Nerves get the
best of Watson

KA'UPULEHU, Hawaii » Tom Watson didn't offer any excuses when he came into the media room. There were no what ifs, no shoulda, coulda, woulda. He blamed the defeat at yesterday's $1.6 million MasterCard Championship on a bad case of nerves. Pure and simple.

"The nerves got to me today," Watson said. "I hit the ball well at the practice range, but then hit a poor drive at the first hole and really struggled with my nerves. It was just one of those days. It must have been too much coffee this morning."

Amazingly, bonus holes have not been kind to Watson in his golden years. In eight playoffs entering his sixth season on the Champions Tour, Watson has won only one -- the Senior British Open in 2003.

He believed he needed to shoot a 4-under 68 and let the other guys take a swing at it. He fell a couple of shots shy with a closing 70, allowing Dana Quigley to sneak in the back door and force the three-hole playoff.

Watson was standing on the 18th fairway when Quigley three-putted the final hole to give Watson a good shot at winning in regulation. He responded by hitting his pitching wedge to within 9 feet, but his newfound putting stroke let him down.

When the ball left his putter, it appeared to be heading dead-center toward the cup, but at the last foot it twisted to the right, giving Quigley new life. Did Watson think it was going in?

"Nah," Watson said. "I took the putter to the inside and never could square it up. That's the way my putting stroke goes. I still have another two weeks to get rid of all the bad habits. I made a couple of good strokes with the putter with what I'm trying to do. But the old stroke still kind of gets back in there."

He hit a couple of good ones to save par on the first two playoff holes. But an errant shot at the par-3 17th landed in the lava behind the hole. He took a drop, chipped close, but had to settle for bogey, giving Quigley the win.

"I misclubbed myself at the playoff hole," Watson said. "Hit a 7-iron, should have hit an 8. I played two good rounds and one poor round. It's off to the races when you play this golf course. You need three good rounds to win and 70 is not a good round."

Palmer headed to Oahu: It was hard to say what bothered Arnold Palmer more, his 26-over 242 finish or his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers losing to the defending champion New England Patriots in yesterday's AFC Championship game.

"I was hoping they could get it done today, but it wasn't meant to be," Palmer said.

He is excited about playing at the Turtle Bay Championship later this week on the 18-hole course he designed.

"I'm looking forward to it," Palmer said. "If the wind blows over there, it's going to be a very difficult course."

Speaking to the Golf Channel broadcasters, Palmer was glad to be a part of the 25th anniversary of the senior circuit and made one last point about the new rule that you have to walk and not ride in a cart.

"When we first started this tour, I wanted us to have to walk," the 75-year-old Palmer said. "And finally, 25 years later, I get my wish."

Quigley echoed Palmer's sentiments.

"It's a big part of the game," Quigley said. "I like to think about and visualize my next shot while I'm walking. Everybody out here ought to be fit enough to walk. I know Tom Purtzer might have some problems, but if he loses a little weight, maybe it will be better for him."

ASSOCIATED PRESS Tom Watson chipped onto the 18th green during yesterday's playoff.

Four is a good number: All three winners of the PGA and Champions tour events played in Hawaii began the final round four shots out of the lead. Stuart Appleby trailed Vijay Singh by four entering the final round at the Mercedes. He wound up beating Jonathan Kaye by one shot.

Four turned out to be a good number for Singh the following week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He trailed third-round leader Shigeki Maruyama by four and wound up edging Ernie Els by one to win his 25th PGA Tour event. Quigley was four back of Watson entering yesterday's final round and wound up winning in a playoff.

Inside the numbers: With the wind kicking up, higher scores followed suit. During Saturday's windless second round, only Palmer and Gary Player failed to shoot under par. That was not the case yesterday, as only 24 of the 37 golfers located the red.

A strong ocean breeze also produced an unusual set of easy and difficult holes. The par-5 fourth wound up the easiest, yielding a scoring average of 4.378. There were two eagles, by Mark James and Bruce Lietzke, 20 birdies, 14 pars and one bogey by Lee Trevino.

The hardest hole was the par-3 fifth, yielding a scoring average of 3.324. There were only three birdies, by Gil Morgan, Tom Jenkins and Bob Gilder, 21 pars, 11 bogeys and two doubles by Palmer and Bruce Fleisher.

Yesterday's scoring average was the highest of the three days at 70.405.