NEW CONCEPT FOR OLD GUARD NICKLAUS, PLAYER AND PALMER TO HEADLINE FIRST WARBURG CUP.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

The Big Three are at it again.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who helped raise the profile of the PGA Tour in the early years of televised golf, could lend the Senior PGA Tour a similar boost beginning this fall.

The three biggest golf names of the 1960s are combining forces with the most popular professional golf format of the past decade.

Senior Tour golf, or at least a hybrid version of it, now has its own international team-play competition, a combination of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

The UBS Warburg Cup, scheduled for Nov. 16-18 on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resorts in South Carolina, will pit a U.S. team captained by Palmer against a rest-of-the-world team captained by Player.

Nicklaus, who won 18 majors on the PGA Tour, will play for the Americans in the competition that allows each 12-man team to field six players as young as 40.

The needle was out early among the old rivals last week, when the event was announced the day before the British Senior Open at Newcastle in Northern Ireland.

``Wouldn't it be exciting,'' Player asked during a telephone news conference, ``to see Jack, who is 61, playing against one of my team members who is 40?''

Perhaps, Player added, Nicklaus could be allowed to hit from the forward tees.

Nicklaus laughed at the playful barb, then went out and showed he's hardly a toothless Golden Bear, striking the ball well enough stay near the lead throughout the British Senior Open, which he might have won but for too many missed short putts.

He'll be one of many intriguing stories once the rosters are firmed in a young/old Warburg Cup format that will accommodate a dozen accomplished 40-somethings and soon-to-be seniors.

Longtime international stars such as Nick Price, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and Bernhard Langer fit the 40-49 age slot, as do past American major champions Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin and Hal Sutton.

Frank Nobilo of New Zealand and Americans Curtis Strange and Mark O'Meara already have accepted three of the age 40-49 berths. Raymond Floyd, Larry Nelson, Isao Aoki and Hale Irwin also have agreed to join Player, Palmer and Nicklaus in the 50-over ranks at the three-day competition that will consist of foursome, four-ball and singles play.

Organizers hope the age spread, which affords a preview of future senior-tour players, will increase interest in the Senior Tour. It might increase interest in golf, period, given the increasing enthusiasm for match play in the long-running Ryder Cup and relatively new Presidents Cup.

Nicklaus is looking forward to participating in international team competition as a player for the first time since 1981.

``It's something that's very special playing on a team,'' said Nicklaus, who thought the national spirit that comes with that type of competition has been a big reason for the growing popularity of international team play.

``It's a real privilege to play for their country and it's also a privilege for fans to follow their favorites.'' he said. ``... To have something different, more of a sense of pride than winning a million dollars, is kind of neat and kind of fun.''

The Warburg Cup, which will be played annually, is a sanctioned competition of the European Seniors Tour and will include 25 1/2 hours of television coverage by the Golf Channel. It has been in the planning stages for about a year.

``We have committed to keep it going for five years,'' said Rory Tapner of sponsoring UBS Warburg, ``but we hope both players and public like it so that it becomes a regular feature for a long time.''

He already has the endorsement of one notable player.

``This is going to be one of golf's premier team events for years to come,'' said Palmer, who will be paired against Player in a matchup of captains.

How important this event is to the Senior PGA Tour is unknown, and Nicklaus thinks the tour is going through a cyclical downturn.

``I think the Senior Tour is going through what the regular tour went through before Tiger got there,'' he said. ``People were saying, 'What's wrong with the regular tour?' The senior golf was great with Arnold and (Lee) Trevino and Gary and a few other guys. There will be new names coming along.''

The Warburg Cup should preview many of them.

``Certainly an event like this is a stimulus,'' Nicklaus said.

UBS WARBURG CUP

--What: Annual 12: man team match: play competition between U.S. and rest of the world, half of each team aged 40: 49 and half over age 50.

--When: Nov. 16: 18

--Where: Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resorts, South Carolina

--Who: Playing captain Arnold Palmer will lead U.S. team that thus far includes Jack Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd, Larry Nelson, Isao Aoki and Hale Irwin in 50: over category and Curtis Strange and Mark O'Meara in 40: 49 category; Frank Nobilo, in 40: 49, is the only player secured by international playing captain Gary Player.

--Format: First day foursomes, second day four: ball and third: day singles, each match counting one point with winning team first to reach 12 1/2 points.

--TV: The Golf Channel (25 1/2 hours)

--Purse: $3 million, $150,000 each to winning team members and $100,000 each to losing team members.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

In November, Jack Nicklaus will lead the U.S. team against the rest of the world at the first UBS Warburg Cup.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Box: UBS WARBURG CUP (see text)