Brodie Still Takes His Shots : Golf: Former San Francisco 49er quarterback extends athletic career on Senior Tour. Will play at Mesa Verde event.

COSTA MESA — John Brodie earned fortune and fame hitting open receivers, but he owes his longevity as a professional athlete to his ability to hit fairways and greens.

Brodie, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 1957 to 1973, has earned $688,305 playing on the Senior PGA Tour the past decade.

“It’s nice to have a game where you can compete on this level at this age,” said Brodie during a Monday news conference for the $800,000 Toshiba Senior Classic, scheduled March 14-19 at Mesa Verde Country Club. “It would be pretty tough to have senior football. (Former 49er halfback) R.C. Owens couldn’t run 100 yards in a week.”

Brodie, 59, will play in the event at Mesa Verde on a sponsor’s exemption. His only victory on the Senior Tour came at the 1991 Security Pacific Senior Classic in Los Angeles when he birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Chi Chi Rodriguez and George Archer. His highest finish on the Senior Tour was 25th in 1987 and he earned a career-high $185,444 in 1992. Last year, he finished 104th on the money list, winning only $12,996.

But then the Senior Tour has come along way since he first joined in 1985.

“It used to be that you could substitute the bar for the driving range,” he said. “Guys figured if you didn’t have it by the time you were 50, you never would.

“But the (current state of the tour) is an indication of the competitiveness of these guys. They’re still playing this game the way it should be played.”

Brodie, who spent 12 years with NBC as a golf and football commentator, remembers overhearing Jack Nicklaus ask Bob Goalby, “What are you guys doing out there? That thing is never going to make it.”

“Then, when Jack was about 48, it was, ‘It’s nice you old guys have a place to play.’ The next year, he said that the Senior Tour ‘seemed kind of interesting.’ A year later, he called Bob and said, ‘I can’t wait to get on the Senior Tour.’

“Jack’s 55 now and look at the level of his game because of this tour.”

Brodie, who says the “mark I made on the Senior Tour is just about invisible,” is just happy to be able to compete in a field that will include 1994 Senior Tour player of the year Lee Trevino, 1994 top money-winner Dave Stockton and legends of golf such as Rodriguez, Gary Player and Al Geiberger.

Golf Notes

More than 100 golfers already have entered the qualifying tournament for the Mesa Verde event. Only four spots are available. Qualifying is set for Yorba Linda Country Club beginning Monday, March 13. . . . The event is part of the ESPN Cadillac series and will be televised on Friday, March 17 (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.) and from 2:30-4 on Saturday and Sunday.