Ti leaf brings
Quigley some luck

Hawaii kids gave it to the golfer
prior to his MasterCard win

It's unlikely Dana Quigley knows the ti leaf, brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the earliest Polynesian settlers, is more than a good-luck charm.

Dana Quigley: The golfer defeated Tom Watson in a playoff

Often called Ki, it was considered sacred, an emblem of divine power to the Hawaii god Lono and to Laka, the Goddess of the hula. That's some pretty tall grass in these here parts.

But an hour after wrestling the $1.6 million MasterCard Championship trophy away from Tom Watson, arguably one of the 10 best golfers ever to carry the clubs, Quigley reached in his back left pants pocket and produced a neatly folded ti leaf. A money clip would have fit comfortably inside.

"The kids who gave me this told me not to let it touch the ground," Quigley said.

He was holding court to reporters battling deadlines Back East, but they recognized a good story when it came striding down the fairway. Sure, Hall of Famer Watson going wire-to-wire would have been easy to write for the folks back home.

In ways, watching Watson stumbling down the stretch was painful and remindful at how this game evens things out if you play it long enough.

Watson won eight majors in his prime, including five British Opens. Since joining the senior circuit six years ago, the 55-year-old legend is 1-7 in playoffs.

They say Barbra Streisand may never perform live again. Too nervous.

Well, Watson, battling injuries that would send a lesser man to the couch, is still trying to carry a tune. He found it for a couple of stanzas.

Back-to-back 64s is the opening for a symphony. Too bad the grand finale fell flat.

"My win against him in Kansas City is my best one because I made a birdie on the last hole to beat him," Quigley said. "He had 30,000 people rooting for him every day. Again, we're going in with Tom Watson. Always great to punctuate your career with a victory over a Hall of Famer like that."

Quigley also remembers his first victory. It didn't happen for him on the PGA Tour. While Watson was wooing the world, Quigley's best finish with the big boys was a tie for sixth at the 1980 Milwaukee Open. No wonder beating Watson in 2000 at the TD Waterhouse Championship still looms large.

"My first victory to get out on tour to get exempt was huge," Quigley said of qualifying for the Senior Tour in 1997. "My father died the same day."

Much like the three-hole playoff he had with Watson on Sunday, he needed three extra in sudden-death to defeat Jay Sigel for the Northville Long Island Classic. Minutes after he won, his brother called to let him know his dad, Wally, had lost a long battle with cancer.

"But my win over Watson was probably my biggest certification for me," Quigley said, the catch in his voice still hanging in the room. "And now beating him again in Hawaii is hard. ... The hits just keep on coming for some reason."

It had been two years since the 57-year-old had won. The last time? Well, it was the 2003 MasterCard Championship. Even though he has played more rounds than anyone else -- this week at Turtle Bay will be his 250th consecutive start -- the iron man of the Champions Tour now has nine wins.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Dana Quigley used some body english but couldn't get his putt to drop on the 18th green during the Sunday's playoff.

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With Sunday's $272,000 paycheck, Quigley has pocketed $10.5 million in 269 senior events played. He's a couple of bucks shy of winning $1 million at the Hualalai Golf Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus in 1996, a year before Quigley qualified for the tour.

Coming into Hawaii, Quigley had played more rounds of golf than a turnstile could count; mostly with his family and never for money.

First-round Sony Open in Hawaii leader Brett Quigley talked how Uncle Dana wore him out with rounds of golf that began in Puerto Rico after Thanksgiving, then moved to Florida for all of December.

"We play all winter, Brett and my son and my brother," Quigley said. "We call it the family feud. We don't play for a penny and you would swear we were tearing each other's hearts out for nothing.

"So it don't take much to get me up for a round of golf. There's no pep talk. Just come to this ... I was going to say country. Just come to this state. I heard Fuzzy (Zoeller, who beat Quigley in a playoff here last year) say, 'If you don't feel like playing golf here, something is wrong.' This is it. This is our No. 1 (tournament) in my opinion for the year. Everything else takes a back seat."

Quigley paused a bit when somebody noticed a sweaty arm band on his right elbow.

"It's for tendinitis," Quigley explained.

He is also armed with a Red Sox Nation bracelet.

"This red thing?" said Quigley, a lifelong northeasterner. "Everyone in New England wears those things."

But a ti leaf? Well, it may stay in that back pocket a while longer.

"It's always such an upper for me to come to Kona." Quigley said. "I love the golf course, I always say this is the finest Jack Nicklaus course I've ever played. I love the tranquility and the peacefulness I get at looking out on the waves. It just puts me in such a great frame of mind."