A 3-under par in Gillette - the best two men could get.

With that score, the formidable duo of Senior professionals Jim Dent and Jay Sigel won the Gillette Tour Challenge, a small precursor tournament to the Northville Long Island Classic, on Tuesday, August 18, barely nudging past three other teams which all tied for second.

Dent sunk a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole of this five-team, six-hole, alternate-shot tournament to separate his team from the traffic jam of competitors. Dent, 59, whose most recent victory on the Senior Tour was the 1997 Home Depot Invitational, and Sigel, 54, who narrowly lost the 1997 Northville Long Island Classic to Dana Quigley on a playoff hole, together amassed three birdies, one more than any other squad. The teammates collected $4,000 in prize money.

For Sigel, the victory was his fourth this year in the traveling Gillette series. Dent hadn't won any in 1998 until Tuesday.

"We had one of the biggest crowds of the year out there today and I was fortunate to have drawn the right partner on the first tee," said Sigel following the competition.

The second, third and fourth prizes were divvied between the three teams of second place finishers, composed of Jose Maria Canizares and Hugh Baiocchi, Bruce Summerhays and Tom Shaw, and Quigley and Bob Charles. Each golfer will take home $1,666.67. (Actually, due to mathematical reasons, Quigley and Charles were shortchanged a penny. They were not heard to complain.)

The team of Mike McCullough and Walt Morgan, finishing even, was awarded $1,000 despite being last.