Irwin Storms To Senior Win
Three wins in his last five starts. Looks like Hale Irwin has found his game.
That could be bad news for the rest of the Senior PGA Tour.
Irwin, the senior circuit's Player of the Year the last two years, was at his overpowering best Sunday. He closed with a 7-under 65 for a 21-under 267 total, winning the Senior Players Championship by seven shots over Graham Marsh.
"I hardly know what to say. The last two rounds were exceptional,Â" said Irwin, who played the final 36 holes in 15 under. Â"I just blitzed them.Â"
Marsh started the day four strokes off the pace and shot a 68. John Jacobs bogeyed the final two holes for a 67 and finished third at 275.
"It was an awesome display of touch, control, aggression,Â" Marsh said. Â"I mean, you name it, Hale did just about everything he wanted to do over the last two days.Â"
Irwin started the final round at 14 under and quickly left everyone behind with birdies at the Nos. 1 and 3. He made the turn at 17 under with a birdie at No. 9 -- starting an incredible string of four holes he would play in 5 under.
"That just tends to slam the door on people who may be getting close,Â" Irwin said.
He needed an 8-foot putt to save par at No. 10, then Irwin put his game in overdrive. He holed a 9-iron from 134 yards to eagle 11, rolled home a 35-foot birdie putt at 12 and two-putted from about 45 feet to birdie 13.
Just like that, Irwin was 21 under -- matching the course record set last year by Gil Morgan at the TPC of Michigan, designed by Jack Nicklaus.
"It was fantastic to watch,Â" Marsh said. Â"I have no complaints.Â"
The tournament record is 27-under 261 by Nicklaus in 1990 at nearby Dearborn Country Club -- the year before TPC of Michigan was completed.
The rest of the field might as well have been playing a friendly Sunday nassau. Nobody was going to catch Irwin, not even with clean and place rules brought on by a heavy overnight rain.
Jacobs, playing in the threesome just ahead of Irwin, eagled the par-5 13th to get to 14 under, but that still left him seven strokes behind Irwin at that point.
Irwin was getting ready to tee off on No. 17 when rain halted play at 2:42 p.m. When play resumed 57 minutes later, Irwifinished with two pars.
The victory in the senior major earned Irwin $300,000 of the $2 million purse put up by the sponsor, Ford Motor Co.
Last year, Irwin shared the first-round lead with Jacobs, but Morgan took over during the second round and went on to beat Irwin by three strokes for his fourth victory of the season. Still, Irwin went on to win the money title with $2.8 million, about $700,000 more than Morgan.
This season, Irwin got lost in the hoopla surrounding the hot start of senior newcomers Bruce Fleisher and Allen Doyle, who won seven tournaments between them.
"Those that wanted to write me off, did,Â" Irwin said. Â"But I never went anywhere. Maybe I was on the back porch, but I wasn't gone.
"I know I wasn't playing like I wanted to. But you don't step off that train and get right back on. It's moving too fast.Â"
Irwin won the Senior Skins Game in January and finished second to Morgan in the Senior Slam in March. Both are unofficial events.
His game really began to heat up in May, winning the Nationwide Championship and the Boone Valley Classic. But a sore left shoulder caused Irwin to withdraw from the U.S. Open a week ago, leaving much doubt in his mind whether he would even be able to play this tournament.
But therapists who travel with the senior circuit worked the pain out of Irwin's shoulder.
Morgan shot a 65 and was at 278. Ray Floyd, the 1996 winner, closed with a 65 for 279.
Divots:
- Since 1996, Irwin has been strong in the Senior Players Championship the last four years. He finished second in 1996 and 1998, with a tie for 19th in 1997.
- A heavy morning shower that softened up the course also delayed the start of play by 30 minutes. Irwin and Marsh, who were scheduled to tee off at 10:15 a.m. went off at 10:45 a.m.
- The weather spelled mostly bad luck for the sponsor, Ford. The telecast, on ABC-TV, went off the air at 3 p.m. during the rain delay, followed immediately by the telecast from Harrison, N.Y. of the regular PGA Tour event, sponsored by Buick.
- Leonard Thompson had one of the hottest starts of the day, with birdies on five of the first 10 holes. But he cooled off, making a double bogey on the last two holes and shooting 69 for 213.
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