If you've ever spent a Sunday juggling family, work and 18 holes of golf, then root for David Nell at this week's U.S. Senior Open.

If your garage or your basement looks like a graveyard for old golf clubs, then pull for Nell to break par tomorrow at Caves Valley Golf Club.

And if you've ever daydreamed about teeing off next to Arnold Palmer and laughed when people said it was absurd, then pump your fist every time Nell makes a birdie tomorrow. Guaranteed, he'll savor every last gesture.

"It's funny, my mom and dad made up these bright yellow, pink and fuchsia T-shirts that say, 'My Son Played in the 2002 U.S Senior Open,' " says Nell, 50. "They wore them out to dinner the other night and to play bridge with some friends. They're pretty excited."

They're not the only ones. Nell is one of 28 amateurs who played his way into the field of 156 this week, and were he to even get a sniff of the leader board, his life story would be a ready-made Disney movie.

A resident of Sharpsburg, Ga., Nell works the night shift as a warehouse clerk for Nestle Purina, which makes and ships dog food and cat food. He labors through the night, his head rarely hitting the pillow before 8 a.m., and he plays golf only once a week, with friends on Sundays at his local course.

"I usually get up around 3:30 in the afternoon," Nell says. "As long as I work around my sleep schedule, it allows me to play a little bit."

Yet this week he'll walk the same course as Tom Watson, winner of eight major championships, and put on his spikes just a few lockers away from Palmer, one of the game's greatest players. To top it off, eight of the 14 clubs Nell will be playing with he made himself.

As a hobby, he tinkers in his basement like a mad scientist, taking old clubs and replacing the shafts, adjusting the grips and tooling with the heads until everything feels just right. Other times, he just builds the clubs from scratch.

"I get the components from the Golf Smith supply company," Nell says. "From there, I just put them together and test them out. Some work, some don't. It's a trial-and-error thing that I have a lot of fun with."

Though he was an assistant pro in the 1970s with a handicap around zero, Nell never gave any thought to playing golf full time once he met his wife, Sandy, and started a family. He did, however, dream about qualifying for the U.S. Open. He tried more than a dozen times, but never came close.

"When I turned 50, I had my eye on the Senior Open," Nell says. "I got an application, sent in my $125, and they sent me to Atlanta. As it turns out, we had about 112 guys competing for three spots."

Nell, though, was up to the challenge, shooting a 2-under-par 70, good enough for one of the three spots.

"I told him, 'We've got to go out and celebrate,' " says his wife, Sandy. "But the funny thing was, he was scheduled to work that night. So that day, he ended up being up for 24 straight hours."

Nell's biggest obstacle to playing, however, had nothing to do with golf. Just before he qualified for the U.S. Senior Open, his boss sent out a memo saying no one - under any circumstances - could take vacation time until July.

"All I could think about was here I can play in this tournament and I can't get off work to do it," Nell says. "None of my [co-workers] were golfers, so they didn't really understand. Fortunately, they were able to let me get off work to play. They've all heard of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, and I think they're excited for me."

Since he arrived Sunday, it has already been a whirlwind of emotions. Sandy has been following him everywhere with a video camera, documenting it all. And his friend and caddie, Brian Bossman, was so pumped up during Nell's first practice round, he left Nell's lob wedge on the eighth green. Bossman had to send an official back to get it because Ben Crenshaw was about to hit his approach shot.

"I was on the putting green after [my practice round]," says Nell, whose only goal is to make the cut. "I look over, and there is Raymond Floyd. So he's putting, and I 'conveniently' hit a couple of putts at the hole he's putting at. I went over and introduced myself. Today I did the same thing, and I got Tom Watson and Larry Nelson. I mean, these guys are my heroes."