NELSON FINDS SENIOR TOUR NOT EASY ROAD TO RICHES; ROOKIE AMONG ELDERS TAKES TIME TO ADJUST.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer

Larry Nelson sensed he might go through a period of adjustment with the Senior PGA Tour.

He just didn't expect to start adjusting while still playing on the regular tour.

``It kind of got that way for me on the (PGA Tour) the last last four, five years,'' Nelson said. ``Everybody that I played with were either young enough to be my children or people that I didn't know that well.

``I would go in to eat lunch and I wouldn't know anybody sitting in there by first name. So actually coming over (to the senior tour) was an adjustment, but it was to the positive.''

He felt comfortable again as soon as he walked into his first senior locker room: Hello, Hale. Hello, Gil. Hello, Jack.

Then, Nelson launched into his real period of adjustment - trying to win on the senior tour:

Hello, Hale. Hello, Gil. Hello, Jack . . .

``Finishing in the top 10 was about what I thought it would be,'' Nelson said. ``Winning was a little more difficult.''

Hale Irwin, the reigning senior player of the year, could have told Nelson how tough it is at the top.

Few players were hotter than Irwin in his first full season of 1996, when he became the fastest senior to reach $1 million in career earnings, led the tour in earnings nearly all year and finished with 21 top-10s in 23 starts.

But Irwin won just twice that season and was caught in the stretch by late-charging Jim Colbert, who went on to earn the money title and a second straight Player of the Year award.

``For everybody that has played successfully on the regular tour, to come over quickly and easily is not that easy a transition,'' Irwin said.

When Nelson joined the senior tour last September, he came aboard with impressive credentials.

He'd been a good-enough player to win three majors - the 1981 and '83 PGA Championships and the '83 U.S. Open - and he was respected enough to be considered for the job of Ryder Cup captain.

He also was one of the fittest former PGA Tour players to join the 50-over ranks.

So Nelson was optimistic, especially after posting four top-10 finishes in six starts at the end of his limited '97 season.

Now halfway through his first full senior season, Nelson is starting to get the feel for his new job.

When he finally won, at the American Express Invitational in February, he led after every round in a four-stroke victory over '93 senior Player of the Year Dave Stockton.

Nelson has finished second three times this year and enters the U.S. Senior Open ranked third in earnings, poised to join Irwin and Gil Morgan as '98 tour millionaires.

He hasn't enjoyed the success of Irwin and Morgan (a combined seven wins this year) and he doesn't attract the gallery of a Jack Nicklaus, but Nelson is beginning to feel he belongs on the senior tour.

``Your heart is still on the regular tour,'' he said of the transition, ``but your pocketbook is over here. I mean, that's pretty much the way it is . . . you want to compete against the best players in the world, but you actually get to the point where you can't afford it anymore.''

So Nelson has been soaking up the lifestyle of a senior.

He knew most of the players' first names, but he had to learn the new courses, adjust to mostly three-round tournaments and try to figure how to win consistently on a tour he thought would be easier.

``It is easier to score, but it is not easier to score well enough to win,'' he said.

``I thought I would come out and really do well, and in retrospect, I haven't done all that bad. But I didn't do as well as, you know, when you imagine things happening.''

Like a lot of former PGA Tour stars stepping into the senior ranks, Nelson is clear on the difference between imagination and reality.

``I can't compete on the same level as David Duval . . . so I am over here, competing against his father.''

LARRY NELSON

Age: 50. Years on tour: 2.

Hometown: Marietta, Ga.

This year: Ranks third on the money list with $1,087,053 in 16 events. He won the American Express Invitational and the Pittsburgh Senior Classic, and took second at the PGA Seniors' Championship, BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland, Ameritech Senior Open and tied for second at the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic 

Last year: Finished top-10 in four of six starts and earned $312,457 to rank 128th.

Notable: Vietnam veteran and former player director on PGA Tour policy board won U.S. Open and PGA Championship during 10-win career on PGA Tour.

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Photo, Box

Photo: LARRY NELSON

Box: LARRY NELSON (See Text)