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After 118 straight tournaments, the former club pro can't play enough golf.
By BOB HARIG
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2001
LUTZ -- The calendar repeats itself for Dana Quigley. There are flagsticks. There are bunkers. And there is Quigley at a golf course, each day, every day.
For Quigley, missing golf is like going without water. He probably can count on one hand the days he has failed to play in the past year. If he can think of any.
"I just love to play golf, that's all I can tell you," said Quigley, 53, a Senior PGA Tour member in town for this week's Verizon Classic at the TPC of Tampa Bay. "It's just great enjoyment for me to come out and see which way the ball is going to go that day."
Quigley finished second Sunday to Gil Morgan at the ACE Group Classic in Naples. Monday was the perfect day to relax. No way. Quigley played in a West Palm Beach Pro-Am. Tuesday he was at the TPC of Tampa Bay playing a practice round and participating in a skills challenge. Today there will be another game, followed by Thursday's pro-am.
A former club pro who once tried and failed on the PGA Tour, Quigley is undoubtedly enjoying his tour mulligan. He's won four times and more than $4.8-million since joining the Senior PGA Tour. And he never wants to miss a tournament.
When the 54-hole tournament begins Friday, Quigley will begin his 119th consecutive Senior PGA Tour event and the 133rd in a row for which he has been eligible. The last time Quigley did not play a senior event was at the end of the 1997 season -- his rookie year -- when he did not qualify for the Senior Tour Championship.
Last year, Quigley set a record when he played in all 39 official senior events. He played 114 rounds, more than anybody else.
But it doesn't matter if there is a tournament on the schedule. Quigley is playing somewhere, even on Christmas.
"It's unique," said Allen Doyle, one of Quigley's friends and frequent practice-round partners. "In this day and age, you want to do a little something that will distinguish you from other people. It's great for the tour. It's almost good that he doesn't take time off. He's good with the crowds, he's a pleasure to be around.
"I try to hang around with him as much as I can because he's always positive, he's always having a good time. It doesn't matter what he shoots. He's thrilled to be out here. He's got an attitude I try to emulate. That attitude is one that some of these other fellas ought to try and emulate more than they do. Like I said, he's great for the spectators, all the players like him and he likes playing."
Quigley is among the many second-chance stories that give the senior tour appeal. When he played the regular tour on and off from age 31 to 35, he earned just more than $92,000.
He took a club pro job in Massachusetts but found time to play frequently. "When I interviewed for the job, I told them it would be a waste of time to even consider me if they thought I was going to sit in the shop," Quigley said. "I played with the members every day at noon."
Quigley was the head pro at Crestwood Country Club in Rehoboth, Mass., from 1983-96 and was promoted to director of golf in '97, just before he turned 50. When he asked to take Mondays off to qualify for senior events and was denied, he quit.
Big risk.
"It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me," Quigley said. "But there was some fear. I wasn't sure I could get another job."
It didn't take long for Quigley to realize he need not worry. With no exempt status, he had to qualify on Mondays, and in his fifth senior event he won the Northville Long Island Classic. That gave him a one-year exemption on the senior tour, and after '97 he has finished seventh, sixth and fifth on the money list, earning more than $1.8-million last year.
Quigley has changed some things, however, to get to this point. He no longer drinks, saying it cost him his first marriage. "After a couple DWIs, I knew I'd either go to jail, kill somebody or kill myself," he said.
"I'm a compulsive person," Quigley said. "Everything I do is that way. I go overboard. But I consider golf my only vice now. It's certainly what drives me. I can't wait to play golf.
"Drinking was that way. Staying out late. Gambling. I've done all that stuff. Now I consider myself a whole lot smarter. I know what's good for me. I try to stay clear of the stuff that isn't good for me."
Quigley still suffers from a lack of confidence. His four victories are nice, but he also has nine runner-up finishes and five thirds. He has consulted with sports psychologist Bob Rotella but often is stymied by the belief he doesn't belong.
"If I play well and get myself into position to win, I really don't care whether I win or lose," he said. "I've already won four times more than I thought I would.
"I don't have any goals, I don't have any aspirations that I can be a player on the same level as Gil Morgan and Bruce Fleisher and Hale Irwin and Larry Nelson. I don't have those pipe dreams. I know what my capabilities are. The only thing I have going for me is I have a big heart. I don't give up. And bad shots don't bother me at all. I kind of laugh them off."
There's always another day.
LUTZ -- After three weeks in the CBS-TV tower, Gary McCord is back to playing golf for a living instead of talking about it.
McCord arrived for the Verizon Classic on Monday night after completing his broadcast duties at the Buick Invitational in San Diego.
"I couldn't wait to get here because I haven't played," McCord said Tuesday while putting at the TPC of Tampa Bay. "I didn't get to do much last week. I haven't played in about two weeks.
"There's no preparation before, so the preparation has to be here. You've got three days. If you can't find it in three days, fake it. Tiger (Woods) fakes it and shoots 66. I fake it and shoot 75. Somehow I have to get to where I'm faking it like Tiger."
McCord has done a pretty good job of faking it on the Senior PGA Tour. He has won twice in two full years and earned more than $1.6-million. He finished tied for fifth at the season-opening MasterCard Championship.
But it's tough to get momentum. McCord returns to TV next week at the PGA Tour's Los Angeles Open, then plays four in a row on the senior tour before TV takes up most of his time for two months.
"Golf is the one I look forward to," McCord said. "TV is great, obviously. It's been pretty easy. And they keep paying you. But this is fun."
HE'S GOT SKILLS: Eight Senior PGA Tour players participated in the Senior Skills Challenge on the 18th hole. The competition involved hitting a 50-yard pitch shot, a flop shot, bunker shot, chip-and-run and a long putt of 40-50 feet. Points were awarded for how close players got to the hole with each shot.
Tom Jenkins won with 43 points, edging Bob Murphy, who had 38. Jenkins earned $5,000, and Murphy pocketed $4,000. The other participants, in order of finish, were Gil Morgan, Ed Dougherty, Doug Tewell, Allen Doyle, Dana Quigley and Bruce Summerhays.
TODAY 8 A.M. SHOTGUN START
8 A.M. SHOTGUN START
1A Tom Watson
1B Hubert Green
2 Doug Tewell
2B Sammy Rachels
3 Mike Hill
4 Leonard Thompson
5 Walter Morgan
6A Mike McCullough
6B Terry Mauney
7 Bob Gilder
8A Dave Eichelberger
8B Steve Veriato
9A Al Geiberger
9B Bob Eastwood
10A George Archer
10B Allen Doyle
11A Jim Dent
11B Walter Hall
12 John Bland
13 Howard Twitty
14A Tom Shaw
14B Bill Holstead
15 Ed Dougherty
16 Jim Albus
17A Dana Quigley
17B Stewart Ginn
18 Lanny Wadkins
1 P.M. SHOTGUN START
1 Bruce Fleisher
2A Hale Irwin
2B Jesse Patino
3 Gary McCord
4 Graham Marsh
5 Vicente Fernandez
6A Jose Maria Canizares
6B David Lundstrom
7 Jerry McGee
8A Jim Thorpe
8B Bobby Walzel
9A Gil Morgan
9B Bruce Summerhays
10A Ray Floyd
10B Chi Chi Rodriguez
11A Dave Stockton
11B Harold Henning
12 Tom Jenkins
13 Isao Aoki
14A Bob Murphy
14B Rocky Thompson
15 Joe Inman
16 Orville Moody
17A John Mahaffey
17B Hugh Baiocchi
18 Larry Nelson