebrate the romantic moment.

Even workaholic Vijay Singh stopped hitting golf balls long enough to enjoy the occasion, which ended with Parnevik's golf bag festooned with pink balloons.

Parnevik loved it as much as his breakthrough round of 6-under-par 65, which gave him the early lead at revamped Riviera Country Club.

He might have expected a show of affection from his wife, who presented Parnevik with the couple's first son, Phoenix, just before last year's Nissan.

But that opening 65 came out of the blue for the slender Swede with the trademark upturned cap bill. He has been fighting through the worst slump he can remember - a struggle more notable for his tenacity than any marked improvement before Thursday.

``It's been unbelievably bad - I didn't think I'd ever play this badly,'' said Parnevik, who nearly won two British Opens in the 1990s but has missed two cuts in six starts this season and was a combined 10 over par entering the Nissan. ``I'm doing pretty much everything pretty badly - driving terribly, putting horribly.''

But hanging in there remarkably well.

Parnevik has not missed a PGA Tour event this season and arrived at Riviera planning to keep on playing until he solves his slump. The Nissan marks his seventh consecutive week on tour - his longest stretch ever - and he has committed for the next three weeks.

``I could end up playing 10 weeks in a row, which is pretty much unheard of,'' Parnevik said.

Or, he could wind up playing even longer.

``I had a bet with my caddie that we wouldn't take a week off until I won again,'' he said. ``It was looking like it could be a pretty long year.''

And then came Thursday's breakthrough round, which started with an eagle on No. 1 and included another eagle on No. 10 - where Parnevik drove the green on that 315-yard, par-4 hole and chipped into the cup from 25 feet.

By the time he finished, Parnevik had added four more birdies against two bogeys and was congratulating himself for his sudden tinkering with a game that had been good enough to produce 14 victories worldwide before this year.

The night before the Nissan started, he looked in a mirror and noticed he was not rotating his hips as much on his backswing as he had been before corrective hip surgery in 2000.

Parnevik concentrated on increasing his hip turn Thursday and noticed an immediate improvement in distance: ``I hit it 30 yards farther today.''

There was also a rash change to left-hand-down putting, another late Wednesday decision, even though Parnevik said he ``had to suck my stomach in'' to avoid hitting his side with his left elbow.

``Desperate, desperate,'' he explained.

Then he holed a 20-foot eagle putt on his first try with the new putting style.

``Whatever is rock bottom for you is when you're going to try something different,'' said Billy Andrade, who shared second place after an opening 66. ``If he'd had missed that first putt or three-putted, he probably would have gone back.''

How long will the early Nissan leader stick with his new putting style?

``As long as it works,'' said Parnevik, perhaps remembering the classic explanation of European Ryder Cup teammate Nick Faldo, who briefly attempted left-hand-down putting but went back, saying, ``If I'm going to miss a putt, I want to look good doing it.''

So far, everything is looking good for Parnevik at Riviera, his game as well as a lengthened course that has been refurbished to restore the original look of six holes washed out by a 1939 flood.

``I love the changes to the golf course,'' he said.

And he especially loves finally finding his form after putting in so much time, sometimes 10 to 12 hours a day, attempting to regain it.

``I've been working very hard this year trying to get back,'' he said, ``because I hate not playing good golf.''

Not a problem so far at Riviera.

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Photo:

(color) Jesper Parnevik fires a tee shot at No. 12 during his 6-under-par first round at Riviera Country Club on Thursday.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer