Chi Chi Keeps Improving With Age : Golf: At 57, Rodriguez is headed for his seventh consecutive Tournament of Champions. This weekend, he will play in Orange County.

Shortly after Chi Chi Rodriguez joined the group at the end of 1985, the Senior PGA Tour mushroomed into a major factor on the sports scene.

It is not merely a coincidence. The Puerto Rican has been a driving force on the oldsters’ tour. When a senior reaches 55, he is expected to start slowing down. Someone apparently forgot to tell Rodriguez.

Although he waited until the next-to-last tournament of the 1992 season to qualify, Rodriguez made it to the Infiniti Tournament of Champions for the seventh consecutive year.

The PGA season opener will once again be at La Costa next Thursday through Sunday. This weekend, Rodriguez will fill in for John Daly in the Pro Stakes Golf Championship at Dove Canyon Country Club in south Orange County, a new two-day tournament created by Peter Jacobsen.

When Rodriguez joined the 50-and-older group, he said he was going to have to win a lot of money in a hurry.

“Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus will be joining the tour in a few years,” he said at the time. “And when they do, there will be only leftovers for the rest of us.”

So Rodriguez started winning right away. He was the leading money winner in 1987 and was first to earn more than $500,000. And in each of the last three seasons, he has earned more money than he did when he was No. 1.

Ironically, Rodriguez has proved durable, whereas Trevino and Nicklaus have not. Trevino had surgery on his thumb. Nicklaus has been having back problems and plays sporadically.

“Lee hurt his thumb doing all that hitchhiking when he was young,” Rodriguez said. “And Jack hurt his back carrying all that money that he’s won.”

Neither Nicklaus, who failed to win a tournament, nor Trevino, who will be out of action for three months, will be at La Costa. But Raymond Floyd, who is the dominant figure on the senior tour already, will be there and in a unique position. Floyd becomes the first player to qualify for both the regular PGA and senior PGA T of C. With the tees the same, Floyd, who turned 50 in September, can win both tournaments. Although he probably won’t be the favorite in the regular section, he definitely will be in the senior segment.

Floyd played in seven senior tournaments, winning three and earning $436,991, putting him over $1 million in combined earnings.

Rodriguez, however, says he is not worried about Floyd. “He’s another one carrying around too much weight,” Rodriguez joked.

Rodriguez, who turned 57 in October, finished fifth on the money list with $711,095. The four who finished ahead of him are all at least four years younger.

Gary Player once said there was a big difference in age when a golfer passes 50.

“On the regular tour, there’s little difference between 30 and 36,” he said. “But a senior ages much faster. Each year after 55 is like adding two years.”

Rodriguez has several reasons for his longevity. One of them is his new driver, a Big Bertha. Although he is only 5 feet 7 and weighs only 130, Rodriguez averaged 262.9 yards off the tee last year.

Two other reasons involve animals. One is the alligator.

“The alligator sleeps all day,” Rodriguez said. “He lives to be 150. I sleep at least 10 hours a day.

“The turtle moves at a slow pace and lives to be 200. I walk, and not too fast. I worry about these runners. The only time I run is when it rains and I have to head for the clubhouse. My grandparents lived to be 114 so I figure I’ve just reached middle age.”

There is also a serious side to Rodriguez, though, his love of children. He runs a school in Florida for kids in trouble.

The school caters to youngsters who face jail, have been abused or have been locked out of their homes. The school can handle as many as 500 at a time. Chi Chi said that as many as 150 go through the institution each month and that 99% of them return to school.

“That’s our goal,” he said. “We want to return them to society. Instead of going to a correctional facility, we bring them to our school. We don’t care what color they are, what their religion is or what race. We have 40 volunteers and can give them individual care.

“When they walk through the grounds, they go on the ‘Steps of Champions.’ There are steps with the names of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and many other sports champions. It gives the kids a chance to follow the steps of champions.”