(Ponte Vedra Beach, FL) — All summer long Dana Quigley had his sights set on winning the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup, but he and his wife, Angie, had an even loftier goal in mind. Financially set after eight highly-successful years on the Champions Tour, the Quigleys had determined they would donate any monies he won to their favorite charities. With a total of $2.1 million in annuities available to the top-five finishers and a $1 million annuity to the winner, there was a lot to play for in the final few months of the season.
After 28 tournaments, the Charles Schwab Cup came to an exciting conclusion on Oct. 30th. With triple points awarded at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma (CA) Golf Club, Tom Watson’s sizzling final-round 64 earned him the Championship trophy and enough Cup points to vault from fifth spot to 2005 Cup champion, 264 points ahead of runner-up Quigley, who finished T5 in the Championship.
Watson won his second Cup and the $1 million top prize, while Quigley collected $500,000.
True to their word, the Quigleys today announced their $500,000 would be split among the following charities in the annuity’s first year:
The Quigleys have indicated they will likely modify the list of recipients of the donations each year.
The University of Rhode Island graduate was inspired by friend and fellow New Englander, Allen Doyle, to donate his entire Charles Schwab Cup earnings to charity. In the first year of the program in 2001, Doyle won the Cup and earmarked his entire winnings for seven charities.
"I still say Allen Doyle’s donation is the greatest act of generosity in professional sports I’ve ever seen," Quigley said. "Here is a guy who didn’t have a lot when he came out on the Champions Tour and didn’t know how long he would be making the big money. So him giving that million dollars away was an unbelievable gesture. He really inspired me to do the same."
Watson made a similar gesture when he won the Charles Schwab Cup in 2003, donating the $1 million, primarily to ALS-related organizations in support of his longtime caddie and friend, Bruce Edwards, who succumbed to the disease in April of 2004.
"It’s one of the greatest things in the world to be able to do this," Quigley added. "I’m not looking for what people think of me for doing it. It’s a real cleansing and has really helped my soul. I think Angie feels the same way. I’ve really found out a lot about myself and I think I’ve earned the respect of the guys. Coming out as a club pro you don’t know if you’ll ever get that.
"Bruce Lietzke came up to me just before we teed off on Sunday (at Sonoma) and said ‘Dana, I admire the year you’ve had and I admire the way you’ve handled it, but more importantly, I admire the way you’ve lived your life.’ I know he wasn’t blowing smoke. It really choked me up to be honest with you.
"All of the charities are connected to us in some way and the money will primarily impact kids," Quigley said. "Angie is close to our church (United Methodist) and we got married there. We’ve helped send some kids to camp the last few summers through the church. Butler Hospital is where I went for rehab and I do my charity tournament with them every summer. My daughter works there and the hospital does a lot to give kids a chance in life. I went to URI and I’m hoping a young guy or girl will be able to get to college who otherwise might not be able to. If they’re connected to golf, all the better. And Tom Randle, the Tour chaplain, heads up World Harvest. He’s made a huge difference in my life. I’m in a better place spiritually as a result of him. Every Friday night we meet with Tom’s (chaplain) group and it’s always on our mind to help these unfortunate kids."
The Dana Quigley story is an amazing one. A member of the PGA TOUR in 1978-1982, he never felt he belonged walking the fairways next to the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus and Trevino. After struggling to make it on TOUR, he returned to his native Massachusetts and the club professional ranks and also found himself with a serious drinking problem. Nearly a decade later and some very near misses behind the wheel of an automobile, he saw the light and began to turn his life around. He stopped drinking and married Angie, a devoted golfer in her own right. As the decade of the 90s wore on and Quigley approached age 50, he began focusing on the Champions Tour. Once he got out there it didn’t take long for him to make his mark as the seven-time New England PGA Section Player of the Year won his first Champions Tour title only three months after his April 14th birthday in 1997. It was a bittersweet day, however, as his father, Wally, passed away just minutes after the tournament ended.
Quigley has gone on to enjoy incredible success on the Champions Tour. A go-for-broke player, he is fifth in Champions Tour career money with $12,333,491, having won ten tournaments and finished second 20 times. The 2005 season was his breakout year. Quigley won $2,170,258 to win the Arnold Palmer Award as the Tour’s leading money winner. With two wins, five runners-up (including two in major championships) and a co-leading 15 top-10 finishes, Quigley finds himself in the thick of one more race that will be decided in December by a vote of his peers, the 2005 Champions Tour Player of the Year/Jack Nicklaus Trophy.
Golf is a family game for the Quigleys. Not only does Angie join Dana on the golf course, his older brother, Paul, is a three-time Rhode Island State Amateur and nine-time Rhode Island State Stroke Play champion, who is retired from the insurance business and often caddies for Dana on the Champions Tour. Paul’s son, Brett, has been a member of the PGA TOUR since 1997.
ABOUT THE 2005 CHARLES SCHWAB CUP
Prior to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Quigley and Hale Irwin were the only two players to hold down the top spot in the Charles Schwab Cup standings over the course of the 28-tournament Champions Tour schedule. Quigley led the first two weeks, before Irwin assumed the lead in February and held it for eight straight tournaments. A playoff runner-up finish in the Senior PGA Championship in late May jumped Quigley back to No. 1. He retained the lead and his caddie wore the leader’s yellow bib for the next 18 tournaments. The biggest lead Quigley enjoyed was 522 points after tournament No. 21, the JELD-WEN Tradition. Irwin’s largest lead was 299 points, which he maintained for three weeks in March.
Watson’s highest position prior to winning the Cup was second, which he held three times, the latest being in late July after the U.S. Senior Open Championship.
The final top-10 Charles Schwab Cup points standings:
Rank/Player/Events Cup Earnings Points Behind
1 Tom Watson (13) $1,000,000 —
2 Dana Quigley (27) $500,000 247
3 Mark McNulty (23) $300,000 770
4 Hale Irwin (22) $200,000 979
5 Loren Roberts (6) $100,000 1134
6 D.A. Weibring (25) — 1279
7 Craig Stadler (21) — 1475
8 Gil Morgan (25) — 1476
9 Jay Haas (10) — 1560
10 Allen Doyle (22) — 1570
The Charles Schwab Cup is a season-long championship points-based program designed to identify the Champions Tour’s leading player. The program rewards both top finishes and week-in and week-out consistency at all 28 official/Charles Schwab Cup events. Points are awarded to the top-10 finishers and ties and are based on the money distribution for each tournament with every $1,000 earned being the equivalent of one Charles Schwab Cup point. Points are doubled at the Champions Tour’s five major championships and have triple value at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
ABOUT CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE/NASD: SCH), through Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC/NYSE), U.S. Trust Corporation, CyberTrader, Inc. and its other operating subsidiaries, is one of the nation’s largest financial services firms, serving over 7 million client accounts with approximately $1 trillion in assets. Schwab provides individual investors with a complete range of stock brokerage services, mutual funds, financial planning and investment advice, retirement plans and banking products and services, through branch offices, the telephone and the Web. The Charles Schwab, U.S. Trust and CyberTrade Web sites can be reached at www.schwab.com, www.ustrust.com and www.cybertrader.com, respectively.
ABOUT THE CHAMPIONS TOUR
The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it has grown to 28 official events offering more than $52 million in prize money in 2005 and its highest average purse ever of $1.8 million. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. On Oct. 30th, the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour and their tournaments announced they had reached the $1 billion milestone in charitable donations dating back to the first recorded donation in 1938. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Rick George is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Our web site address is PGATOUR.COM.
Contact:
Jeff Adams
Champions Tour
Tel: 904-273-3397
