NISSAN OPEN NOTEBOOK: WALDORF AT HOME.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Duffy Waldorf goes into his 18th Nissan Open playing some of the best golf in years, which might be good news and bad news for the former Taft High of Woodland Hills golfer, who went on to become college player of the year in 1985 at UCLA.

``It's great to come home,'' he said of playing in the Nissan event at Riviera Country Club. ``But for me it's one of the hardest tournaments of the year, with the extra attention and extra friends who want to come out, and being at home. I have the responsibilities of home, too, and there's just more going on.''

He'll take on all the distractions happily, though, playing as well as he is going into this week's homecoming. Waldorf, slimmed down considerably since last season, has not placed worse than 36th in four starts this year, finishing fifth at the FBR Open and tied for fourth Sunday at the Buick Invitational at La Jolla, where he came within a lipped-out birdie putt on the final hole of getting into a playoff.

``The game is about as good as it's been in a while, it really is,''he said. ``It's probably as good as it's been going into (the Nissan), which is always nice.''

Waldorf, a four-time tour winner, never has finished better than ninth at the Nissan (formerly called the Los Angeles Open), but he comes in this week encouraged about his improved short game.

``I've got some new wedges I think are working,'' said Waldorf, who has focused on that area of his game. ``I've been a little better around the greens this year, and I've been hitting the ball well. Hitting comes and goes and it's important, but in the end, for me, if my short game is there, I'm going to be around at making cuts and having a chance.''

--Berganio back: David Berganio Jr. returns to PGA Tour play this week after an eight-month absence because of a bulging disc. The Sylmar resident and former Alemany High of Mission Hills standout, who won 1991 and 1993 U.S. Amateur Public Links titles, was limited to 15 PGA Tour starts last year and has not played since a first-round withdrawal from the FedEx St. Jude Classic in late June. He received a major medical extension for the 2004 tour season and has the opportunity to play in 14 events to earn $363,430.

--Proven mudder: Robert Allenby, who won the 2001 Nissan Open in a six-man playoff, returns to Riviera this week and the weather might be to his liking. Rain is expected, and Allenby pulled off one of the best shots of the tournament during a rainstorm at Riviera three years ago, when his 3-wood shot on the uphill 18th set up a birdie that lifted the Australian past Brandel Chamblee, Toshi Izawa, Dennis Paulson, Jeff Sluman and Bob Tway on the first playoff hole.

--Golden oldie: By his recollection, Jay Haas will be competing in his ``24th or 25th'' Nissan Open this week, when he returns to the former Los Angeles Open, which has undergone three name changes since he first showed up in 1977 as an alternate who wound up not playing.

``No, no, I never thought I'd be playing this long,'' said Haas, who became eligible to play on the age-50-and-over Champions Tour in December but remains so competitive on the PGA Tour that he nearly got in a playoff at last week's Buick Invitational.

``I guess I felt I'd play to my early 40s or something,'' he said of any career musings he might have undergone waiting for an opening as a 23-year-old alternate at the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open in 1977. ``There was no such thing as a senior tour or Champions Tour then. I was just trying to keep my head above water and maybe put a little cash away. It's been a great run.''

And one that's not slowing down much, either.

Haas finished second by two strokes in last year's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, missed a two-way playoff by a stroke in a third-place finish at this year's Hope and just missed a playoff-qualifying eagle on his final hole at the Buick Invitational, when his approach shot spun back over the edge of the cup.

The nine-time tour winner is not merely making cuts - 22 of his past 28 - he's contending to win at an age when most of the players who started on tour with him are on the Champions Tour or out of professional golf.

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