SENTIMENT PLAYS THROUGH AT RIVIERA.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

In your ultimate sports fantasy, you're standing in the outfield bleachers at Yankee Stadium bellowing, ``Hey, Babe, you're the best!'' and Babe Ruth is acknowledging your adoration by tipping his cap. Then, after boldly pointing a finger in your direction, he airmails a home-run ball to you.

Admit it, any way you dream it, you'd risk never waking up to be able to insert yourself, Forrest Gump-like, into the grainy footage that defines the Classic Sports Network.

So where were you Friday, when a transcendent interactive sports experience was yours for the price of admission to the U.S. Senior Open at Riviera Country Club?

The too few many who converged on the course early enough to beat the sunshine saw one of this century's most unforgettable sports figures pull a few more highlight-reel shots out of his golf bag.

Just as many as he needed to survive the 36-hole cut, mind you, which is why lagging may be fine for long putts, but it's risky when tracking legends. Lucky for L.A. there are two more days to get out and inspire and be inspired by Arnold Palmer.

The morning sky grew misty just watching Palmer try to pull off another one of his patented charges. Palmer, 68, charmed five birdies out of Riviera. Yet the course continued to stubbornly rebuff his affections, slapping him with double-bogey sixes on Nos. 9 and 18 that turned a majestic round into a middling 5-over-par 76.

No matter. Palmer's wooing of the one Grand Dame that has given him plenty of second looks over the years but never that first sweet victory will continue through the weekend. He made his seventh consecutive U.S. Senior Open cut with no strokes to spare at 12-over par.

The charge that gave Palmer's week new life began when he drained birdie putts of 12 and 14 feet on the fifth and seventh holes, respectively. He triple-pumped his fist after the putt at No. 7 and the crowd following him crackled with electricity.

``It takes you back a little bit,'' Palmer later would say of such precious moments. ``It gives you a chance to re-live a little of the past.''

In the ensuing adrenaline/nostalgia rush, he short-circuited, blocking his drive on the par-4 ninth into the rough, inches from the lip of a fairway bunker. Palmer's stance was so awkward, he nearly lost his balance while trying to address the ball for his second shot. He required a chip and two putts after that to get out of the fine mess he had made.

Palmer's putter was one of three he auditioned for the role of savior on the practice green 10 minutes before his round. You probably won't see it again this weekend after Palmer two-putted from two feet on the ninth green and three-putted from 18 feet on No. 18.

``I didn't putt as well as I'd have liked to,'' Palmer said, ``which tells me that wasn't the putter for me.''

To be fair to Mr. Flatstick, Palmer's fairway woods and irons also ganged up on him. More than his 30 putts Friday, the stat that told the story was this: Palmer has hit only 13 of 36 greens in regulation.

He has produced too many shots like his second one at the first hole where he topped the ball out of short rough and into the ridiculously thick grass nestled between the cart path and the green. That took par completely out of the picture. Indeed, Palmer was lucky to escape with a bogey.

In his heyday, Palmer won fans over with his graciousness but also with his guts. He attempted shots of derring-do on a daily basis.

Some things never change.

A 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 gave Palmer some breathing room on the 18th tee. A few quick calculations suggested a par would enable him to survive and advance.

A safe and easy drive was the prudent play, but that's not Palmer's style.

He swung from his shoes and the ball screamed into a tree to the right of the fairway and settled into a patch of rough stuff. A few of the fans who gathered around the ball begged the USGA rules official standing nearby to give Palmer a free drop - ``C'mon,'' one said, ``it's Arnie'' - but to no avail.

Palmer, who never has asked for any favors, hitched up his trousers, hit the ball onto the fairway, chipped onto the green and, well, you know the rest.

``I'll probably remember that hole,'' Palmer said dryly, ``but it may be over a martini.''

Along with the olive, Palmer probably chewed on the fact he didn't bother to ask where he stood in terms of the cut until after he reached the green on 18, thereby creating a needlessly anxious afternoon for himself.

``I should have asked earlier,'' Palmer said. ``If I had, I probably would have been a little more cautious with the tee shot.''

Then again, no. Palmer didn't win 60 PGA events and the admiration of millions by playing it safe. Why change now? He is loved the world over just the way he is.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Arnold Palmer didn't look legendary hitting out of the bunker on No. 15, but he made the cut after shooting a second-round 5-over-par 76.

(2) Arnold Palmer tips his cap after a shot during Friday's second round. Palmer's two round total of 12-over 154 was good enough to survive the cut and allow Palmer to play the final two rounds.

David Sprague/Daily News