Quigley Not Down Even Though Streak Ends

By John Albers

Kettering, Ohio – When he realized last week that a flight delay to the Senior British Open in Scotland would bring his streak of 264 consecutive tournaments played to an end, Dana Quigley suddenly faced a mid-season week with absolutely no plans.

The man who had played every weekend for the past eight years had no tournament, no Pro-Am, no outings, not so much as a doctor's appointment on his schedule for the week. What did golf's "Ironman" elect to do with his time?

"I played golf every day," said Quigley.

Should we have expected anything different?

After eight years of constant golf and travel, a streak that has largely defined his career on the Champions Tour, Quigley decided to skip searching for any new flight arrangements and just spend the week at home. Considering the itinerary he would have had to follow – an eight-hour flight and a four-hour car ride – times two, counting his return trip – Quigley decided to end the streak.

It was a difficult decision for the hearty New Englander but probably a smart one. Bothered in recent years by a painful hip injury, Quigley can no longer sit down for more than 15 minutes without a measure of pain. Still, he said, he was ready to take his originally-scheduled flight overseas, not so much for the streak but simply for the golf.

"I never said, ‘Well, I've got to go play because of the streak,'" said Quigley. "The streak was just kind of a product of what I do – I play golf every day, I love playing golf, I still enjoy… I absolutely love the competition out here and it never became a question of whether I wanted to play the streak or not.

"I really look forward to every week."

Quigley said the placement of the U.S. Senior Open in the schedule one week behind the Senior British Open helped cement his decision.

"I made a decision for the future rather than the present," said Quigley, who leads in Charles Schwab Cup Points on the tour. "The first 50 years of my life I did everything for the present, never planned ahead. I'm in good shape for the Charles Schwab Cup and the money race and I really felt that flying over and flying back, I definitely would not be prepared for this tournament. That was my main concern. I certainly didn't want to forsake a U.S. Senior Open for a British Senior Open. As important as the British Senior Open was for our tour, in my heart I just wanted to try and be prepared for this one and play well in it."

Quigley's hiatus from competition was especially rare because it was actually a two-week break. The Champions Tour was off the week before the Senior British Open and Quigley spent that time caddieing for his son, Devon, in the Rhode Island Amateur. By the end that week, however, Quigley was ready to lace up his own spikes again. When he ultimately could not, he said it was a strange feeling.

"I was antsy when I was watching the (Senior British Open) tournament," said Quigley. "I played Wednesday through Sunday and we taped the telecast so we could watch it at night. Sitting and watching the telecast, which I haven't done in eight years – I've never watched a telecast that I wasn't in – so to watch the whole tournament go on without me playing in it was a really strange feeling, without a question.

"It was really a nice week but not one that I'd like to do very often. I want to be back out (on tour). I want to catch that guy that's got the streak record. I want to go after his record now."

John Albers is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.ussenioropen.com.