Associated Press
Thursday, October 5

NAPA, Calif. -- Jay Sigel has a pretty good record on the South Course at Silverado Country Club and Resort.

	SIgel

It's not hard to figure out why.

Sigel, who owns six wins and career earnings of more than $5 million on the Senior Tour, has a genuine affection and admiration for the Napa Valley. In particular, he loves the layout of the Silverado course, the venue this weekend for The Transamerica.

"My wife (Elizabeth) loves it here," he said. "I love it here. Transamerica's been good to us. This is a great spot. This is about as good as it gets -- the weather, the restaurants, the wine, the golf course, the facility here, the crowds, the sponsor, the volunteers."

Sigel will be part of a 78-player field that opens the $1.1 million tournament Friday morning. The field for the 54-hole tournament includes defending champion Bruce Fleisher, Dana Quigley, Allen Doyle, Tom Jenkins, Arnold Palmer, Raymond Floyd, Lanny Wadkins, Gary McCord and Chi Chi Rodriguez.

In five appearances at Silverado, Sigel has two top-10 finishes, including a tie for third place during the 1998 Transamerica when he fired rounds of 70, 67 and 70 for a 207 total and earned $55,000. Last year, he finished in a tie for 18th, but is still 19th on the tournament's career money list.

"I'm looking forward to the season being over, but I can tell you this, I wouldn't miss Napa," Sigel said.

Many of the player's wives travel with their golfing husbands to the Napa Valley, a place that hosted PGA Tour events -- the Kaiser International and Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic -- from 1968 to 1980. This is the 12th year of the Transamerica.

"The advantage we have is a lot of them played here when it was the Kaiser, and so they remember it back then," said Frank C. Herringer, chairman of Transamerica Corp. "There's nostalgia value. But a lot of these guys are married and, of course, their kids are gone. Their wives travel with them and the spouses love it."

Count Sigel as one of the fans of the Napa area. He likes this time of the year, with the cooler mornings and bright, warm sunshine in the afternoon.

An injury to his left shoulder has made it a rocky season for Sigel, who admitted he has trouble sleeping at nights and warming up before playing.

He plans to have orthopedic surgery near his home in the Philadelphia area once the season is over.

"I haven't had a good year and I didn't have a good year last year," he said. "It would be a surprise for me to win. I think I could. I've hit enough good shots, it's just putting them all together."

Sigel has just two top-10 finishes and $291,315 in winnings through 28 events. He still wants to finish among the top 31 on the money list, something that will require a dramatic jump from 55th place.

"I still have a chance, but I've got to finish in the top one, two or three in a couple of events yet," he said.