Two random acts of kindness made the Monday trip home from Kapalua Airport one of those to hold onto for a while.

Fresh off a weeklong stay on Maui to cover the Mercedes-Benz Championship, it would be a full flight to Oahu. An earlier attempt to get home 2 hours sooner proved fruitless, but standing in line, trying, offered up one of those strange moments in time.

Three rockers, suitcases and guitars in hand, were doing their best to get their stuff on board a midmorning Island Air flight. It took time to sort everything out, who was flying with whom, and what bags were getting on when and going where.

Fortunately, there were no hurries or worries, but after nearly 15 minutes of sorting things out, the older rocker in this three-man band was about to walk away without a silver guitar case that appeared to have traveled with him far and wide.

“;Hey man, don't forget your guitar.”;

He stopped, smiled a moment with his head tilted just so, as if waiting for me to recognize him; then grabbed his guitar case and said, “;Thanks.”;

Not thinking any more about it, 90 minutes passed before the next group of passengers came by to get on the early-afternoon flight to Honolulu. Among them were golfer Will MacKenzie, his wife, Alli, and son, Maverick, who's already standing tall in the 6-month-old saddle.

MacKenzie made the rounds and visited with some folks who played in the pro-am with him, posing for photos whenever necessary. Later, the MacKenzies hooked up with Anthony Kim and a friend; a late arrival with sleep still in his eyes, the foursome fell into an easy conversation.

  NOW, THE THING you need to know about the West Maui Airport is preboarding is on the right and general boarding is on the left. Get in line early to go through the checkpoint and you guarantee yourself a seat on the left side of the small boarding room.

The MacKenzies, of course, had a baby on board and all that that entails, allowing them the only first-class treatment you will see on these flights. Kim and his friend were unaware of these rules and as they boarded the limited-seating plane last, it was clear his friend would have to sit next to me in Row 2, and Kim would be forced to the back of the plane.

I gave up my seat, went to sit between a guy named Charlie from New Jersey—who said he has taken care of Vijay Singh's and Ernie Els' kids—and the woman who was part of the pro-am with MacKenzie.

“;You know, Anthony Kim would be sitting next to me right now if it weren't for you,”; she said, then smiled ruefully. “;I got a picture of him already. I don't want him to think I'm a stalker.”;

During the 30-minute flight, Charlie from New Jersey told me some inside info on golfers he had known, asking me halfway through, “;I know I shouldn't tell you this, but did you know Greg Norman's wife got $195 million in the divorce?”;

Of course, I didn't. And even though I wasn't sure he did either, it made for a good story. The woman next to me showed me some more pictures of the MacKenzie clan, no longer mad at me for taking Kim's seat as we touched down in Honolulu.

  OUT AT THE CURB, waiting for my wife, Kim came up from behind and handed me an Oklahoma University hat as he got in a cab heading to Waikiki.

“;I promise I've never worn it,”; the OU kid said. His traveling companion turned around as she got in the cab behind him and said, “;I hope you don't hate Oklahoma.”;

Normally, reporters shouldn't accept such gifts. But it happened so fast, I didn't have time to explain who I was and that this was an abuse of attorney-client privilege.

“;And anyway, he was just being nice to you for being nice to them,”; my wife said as she watched me unpack my bag. “;Look, he even signed it.”;

Snatching the hat out of her hand, there was his signature on the bill of the cap in almost the same color ink as the hat itself. My sad, old eyes hadn't noticed it.

“;This is an even worse abuse of attorney-client privilege,”; I said, almost to myself.

My wife dug out a small ticket stub from a private Mercedes concert held Friday night with Stevie Winwood and said, “;I'm sure you'll find someone, some day to give that hat to and it will mean the world to them.”; She paused a moment and said, “;Stevie sure is getting old.”;

I took the ticket from her hand, looked at it a moment and said, “;OMG, that was Stevie Winwood at the airport”; as I explained what had happened.

“;Too bad you didn't get his autograph,”; she said.

Too bad, indeed.