Every year, David Ishii, Guy Yamamoto, Stan Souza, Dean Wilson and Casey Watabu — the only local golfers ever to play in the Masters — try to make it a point of watching the final round on Sunday.

It's such a special golf tournament at such a special place that even Chris McLachlin, who caddied for Scott Simpson in the 1993 Masters, likes to put on the white caddie jumpsuit with Simpson's name on the back that he brought back as a souvenir while greeting friends to a Masters Sunday party he hosts every year at his place.

"I don't know if I want you to mention it. It's a goofy thing to do for someone in his 60s, but it's such a memorable experience, you can't forget it," said McLachlin, better known these days as the father of PGA Tour golfer Parker McLachlin and the high school basketball coach of the president of the United States.

"Scott knew going to the Masters was on my bucket list, and he checked it off for me," McLachlin said. Undoubtedly, there's another wish he'd like to add to an updated bucket list — Parker playing in the Masters.

Simpson knows all about McLachlin's annual Masters ritual.

"He always calls me every Masters. He gets out his white caddie uniform, puts it on. He kept it, I don't know if you're supposed to or not, but he did," Simpson said by telephone. "Tell him, Augusta is looking for a stolen caddie uniform," he said, laughing.

Simpson, who later returned the favor by caddying for Parker McLachlin in the 2006 Sony Open in Hawai'i, will be watching the Masters as well this week. His only regret, though, is that he's watching far too much golf on television lately. He hasn't played a round, let alone swing or hold a golf club, after suffering a broken left wrist in a fatal two-car accident Jan. 17 near his San Diego home.

"I'm really thankful. Thankful that it wasn't worse. Fortunately, Cheryl wasn't with me," said Simpson, referring to his wife, a Radford High School graduate.

"It wasn't life-threatening to me, but the other driver, an older lady, ended up dying. It wasn't a head-on collision, but it was a pretty hard hit — totaled both cars, air bags and all that stuff," said Simpson, who was taking the family's pet, a miniature schnauzer named Gracie, to a dog park when the car driven by the 85-year-old woman crossed into his lane.

"I don't know how I got hurt, whether it was the airbag or not. My hand was on the steering wheel and it happened so fast. All I know is it started hurting worse and worse after the accident," said Simpson, who is still wearing a splint after the wrist was in a cast for two months.

"It's not totally healed, but pretty close. Then I have to do physical therapy and get the range of motion back. Right now, it doesn't move that great. I haven't been able to do anything, but once it heals, I should be 100 percent," said Simpson, who hopes to rejoin his buddies on the Champions Tour in June.

"Otherwise, I'm just staying home, doing nothing," added Simpson, who did help daughter Brea, a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines, move into her new condo in Los Angeles. Son Sean is a senior at Simpson's alma mater, University of Southern California.

The family had spent two weeks vacationing in Hawai'i during the New Year's holiday, renting a house in Kailua, where the kids grew up.

"I was thinking of trying to qualify for the Sony Open, but then I decided not to. Just enjoy the vacation," said Simpson, who could only wonder how things would have turned out had he tried to qualify and got into the Sony Open, which was during that weekend of the accident. "If I would have stayed, I wouldn't have had the accident," said Simpson, well aware that life can change in a flash.

For now, it means a late start on the Champions Tour.

"Oh, yeah, I miss it," said Simpson. "They're playing a really couple of fun tournaments that are coming up — Outback (Steakhouse Pro-Am), which is kind of a Pebble Beach format, and the team championships Legends of Golf. I was supposed to play with Loren Roberts. And I had to miss one in the Dominican Republic, which is really nice there and beautiful, like Hawai'i, only not as nice."

He's not too concerned about his late start this year. "I'll be fine. The top 30 (money leaders) get exempt. If I don't make the top 30, I'm still in the top 70 on the all-time money list, so I should be able to play everywhere I want."

Even next year and he hopes it'll be in Hawai'i. A victory will get him into the 2010 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. But Simpson also hopes that the senior tour can get an event started up again at the Turtle Bay Resort after its seven-year run ended in 2008.

"That was a bummer. I love Turtle Bay so much," said Simpson. "I've always liked Turtle Bay almost even more than Hualalai. Obviously, Hualalai's fancier." But he likes Turtle Bay because it's "by Hale'iwa, all our friends are around and the golf course, too. I've always played well there."

You play better at the courses you like, says Simpson, who finished second in the 2006 Turtle Bay Championship to Roberts, who eagled the final hole to win by a stroke. Simpson's only Champions Tour victory came later that year at Pebble Beach, his favorite course.

You can add the Olympic Club in San Francisco where he beat Tom Watson to win the 1987 U.S. Open. And Waialae Country Club, site of the PGA Tour's Sony/Hawaiian Open since 1965, is like a second home to Simpson, who has played there 25 times, including 21 consecutive years after first joining the tour in 1979.

Augusta National?

Well, Simpson said he has some memorable moments in playing 15 Masters.

"It was a lot of fun, but it never felt like it was built for my game," he said. "I played OK there a few times, made the cut most of the time." Twelve times to be exact.

You never forget the first one, so Simpson says he'll always remember the 1981 Masters despite missing the cut because he played the second round with Sam Snead. "That was a huge thrill."

His best showing was a tie for seventh in 1990, but he remembers one Masters when he led in the final round before double-bogeying 11 and 12. And he'll never forget the 1993 Masters when he finished tied for 11th with McLachlin on the bag.

Neither will McLachlin, who remembers leaving the caddie area — there's no such thing as a shack at Augusta National — with the white jumpsuit, winking and nodding and palming somebody a $20 bill as he left.