Passion drives Quinn to keep proving he belongs

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LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Call him stubborn.

What else can you say about a guy still chasing a dream after all these years of, well, futility?

Fran Quinn feels like he's back on top of his game. (Rogash/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Quinn thru 18 Holes

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 5 T4 Pars 12 T50 Bogeys 1 T120 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 50.0% T97 Driving Distance 302.5 yds. T70 Greens in Regulation 83.3% T2 Putts per Round 29.0 T28 Putts per GIR 1.800 T43 Sand Saves 0 N/A

But that is Fran Quinn's lot in professional life as he goes about his business on the Nationwide Tour in his 13th full season of toil and trouble. But hope apparently springs eternal in Quinn's case. It has to. Why else would the 43-year-old father of three be wandering the fairways at The Course at Wente Vineyards in the first round of the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship?

"I really have a passion,'' Quinn said Thursday after knocking in a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 469-yard, par-4 18th to finish off a 4-under-par 68 in style.

You don't make 276 career starts on the Nationwide Tour and suffer through 18 of 19 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournaments unsuccessfully without an inferno constantly crackling in your belly.

"I ought to get a medal for that,'' Quinn cracked about his perfect attendance at q-school since 1990.

What Quinn, who played the PGA TOUR in 1992, doesn't want is to celebrate a 20th anniversary in arguably the toughest tournament on Earth. That means he has to perform in 2008 like he never has before on the Nationwide Tour. That might seem like a lot to ask of a journeyman who readily admits he has had some Sunday slumps over the course of the last five seasons, someone who has cracked the $100,000 mark on the final Nationwide Tour money list just twice, someone who is just a conditional member this year.

Quinn is in Livermore on a sponsor's exemption, the same way he gained entry to the Moonah Classic in Australia in late February. He finished tied for 15th despite a final-round 77, making enough ($10,336) to insure he'll gain status followed the Tour's first shuffle after the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the next stop on the schedule.

Of course, Quinn, who owns two career Nationwide Tour victories, could take the guesswork out of it with a win this week. He'll begin the second round brimming with confidence and well-placed, just a few shots off the lead.

"I know in my heart I belong,'' he said. "There's no better time than now.''

Despite a five-week layoff, Quinn has stayed sharp and feels like he's on top of his game. His lone bogey Thursday came when he three-putted the par-5 12th.

"I just need a couple of days to shake off the rust,'' he said. "I've stayed in tune with the game. I can drive it over 300 yards. I just need to do the little things a little better to put me over the top.''

Putting is one of Quinn's "little things.'' He has experienced his share of troubles with the flat stick, but believes he found something that works during his last practice session with teacher Shawn Hester when he was home in Holden, Mass.

"It was a snowy day and we went to an indoor facility,'' he said. "I was putting some balls when I dropped my right foot back just a smidge. The putter started flowing. I'm starting the ball on line.''

Quinn is decidedly upbeat for a guy who has been beat up by his profession a time or two or three. But obviously he keeps picking himself off the mat and coming back for more. He pulls no punches when he addresses his situation.

"I've been down a tough road at times,'' he said. "But I've weathered more than a few storms and I'm sick of shoveling snow.

"But that's the thing about golf. It can turn around any time.''

Quinn has the perfect story about just how quickly fortunes can change. He won the Nationwide Tour's Dakota Dunes Open in 1999, but missed gaining his PGA TOUR playing privileges by less than $12,000. He went on to the finals of the qualifying tournament, where he made two double bogeys on the final nine to miss by a shot.

"I was flustered,'' he said. "I told myself that was it for the year; that I wasn't going to touch a club even though I had a chance to play a couple of events in Asia.''

Quinn had an abrupt change of heart about 10 days later. He hopped on a jet, made it to Thailand on a Wednesday and won the Thailand Open. The next week he won again at Omega PGA Championship. That is why he keeps trying.

"If I ever feel like I've lost my game, I'll go another route,'' he said.

But the opportunities keep on coming. Quinn thinks he's hitting the ball too well not to cash in soon.

"I've been in one of the last three groups 15 or 16 times the last four years,'' Quinn said. "That's a lot of opportunities. I need to clean up my Sundays, but it's shown me that a lot of the hard work I've done over the last five or six years has really paid off. I know how bad I want it and I need to get over the hurdle.

"Once I do, the sky is the limit.''