ROOKIE READY TO EARN RICHES : BERGANIO: SWOLLEN WALLET WON'T SWELL HEAD.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox

``I'm going to make a lot of money, and it'll never change me.''

Professional golfer and Sylmar resident David Berganio, after falling three shots short of earning his playing card in the 1995 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Now the road to wealth spreads out before David Berganio, a veteran professional golfer who eagerly awaits his rookie season on the PGA Tour.

And Berganio, from the tough streets of the East San Fernando Valley, the halls of Alemany High School and driving-range mats of Sylmar's El Cariso Golf Course, is spared a return trip to the nerve gnawing Q school this year.

``I'm going to be relaxing and looking in the paper to see all my buddies who have to go and be glad that it's not me. My days of tour school are over,'' he said.

Berganio's itinerary is secure courtesy of a second-place finish in last weekend's Nike Tour Championship in Roswell, Ga. He earned $28,375, swelling his yearly Nike earnings to $146,047, fourth on this tour's money list.

The top 10 money winners qualify for the PGA Tour.

It's a free pass to chase a pot of gold on the world's richest traveling golf show. The PGA has not yet released official prize money for next year's 45 events, but it will likely exceed the $66 million distributed in 46 events this year.

Berganio has done the math and the calculations tell him the Nike Tour will soon become a faded memory. If he doesn't win a tournament, Berganio must finish among the top 125 money winners to retain his playing privileges.

Berganio plans to play in 25 to 30 tournaments.

``I think it will be easier trying to be in the top 125 than being in the top 10 of the Nike Tour. Out there the competition is stiff and the top 25 of those guys can probably play on the big tour with no problem,'' he said.

Starting in January, Berganio's career path crisscrosses the nation, stopping weekly at posh courses like Pebble Beach, Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and Augusta National.

He will go as far as his game takes him.

The financial cartography tells Berganio he's headed for a higher tax bracket.

Next year's goal is $700,000 in winnings, with a big chunk coming early as the tour swings through the West, familiar territory for the former University of Arizona All-American.

``I'd like to play well in the local ones and get off to a good start. . . Maybe make about a quarter of a million on the West Coast and free wheel it the rest of the way,'' Berganio said.

And he will look sharp doing it. Berganio is represented by IMG, and one of the deals the firm has worked out calls for him to wear Bobby Jones-brand golf clothes.

Berganio, who is a adept with a steam iron as a sand iron, won't be a wash-and-wear tour player. His new togs have to be dry cleaned, which means a laundry bill of about $40 a week.

``That's the nicest stuff out there,'' he said of the clothes. ``I think if you look good, you feel good and you play good. A lot of that stuff I didn't even wear out on the Nike Tour.''

In addition to an upscale wardrobe, he will take a wealth of experience to his new job and a veteran caddie, Casey Kerr, who used to tote Fuzzy Zoeller's bag. Berganio has played in three PGA qualifying-school tournaments, three United States Open Championships, the 1992 Masters, been a member of the Walker Cup Team and twice won the U.S. Public Links Championship. In 1993 he was named the Pacific-10 Conference MVP.

He's also competed on the Asian Tour.

Last year at the U.S. Open, Berganio played the tough Oakland Hills Country Club course in rounds of 69, 72, 72 and 72. Those numbers added up to a 16th-place finish, ahead of such luminaries as Jack Nicklaus, John Daly, Payne Stewart and Corey Pavin.

It was a good enough performance qualify him for next year's Masters.

To get ready, he'll stop by El Cariso to hit a bucket of balls through November before picking up the practice pace in December.

Berganio can drive the ball about 290 yards, so he will try to refine his short game and putting.

``Right now my game all around is pretty strong so I'll work on the basics,'' he said.

Berganio has always been a good athlete. He played football, basketball and baseball in high school.

He began playing golf at age 13 after a priest, Father George Miller of Guardian Angel Catholic Church, gave him a set of clubs.

And he has never strayed far from his roots.

``I just come home and hang out at my mom's. I just want to be with my family. When I'm down I don't like anyone to kick me and when I'm up I don't like anyone to praise me. I just want to be who I am,'' Berganio said. ``I'm not going to change whether I hae a million bucks in my pocket or $10. I'm just going to be David Berganio. I just want to have fun with my family and friends.''

Tiger's Tale: Tiger Woods banked $216,000 in winning Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic last weekend, vaulting to 23rd place on the money list. In just seven tournaments, he's earned $734,794 and the right to add to it at the $3 million Tour Championship, which starts today in Tulsa, Okla.

Last week's win, Woods' second, was a strange one. Taylor Smith tied Woods on the final hole but was disqualified for using an illegal putter.

Smith's playing partner, Lennie Clements, blew the whistle on the ninth hole. And as is routine in this game, Smith, Woods and Clements all handled the situation like gentlemen.

All the drama of the finish and its aftermath was captured by The Golf Channel.

For those interested in the fine print, Smith was disqualified because the split grips on his putter were flat on one side, a violation of Rule 4-1c of the Rules of Golf.

``Lennie did the right thing,'' Smith said afterward. ``He had to protect the field.''

THIS WEEK PGA TOUR Tour Championship

Site: Tulsa, Okla.

Schedule: Today-Sunday.

Course: Southern Hills Country Club (6,834 yards, par 70).

Purse: $3 million.

Winner's share: $540,000.

Television: (All times PDT) ESPN (Today, noon-3 p.m.; Friday, 12:30-3:30 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

Last year: Billy Mayfair closed with a 3-over 73 in windy conditions for a two-stroke victory over Corey Pavin and Steve Elkington. Mayfair had an even-par 280 total, the highest winning total in tournament history.

Last week: Tiger Woods won the Disney Classic for his second victory in three weeks, finishing with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke margin over Payne Stewart. Taylor Smith matched Woods at 21-under 267, but was disqualified because the grips on his putter did not conform to USGA standards.

Notes: Woods, 20, is the first to have five consecutive top-five finishes since Curtis Strange in 1982. The three-time U.S. Amateur champion, 23rd on the money list with $734,794, extended his PGA Tour exemption through 1999, and earned a spot in the 1997 U.S. Open. . . . The Tour Championship, limited to the top 30 on the money list, is the final official event of the year. . . . Phil Mickelson, a four-time winner this year, leads the money list with $1,620,999. With last-place money at $48,000, he will break the record of $1,654,959 set last year by Greg Norman. Mark Brooks, Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara, Steve Stricker and Davis Love III also are mathematically alive for the money title.

LPGA TOUR Nichirei International

Site: Ibaraki, Japan.

Schedule: Friday-Sunday.

Course: Ami Golf Club (6,234 yards, par 72).

Purse: $675,000.

Winners' shares: $24,000 each.

Television: None.

Last year: The LPGA beat the Japan LPGA for the 11th straight year, taking 13-1/2 of 18 points in the final-day singles for a 19-17 victory. Sweden's Helen Alfredsson was selected the tournament MVP after splitting her two best-ball matches and beating Nayoko Yoshikawa 68-71 in singles.

Last week: Sweden's Annika Sorenstam successfully defended her title in the World Championship of WomenP's Golf at Seoul, South Korea, closing with a 2-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over Alfreddson. Sorenstam, who won the Betsy King Classic two weeks ago, had a 14-under 274 total.

SENIOR PGA TOUR Kaanapali Classic

Site: Kaanapali, Hawaii.

Schedule: Friday-Sunday.

Course:: Kaanapali Resort, North Course (6,590 yards, par 71)

Purse: $650,000.

Winner's share: $97,500.

Television: (All times PDT) ESPN (Friday, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2-4 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-4 p.m.).

Last year: New Zealand's Bob Charles won the last of his 22 senior titles, holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff with Dave Stockton. Charles closed with a 3-under 68 to match Stockton at 9-under 204.

Last week: Jim Colbert won the Golf Rush Classic at El Dorado Hills, for his fifth 1996 title. He finished with a 5-under 67 for a 14-under 202 total. Stockton was second, five strokes back.

MEMO: The golf column appears weekly in the Daily News.

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