Dana Quigley isn't used to losing in Bermuda. And if it hadn't been for Tom Watson's unerring accuracy with the first shot of a nearest the hole play-off, he wouldn't have started yesterday.

Quigley, a tall 52-year-old native of Massachusetts, sporting a dark beard speckled with gray, last played competitively on the Island in the Belmont Invitational of 1990.

Back then, as he completed a third successive win in the tournament, he picked up a cheque of a little over $2,000. Even today, that event carries a total purse of only $20,000.

Contrast that with the fact that Quigley would have picked up a cool $50,000 should his team, containing two players 10 years his junior -- four time USPGA Tour winner Jeff Sluman and LPGA legend Nancy Lopez -- have finished last of the eight trios.

As it was, they finished second and took home $105,000 apiece.

No wonder Quigley looks incredulous when asked whether such arguably obscene amounts of money for a morning's work motivate a player to actually want to win the event.

"Are you kidding?'' he responds, pocketing his latest cheque to go with earnings of over $1m in his first year on the Senior Tour last season and $1.6m already this year.

"I was a club pro for 15 years. Any amount of money is motivation for me and I tried not to think how much we were playing for because it's definitely in my choke zone, that's for sure.'' But being back in Bermuda was also motivation for the likeable New Englander, who turned his back on the Island after his third Belmont success only because of a problem with the booze.

"A week in Bermuda was too much temptation for me. It's just that Bermuda is a great party atmosphere kind of place. It's a place where we Americans come to have fun.'' The liquor problem licked, he came back for the first time last year as an alternate but didn't make the field, participating just in the Pro-Am.

"I was so envious of the players when the draw was made last year that I made a point this year to work hard, play in every Gillette event and try to qualify for today.

"As it turned out, I was the leading money-winner in the Gillette events, but returning to Bermuda was really my motivation.

"On the course today I saw a lot of familiar faces, all the guys I used to play with at Belmont. A lot of the Bermuda pros were here. Barry DeCouto walked around with me, Shorty (Churm) was there -- it was like a time warp.

They were here ten years ago and they're still here now. "We used to have an annual Bermuda PGA v New England PGA match,'' he adds. "It was a great competition. One year we'd play here, the next year we'd go over to New England and I got a real tight bond with these guys. "I used to love playing with them. We've had a lot of fun together over the years and I'll never forget it.'' The Bermuda link was maintained as Quigley opted for a local to caddie for him.

Forty-eight-year-old Rudolph Warren got the nod and proved his usefulness.

"He was helping all three of us read the greens,'' says Quigley. "I've come here enough times to know that what you see doesn't always signify what the ball's going to do. So that was my strategy when I found out I was coming over here and it worked out well.'' It may have been like old times on the course, but off it there would not be the partying of old. "I'll just have a Diet Coke tonight. I haven't had a drink in ten years and my party days are over,'' he promises.

Local hero: Dana Quigley, a former three-time Belmont Invitation winner and now a star of the Senior PGA Tour, proved popular yesterday as he signed autographs and mingled with old Bermuda friends.