It’s an Old Story at the British Open : Golf: Nicklaus, Trevino, Watson don’t want to be counted out at Royal Birkdale against favored Europeans.

The oldest winner of the British Open continues to be Old Tom Morris. That is how he is listed in the Royal and Ancient golf association’s record books, as Old Tom. He won this golf tournament for the fourth time when he was 46 years 99 days old, way back in 1867. The youngest winner of the Open won the next year, at 17 years 5 months 8 days. He was Young Tom Morris.

Of the 156 contestants who open play in the 120th British Open today at Royal Birkdale, most of the favorites had their birth certificates stamped in the second half of this century. They wear gaudy cashmere sweaters and swing steel or graphite shafts and generally know little of tweed coats or wooden clubs. They think mashies and spoons come with breakfast.

Precious few of these golfers, moreover, were born in the USA. Oh, Payne Stewart was, and he at least dresses like an old duffer, even though he doesn’t qualify as one. Stewart, who is 34 and the U.S. Open champion, probably has the best chance of any American to win this tournament.

Though, you never know.

Jack Nicklaus, more royal than ancient, is 51 1/2. He won this tournament in 1966, ’70 and ’78. Here it is the 1990s, and he is still endeavoring to to win it again.

“It’s quite obvious now that most of the good American players have gotten older,” said Old Jack. “And that the top players in the world right now are the European players.

“Still, I wouldn’t count out Payne Stewart, and I wouldn’t count out Hale Irwin. And Greg Norman is not American but he’s certainly not European, either, and I wouldn’t count him out. And for that matter, I don’t want to count myself out.”

Lee Trevino is a month older than Nicklaus. He won this tournament in 1971 and ’72. Here it is the ‘90s, and he still thinks he can win it again, even though he is slowly swinging his way into the British sunset.

“I’ll play Muirfield next year. After that, I don’t know,” said Old Lee.

Trevino looked anything but doddering Wednesday in a final rehearsal round. He gassed the grass of the same course where he won the Open in 1971, making a hole in one at the 14th hole, a birdie at the 15th, a birdie at the 17th and an eagle two at the 18th.

Whenever any golfer plays the last five holes in six under par on a world-class course--including the knocking of a four-iron shot into a tiny cup 199 yards away--he is not exactly ready to throw his clubs in the lake and quit.

Trevino made light of it, though. Before those last five holes, he said, “I played like a dog.”

The older guys who know their way around this olde English tournament will try to make their experience count. Chances are, the sterling cup will fall into the hands of a younger man, someone more the age of recent winners Nick Faldo, Mark Calcavecchia or Seve Ballesteros, or perhaps the hotter young hands of a Craig Parry, a Jose Maria Olazabal or an Ian Baker-Finch.

Unless. . . .

Tom Watson is 41 and has another birthday in a few weeks. He has won this tournament five times. Only one man, Harry Vardon, has won it six times, and don’t be looking for Old Harry to win another because the last one he won was in 1914.

Watson nearly won the Masters and has his game on the upswing, yet understands what he is up against.

“British Open golf is more about feel than it is in America, especially in the wind in hard conditions,” Watson said. “I think in these conditions you have got to give Europeans the advantage. And to be honest, they have proved themselves to be the top players in the world in the major championships.”

Golfer turned broadcaster Tom Weiskopf was far more blunt, telling a British reporter: “Foreign players work harder on every level. They don’t have everything handed to them. Look at our kids today. Perfect courses, perfect equipment, coaches to hold their hands. They don’t even walk anymore. They all ride carts. It’s a lazy society and it’s why we’re getting our . . . kicked.”

Nicklaus realizes that young American players are weaned on soft, spongy greens and lush fairways. He still considers the British Open the most difficult tournament to play, said he won’t commit to Muirfield in 1992 unless he feels competitive and added after a practice round here: “I very nearly went home last night.”

Next time Nicklaus attends a British Open, in fact, he might not play. He said he willingly would caddy for his son, Gary, as he did in a recent U.S. Amateur, or for his other son, Jackie, should he qualify for the tournament. For the record, or at least for the British records, that would be Young Jack Nicklaus.

British Open Notes

Heavy rain and high winds of up to 35 m.p.h. will accompany today’s play, forecasters say. “Oh, they’ve never been right yet,” Lee Trevino said. . . . When exasperated U.S. player John Huston walked off the course here after failing to qualify, he said: “I’m freezing, I’m fed up and I’m underpaid.”

Many players are paid handsomely, yet they related money-related Open horror stories to Larry Guest in Golf Illustrated, including being charged $400 a night last year at the Old Course Hotel near St. Andrews, where Tom Watson angrily discovered an extra $10 daily had been added to his bill for an unsolicited single flower placed in a vase inside his room.

After losing a 16-hole playoff, Ireland’s Jimmy Heggarty got into the Open after all. He replaced England’s John Hoskinson, who withdrew. . . . Jack Nicklaus, as prominent an American athlete as any, has not played in South Africa since 1982 and is pleased that political sanctions have been lifted. “I wouldn’t have any problem now going back.”