He’s Still Profiting From Victory in 1989 : Golf: Since winning the British Open last year, Mark Calcavecchia has been receiving six-figure appearance fees to play overseas.

Mark Calcavecchia might flinch when recalling his disappointing finish in the Greater Hartford Open, but he is delighted to discuss his victory in the British Open 51 weeks ago.

“What did winning it do for me?” he said. “Made me money.”

As in Brink’s armored car loads. Before winning the title he will defend starting Thursday at St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland, Calcavecchia said he felt fortunate to receive a $20,000 guarantee to play in the 1989 Swiss Open.

Now his appearance fee is approaching those of Greg Norman, Curtis Strange and Seve Ballesteros. At the Irish Open three weeks ago, Calcavecchia received $100,000 just to play (he won an additional $54,000 after tying for second). He’ll receive another $100,000 for playing in the Dutch Open the week after the British Open, and he has a $125,000 deal to play in Japan this fall.

“People asked me why I played in the Irish Open, and I said because it was a great golf course (Portmarnock) and they made me a great offer,” Calcavecchia said. “Same with the Dutch Open and the tournaments I’m going to do in Japan, where the people are golf-crazy.

“I wouldn’t pay me that much, but if people are generous enough, you’ve got to be a dummy not to take that kind of cash. If someone says, ‘Want $100,000 to play in our tournament?’ what are you going to say? I don’t want to play in the Dutch Open, but I’ve heard the course is pretty good and I know the money’s great.”

And to think Calcavecchia hasn’t won since his four-hole playoff victory over Norman and Wayne Grady at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland last year. He tied for second in the Irish Open and has five runner-up finishes this year on the PGA Tour, including a crushing loss at Hartford two weeks ago, when he finished double bogey-bogey to tie with three others, two strokes behind winner Wayne Levi.

“That was the most disappointing because I’d gone back and thought about what I’d done wrong and wasn’t going to let it happen again,” he said.

All the close calls have helped earn Calcavecchia $717,754 in official money, third on the money list. But the outside activities have added significantly to the bankroll of a man who five years ago was occasionally caddying for close friend Ken Green and wondering where he was headed. Part of his new riches paid for a 9,100-square-foot house in Phoenix that has 70 doors, six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

“I make all the final decisions, but I’ve got an agent in Florida (Robert Fraley) who screens all my offers because there’s something I could be doing every week,” Calcavecchia said. “There’s always someone calling from a place like Champaign, Ill., offering $10,000 for a one-day pro-am, but Robert knows I don’t want to do that kind of thing.

“I got a $100,000 offer to play in the French Open opposite the GHO (where he won $66,000). It’s all pretty amazing because I’m not begging people to play in their tournaments, they’re coming to me. Before I won the British Open, the biggest thing I got was $20,000 for the Swiss Open last year. I didn’t even consider Japan for that kind of money. Now I can go pretty much where I want. It’s been the ultimate in opportunities.”

One can only wonder what riches Calcavecchia will reap if he repeats as British Open champion, on a course he believes is much to his liking and game. If he wins Sunday, he’ll probably have to beat challenges from Norman, Strange, Ballesteros (who won the last British Open at St. Andrews, in 1984), Masters champion Nick Faldo, U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin, PGA titleholder Payne Stewart, Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, Tom Kite, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Ian Woosnam and, perhaps, Senior PGA Tour stars Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus, who won at St. Andrews in ’78.

Calcavecchia has played seven rounds at St. Andrews, five in the Dunhill Cup in October when he shot 19-under par to spark the American team to victory.

“I feel great about going back there because I really like the place,” Calcavecchia said. “I’ve had no problem reading the greens and have a feel for the course already, because I know where all the humps and hidden bunkers are and all the targets you have to aim at off the tee.

“Going into some British Opens, you have no idea what the place is going to look like. When I got to Royal Lytham two years ago, I didn’t like it from the first hole (he missed the cut). Last year, I played one practice round at Troon, got out to the seventh hole and said, ‘Hey, there hasn’t been a stupid one yet.’ ”

Of St. Andrews, he said: “I think the course favors a long hitter and not necessarily a straight driver. Obviously, you have to putt well to win a tournament, but I’d give the advantage to the guy who hits the heck out of it.”