Colbert Strikes Gold on Senior Tour : Golf: After 24 moderately successful years with the younger players, he discovers life really begins at 50.

Jim Colbert never dreamed he could have it so good. Since he turned 50, an age when many people start preparing for retirement, Colbert has earned almost $100,000 a month. And that’s not even counting all the cars.

The way the Senior PGA Tour is mushrooming, it may be only the beginning.

After a solid career on the regular PGA tour, where he won eight tournaments and earned $1.7 million in 24 years, Colbert joined the senior tour in mid-March of 1991.

And he has been a major success, having joined Lee Trevino, Mike Hill, George Archer and Chi Chi Rodriguez at the top of the money list. Colbert has won the Vantage, the richest senior event, twice and is within $100,000 of his lifetime total on the regular tour.

He will be one of the favorites in the 54-hole $600,000 Ralphs Senior Classic beginning Friday at Rancho Park Golf Course.

“I’m probably playing the best I’ve ever played,” Colbert said. “If I picked my spots, I could probably win a tournament or two on the regular tour. Those guys are so good. They play incredible golf. But why would I want to go through that grind on the junior tour when we have it so good out here?

“I did TV for the seniors, so I knew what to expect. I thought I would win maybe half a million and a couple of tournaments. I exceeded expectations with $800,000 and three tournaments (in 1991). Besides, I won the Cadillac Series and three Cadillacs, which my family is enjoying.

“And, it’s going to get better. There is a recession, but not in senior golf. Next year will really be the 13th season for this tour. What other business do you know that after so many years is going to jump 30% in one year?

“The purses this year (42 events) were worth $21 million. Next year they will jump to $28 million. Can you believe that?”

Colbert is exaggerating only slightly. With two more million-dollar tournaments included, there will be 43 events and $25.5 million in purse money.

Yet, in an economy that is hardly booming, it is still a big jump.

The two other professional golf tours are not hurting, either, but neither is showing as much increase as the senior tour.

The PGA tour has not released next year’s schedule but expects to show a slight increase in purse money over this year’s $50 million.

The LPGA tour lost two tournaments last year and has not replaced them, but also expects a modest increase in purse money for 1993 over this year’s $22 million.

As he prepares to go after even more honors, Colbert cites an improvement in accuracy for his play on the tour.

“Except for my long irons, which are probably about five yards shorter, I’m hitting the ball about as far as ever,” Colbert said. “But I’m hitting it much straighter.

“Don’t discount the mental, either. I’ve been successful in business, my kids have grown up and I’ve got grandkids. The financial pressure is gone.

“I go out there now to see if I can compete with the best players. The competition is fierce, but it’s friendlier before and after. Senior golf is really a sport. It allows us to play better.”

Colbert has a theory about why Trevino, Hill and Rodriguez are the leading seniors. All of them took some time off between the end of the rigorous regular tour and the start of the senior tour.

“Partly because of a back problem, I was off for three years,” Colbert said. “Trevino took off for the same reason.

“Since I’ve been out here, Mike Hill has been the best player on the tour. He, too, took time off before joining the seniors.

“It has not been easy for some of the guys, such as J.C. Snead, who went directly from the regular to this tour. He has had his troubles.

“And, Raymond Floyd hasn’t taken charge, either. Don’t get me wrong, Raymond is a great player, and he will do very well out here. But nobody wins all the time. This is an art, not a science.

“I think Raymond got the wrong impression about senior golf. He played in one (tournament) in Japan. There was no rough, it was a short course and he won big.

“He came out here and has been surprised. There’s rough, and the courses are longer than he expected. He told me he was astounded by how far Terry Dill and Jim Dent drive the ball.

“He told me he played two rounds with Mike Hill on successive Sundays and received another surprise. ‘That isn’t the Mike Hill I remember,’ Floyd said. ‘This guy can play golf. I watched him make one great shot after another.’ ”

Colbert is optimistic about his chances of winning the money title. He trails Trevino by about $100,000, with three more tournaments to play.

“I think most of the older guys feel an obligation to show up for a large number of tournaments,” Colbert said. “They feel obligated to sponsors and fans, who have made this bonanza possible.”

For all his success, everything has not been perfect for Colbert this season.

“I had two goals,” he said. “I wanted to repeat in the Vantage--our richest--and I did. But I also wanted to win the U.S. Senior Open. If you told me that I would finish ahead of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Hill and (Dave) Stockton and still lose by four shots. . . . It was Larry Laoretti I couldn’t beat.”