From rain to Hale
Irwin grinds it out in the drenched tournament and warns there is no asterisk needed for this win.
By BOB HARIG
Published March 1, 2005
LUTZ - The tournament got old, but Hale Irwin never does.
After taking four days to play 36 holes through two major weather delays and various other setbacks at the TPC of Tampa Bay, one bit of normalcy returned to the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am on Monday:
Irwin, holding aloft a trophy.
The most successful player in the 25-year history of the Champions Tour, Irwin added another accomplishment to his already jampacked resume by making two birdies Monday morning to win the tournament by one stroke over Morris Hatalsky and Mark McNulty.
It was the 42nd victory for Irwin on the Champions Tour, 13 more than Lee Trevino, who has the second-most wins. And it is not one Irwin is likely to forget.
"I am just as pleased with this win as I could be," Irwin said after shooting a second-round 68 to finish the tournament at 134, 8-under par. "I don't consider this as having an asterisk. It was a tough win; it took three days to play 18 holes of golf. It was tough, and I'm proud of that."
Irwin, who turns 60 in June, earned $240,000 from the $1.6-million purse and has won more than $21-million in his Champions Tour career. Amazingly, he has won 16 of his titles since turning 55, the age senior players were expected to hit a wall.
"Who knows," said Irwin's caddie, Kenny Harmes. "He might win until he's 70."
Irwin sure shows no signs of slowing. He has finished in the top three in all four of his tournaments this year, including two victories. And he has multiple victories in 11 straight seasons on the tour.
But it was far from easy for Irwin, who won 20 times, including three U.S. Opens, in his Hall of Fame PGA Tour career.
Irwin was unable to play a hole Friday because of two rain delays that sent the tournament into a tailspin. On Saturday, he shot a first-round 66, including a back-nine 30, then got in three holes of his second round before darkness halted play. By that point, it was decided that the tournament would be reduced from 54 to 36 holes. Irwin trailed Hatalsky, who was finished, by a stroke.
Irwin returned Sunday morning to get three more holes of his second round completed, but he still trailed Hatalsky by one shot when he arrived Monday with 12 holes to go.
"You never wake up feeling the same," Irwin said. "It's very hard to stop and start. Part of a week like this is just trying to be patient."
Irwin began Monday at No.16. He made birdie at the par-4 18th by hitting an 8-iron to 2 feet, tying Hatalsky. He went to the front nine, where he saved par with a 10-foot putt at No.2, then took the lead with birdie at the third, knocking in a 22-foot putt.
McNulty, who won last year's Outback, was playing just ahead of Irwin but could never catch him.
"I had my chances," McNulty said. "I figured if I could get to 8 or 9 (under), I'd have a chance. It wasn't good enough, and Hale did the job."
McNulty said two double bogeys hurt him, including one made Sunday morning at the 13th, a 345-yard par 4 that is probably the easiest on the course. The conditions were miserable, but McNulty said that was not why he made 6.
"It was just a catastrophic number of shots," he said.
At least McNulty could do something about his situation. So could Vicente Fernandez, who came up two shots short after shooting 69 and tied for fourth with Tom Wargo. Hatalsky was helpless. He completed 36 holes Saturday, including a second-round 67 that left him at 135, 7 under, and the clubhouse leader.
He waited through Sunday's rainout and Monday's conclusion to see if there might be a playoff.
"When I got up and saw how beautiful it was ... in order for me to maintain my position, I needed the wind to blow hard," he said. "I needed tougher conditions out there."
Hatalsky said the time between his finish and the conclusion of the tournament gave him a chance to second-guess himself. After making birdie at the 17th hole Saturday to get to 7 under, he knew the conditions were bad and that the tournament would be shortened to 36 holes. At the 18th hole, he played conservative.
"I did not go at the pin," he said. "I had some second thoughts about that. I wanted to take bogey out of play and take my chances with a long putt. But given the information I had at that point, I did what I thought best."
Irwin knew his birdie at the third put him in front of Hatalsky, but what about McNulty? Or Fernandez? Or Wargo? There are few scoreboards on the front nine, and a sparse gallery gave him little clue as to what was going on around him. He missed three good birdie chances to extend his lead coming in, then left himself a 4-foot par putt at the ninth hole.
By then, he knew what was at stake.
"Talk about incentive," Irwin said, summing up the week. "Get it in to get out."