Friday, April 24, 1998 | 8:29 a.m.
THE SENIOR TOUR is many things to many people and to Frank Conner it was a life preserver.
It was there, figuratively in the water, waiting for him as he approached the age of 50 and as he was beating the back roads of America, playing golf for money wherever the invitation.
There were stops in Bugtussle, stops in Boise, stops in Las Vegas when he competed in the low-budget Nevada Open.
He wasn't simply biding his time waiting to become a Golden Oldie. He was doing what he loved, even if it was for only pennies on the dollar in comparison to some of his well-heeled buddies on the PGA Tour.
He was getting by, if not getting rich.
"Obviously, it came as a relief, a big relief," he said of reaching 50 in 1996 and having the Senior Tour there for him. "When you're out of the real stuff (the PGA Tour) like I was there for a while, you're always looking for places to play.
"I didn't want to become a club pro, so I just played wherever I could and tried to keep my schedule as busy as possible."
Here's the attraction with a guy like Conner: He's gritty, he's tough, he's hardened by years of being an underdog. He's a likable fellow with one little known though incredible claim to fame: He's one of only two men in history to have played in both the U.S. Open in golf and the U.S. Open in tennis.
"My tennis game sucks," he said Thursday at the TPC at Summerlin, where he was competing in the $1.4 million Las Vegas Senior Classic. "I hurt my shoulder three years ago and I can't really play anymore. I'm like (Andre) Agassi was a year ago."
He knows his Las Vegans and he knows Las Vegas. When his cellular phone rang as he approached the driving range it was a local friend making a simple inquiry: What NBA playoff games did he want to bet?
Conner has the Knicks and the Lakers tonight and he hopes they do better than he did during his opening round of the four-day tournament. A double bogey at No. 3 was followed by a rash of bogeys, leading to an exasperating 83.
Yet he didn't appear outwardly affected by the mediocre play and maybe this explains why: He has seen times both good and bad and he's enjoying himself at the age of 52.
"In some ways, playing the mini tours and the Hogan and Nike tours helped me get where I am today," he said. "There are good players wherever you go. I once beat (1996 British Open champion) Tom Lehman in a playoff to win a Nike event, and I've played with (current PGA Tour stars) David Duval and Jeff Maggert when they were at that level."
Conner has had his successes. He won $750,733 spread over 16 years on the PGA Tour and he has excelled during his two-plus years on the Senior Tour, taking home $561,465 in 1996 and $528,346 last year. He's currently No. 62 on the Senior money list with $29,110 in seven events.
"I felt I could do OK out here," he said of playing with the graying set. "You know, I've spent most of my life playing against these guys in one place or another."
But these days the accommodations are a little more plush.
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