THE NEXT GENERATION; INCOMING SENIOR PLAYERS COULD PUMP LIFE INTO TOUR.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

The old-timers find their way back to Dodger Stadium for an exhibition from time to time. Tommy Davis lumbers around the bases. Ted Sizemore chases after ground balls. Everyone has a good time - and no one pays the least mind to the outcome.

Now imagine a box score being kept. And standings. Imagine the over-the-hill gang packing off to Cincinnati for another game - that counts.

Preposterous. And yet the Senior PGA Tour, launched in 1980, was built on this very premise of providing a competitive showcase for aging players who no longer could - or cared to - lock horns with the young turks on the PGA Tour.

It has experienced steady growth ever since, but there has been a natural inclination to wonder how long the public would maintain its enthusiasm for this fairly daring concept.

It's a debate that swirls anew as the tour's finest come wheezing into Los Angeles this week for the U.S. Senior Open, to be played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

Senior tour executives point to several indications that the tour is in robust health, including rising purses (a sign of strong sponsor involvement) and attendance. Most professional sports, however, measure their popularity by television viewership, and the news there has not been encouraging in recent years. TV ratings plunged 20 percent in 1997, then flattened out this year.

Also, according to local organizers, the U.S. Senior Open, despite being the most prestigious of the four major championships on the senior tour, has proven to be a tough sell in Los Angeles, both with the corporate high rollers and the common golf fans.

All the while, the tour wrestles with questions about its identity. Should it be a showcase for legends of the game or a competitive, wage-earning vehicle for a lot of over-50 golfers you've never heard of?

PGA commissioner Tim Finchem, who admitted he is asked about the TV ratings ``just about every week,'' cited the strong showings in other areas and maintained, ``The Senior Tour is going in the right direction. (Its) best years are still ahead.''

He's not the only one squinting hopefully toward the horizon. Tour and TV executives point to a series of events that could brighten the tour's future.

To begin with, Tom Watson turns 50 in September 1999; Finchem says Watson has already committed to playing a full senior tour schedule in 2000. Following closely behind Watson on the eligibility parade will be Tom Kite and Lanny Wadkins, and then, over the ensuing two years, Bruce Lietzke, Fuzzy Zoeller and '95 Masters champion Ben Crenshaw.

Also, with Jack Nicklaus' stunning announcement that he didn't feel spry enough to compete in this year's British Open, there is hope that Nicklaus, who said he was pointing instead for this U.S. Senior Open, can be coaxed into expanding his senior schedule.

``These things are cyclical, but you do get a bump once in a while,'' Tim Crosby, PGA vice president of tournament business affairs, said of the impending arrival of Watson, et al.

``The senior tour has done very well by virtually every measure. We're stronger than we've ever been, with the possible exception of television, which last year took a little dip in the ratings. Our tournaments are more stable and, quite frankly, financially stronger than they've ever been.''

There is merit to the point. The tour will hand out $46.8 million in purse money this year, up 4-1/2 percent from a year ago. And although attendance at tournaments is not audited by the tour - head-counting is left to local organizers - it is said to be up. Finchem said more than a dozen markets have sent out feelers of interest in hosting a senior event, and that Dallas and Acapulco will be added as tournament sites next year.

Against this backdrop, why have a significant number of TV viewers turned their noses up in recent years?

Those monitoring the situation cite the ever-escalating bombardment of choices for the viewer, a saturation of golf programming on the tube and one undeniable magnet on other channels.

``The phenomena that was Tiger (Woods) last year I think kind of overwhelmed the sport,'' said John Wildhack, vice president of programming for ESPN, which carries the bulk of the senior tour events (and will air the first two days of the Open). ``Because of what he accomplished and the expectations, it may have, to some degree, dwarfed the senior tour and the accomplishments of Hale Irwin and the over-50 crowd that had a heck of a year. . . .

``The senior tour seems to be in a period of stability right now.''

Skeptics might call it stagnation. Woods is a compelling talent, leading an assault of several popular young players on the PGA Tour. The senior tour doesn't seem to have much to contend with it.

Watson, a fan favorite who won nine major championships in the '70s and '80s, could change that. More frequent sightings of Nicklaus - if he can overcome a chronic hip ailment - most certainly could. (The U.S. Senior Open will be only Nicklaus' sixth - but his last - senior date this year.)

The tour could certainly use a jolting infusion of star power, at least in the eyes of some of the pioneers who once provided it. Miller Barber recently bemoaned the fact that the legendary Arnold Palmer, who still draws large galleries despite not having won a Senior PGA event since '88, was given a 7 a.m. Sunday tee time at a tournament in Pittsburgh (near his hometown of Latrobe, Pa.) because of his poor play.

Seniors such as Palmer, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Lee Trevino - colorful souls who once commanded the marquee - have been overwhelmed by lesser-knowns who have seized the senior tour as a meal ticket and intensified the competition accordingly.

Balancing the two aspects, said the PGA's Crosby, ``is tricky.'' But he added, ``While it might be attractive to some to have an event that is basically a traveling Hall of Fame or old-timers game, golf fans still want to see the game played at its highest level.''

Said ESPN's Wildhack: ``I think it's a combination. Obviously, you have players who are recognizable and performed very well on the PGA Tour for upward of 25 years. There is appeal there because there is familiarity with them and their accomplishments. You also need to embrace and recognize the abilities of those who made the senior tour a successful start of their playing career, guys like Jim Albus and Tom Wargo. That should not be negated.''

Thus, TV will often devote as much air time to the Hall of Famer well back in the pack as the whozits at the top of the leader board.

Maybe Watson, Nicklaus and Crenshaw will ultimately enable the senior tour to fuse the two concepts.

``A couple of years ago, when Tiger started hitting it big,'' said Crosby, ``it became clear that we don't have a monopoly on charisma. There's no question that Tiger and young, colorful players like (Phil) Mickelson, (David) Duval and Davis Love (III) have been great for the PGA Tour. Perhaps, to a limited extent, it has cannibalized some of the interest in the senior tour.''

It's clear the elder tour is eager to bite back. Once it finds its teeth.

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4 Photos

Photo: (1--3--Color) The addition of Tom Watson to the Senior Tour in 2000 - as well as Tom Kite (inset, left) and Lanny Wadkins (right) shortly afterward - could boost interest. The Senior Tour has done well in terms of sponsorship but its TV ratings have slipped.

(4) The accomplishments of Hale Irwin were overshadowed by Tiger Woods last year.

Associated Press Photos