Golf

Extended forecast calls for more Irwin success

The Hall of Famer, 60, keeps piling up wins on tough courses and in brutal conditions.

By BOB HARIG
Published February 19, 2006

The record book says Hale Irwin emerged victorious, but anyone who participated in last year's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am or watched the tournament at the TPC of Tampa Bay knows that bad weather was the other winner.

It rained so much and for so long that the tournament had to be extended to Monday and shortened to 36 holes.

Irwin sneaked out of town with his 42nd Champions Tour title, and a year later feigns surprise that anybody remembers the hassles.

"I don't know what the problem was last year," Irwin said. "I didn't have any problems. ... I thought it went really, really well."

Irwin was joking, but he undoubtedly took that attitude onto the course during the wet weather conditions.

And to those who have followed Irwin's Hall of Fame career, it was exactly the kind of situation in which he thrives.

Irwin made his name by succeeding on the toughest courses, in the most brutal conditions. He prospered by embracing the worst a situation could offer. When his competitors complained, Irwin knew he was 1-up on the first tee.

In a span of 16 years, he won three U.S. Opens, the tournament contested on the most exacting of venues. He won PGA Tour events at places such as Harbour Town, Riviera, Westchester and Butler National, where iron play was at a premium, as were pars.

Since turning 50, Irwin has rewritten the Champions Tour record book to the point it is hard to imagine anyone matching his 44 - and counting - victories. In his 12th year of senior golf, Irwin has multiple victories in 11 straight seasons and has won four or more times on six occasions.

Now another challenge awaits. Irwin is 60, well past the age when players are supposed to be competitive on the tour. But the 6-foot, 185-pound former defensive back at the University of Colorado grudgingly holds his ground.

"I think part of the challenge for me has been to try and rekindle that intensity level I need to play successfully," said Irwin, who defends his Outback title this week. "I have varying interests, family, business. Those are fun. I really enjoy that. But at the same time, I really enjoy playing. But you can't do it all in the same day.

"For me, scoring comes when I'm thinking about what I'm doing. You've got a thought here, a thought there ... and when you've got the Loren Roberts and Jay Haas of the world coming out here, you can't do that. You can't afford that brief pause in the mental game. Physically, there is not an issue. It's getting down to that intensity level and getting up on a weekly basis to play."

Irwin was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992, and if he had stopped playing at age 50, his 20 PGA Tour titles, including the three U.S. Opens, would have secured his legacy. To this day, Irwin's victory at the 1974 U.S. Open, dubbed the "Massacre at Winged Foot," remains vivid for his ability to survive brutal conditions that saw him win with a score of 7 over par.

But Irwin did not stop at 50. He forged another career, one that has Hall of Fame potential on its own. Can they induct him again? He has added those 44 victories, including seven senior majors. It could be argued that only Lee Trevino has enjoyed the same kind of success on both tours. (Trevino is second in Champions Tour all-time wins with 29; he won 29 times on the PGA Tour, including six majors.)

"I look at it as this is what I've done in my career," Irwin said. "They make that distinction that at 50 you've become something different. I still do the same things. The best golf I ever played in my life, in my career, was in 1997, when I was 52 years old. And on into '98. I can't say it was because I was 52 or 42 or 32. I just played the best golf I've ever played. It was a very exciting year for me. I won nine events.

"In reflection, what did I do that made it so good? It was I was finally learning how to play golf after all these years. I guess I was open to learn. I didn't feel I had learned it all. I still don't. I still think there are things that I can learn how to do better playing the game. Now obviously there will be an age where I can't perhaps physically do what I once could. But mentally, if you stay sharp, your game is apt to stay sharp."

Few on the Champions Tour believe a decline is imminent.

"He just keeps on winning," Tom Watson said. "He's got a perfect body for a golf swing. When he's got his swing under control, he's always the man to beat out here. He's so accurate. I don't see him slowing down too much. He's amazing. He's 60, but he's going to continue to win."

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]