Notebook: Irwin, Crenshaw Have So-So Rounds

 By Kevin McManemin, USGA                

Baltimore, Md. -- Hale Irwin’s quest for his third Ouimet Trophy ran into a nasty roadblock Thursday: the back nine at Caves Valley Golf Club.

The 1998 and 2000 U.S. Senior Open champ played well on the front nine, but struggled to beat par and ended up even after nine. As he hit a late-afternoon rain storm on the back, his game took a turn for the worse. When play was canceled at 6:31 p.m. EDT, Irwin was standing at 2 over par. 

Irwin started the round steadily, making par on the first four holes.  He played brilliantly off the tee and the fairway, but two-putted greens kept him from breaking par.  On No. 5, Irwin hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker.  His recovery shot landed in the rough to the left of the fairway, and his chip out left him well short of the hole.  Irwin two-putted the green to take a bogey. 

Irwin got into trouble again on the 7^th hole, a demanding par 5 with a steep uphill climb off the tee.  His second shot hooked right and landed in the crowd, but Irwin saved par with a masterful chip that landed within a few feet of the flagstick.  A well-played birdie on No. 9 left him walking off the front nine at even par. 

In contrast to his steady performance on the front nine (seven pars, one birdie and one bogey), Irwin’s back nine was much less consistent.  A birdie on No. 10 put him under par for the first time in the round, followed by a par on 11.  But, as the sky clouded over with storm clouds, Irwin began raining down a hail of bogeys.  Bogey on 12.  Bogey on 14.  Bogey on 15.  Bogey on 17.

Irwin was on No. 18 at 2 over par, well behind leader R.W. Eaks’ 7-under performance, when play was called.

Yes, it was swelteringly hot the first day of the Senior Open at Caves Valley.  Ninety-three degrees mixed with high humidity drove the heat index up to 100 by mid-afternoon.  But the heat wasn’t enough to stifle Ben Crenshaw’s game as he teed off in his first Senior Open.  The Texas native ripped through the first two holes with a pair of birdies.  

After driving into the fairway on the first hole, Crenshaw knocked his second shot within a few feet of the pin to make an easy birdie.  He kept up the momentum on the next hole, hitting the ball to the back of the green with his second shot on the 391-yd par 4 and holing the long putt to put him at 2 under. 

Unfortunately, these would be the last birdies Crenshaw would write on his card that day. 

After the first two holes, Crenshaw played steady golf, getting eight pars in the next nine holes.  He ran into trouble on the fourth hole, a 176-yard over-the-pond par 3.  After hitting into the first cut, he took out his putter for the next shot but ended well short of the hole.  Crenshaw then two-putted for a bogey.

The short par-3s at Caves Valley continued to give Crenshaw trouble throughout the round.  He bogeyed the par-3 12^th, and scored a five on the par-3 15^th, sending him spiraling over par.  His missteps on the par-3s cost him four shots total, and despite a great performance on the par 4s and 5s, Crenshaw was left at 3 over par when played was halted.

Crenshaw, who turned 50 last January, has struggled on his first year of the Senior Tour. The two-time Masters champ (1984 and 1995) has only finished in the top 25 in two tournaments this season, with his best finish being a tie for 16^th at the Emerald Coast Classic.

 Aoki Stumbles On 18

Sometimes golf can be a frustrating game – just ask Isao Aoki.  Thursday at the Senior Open, Aoki turned in a masterful showing with 17 holes of near-flawless golf. He had five birdies.  Not one hole finished over par.  He hit 79 percent of the fairways, and made 78 percent of greens in regulation.  They were 17 holes any golfer would be proud of.

But, wait, golf is an 18-hole game, isn’t it? 

The par 4, 455-yard 18^th hole proved course designer Tom Fazio’s claim that the finishing holes at Caves Valley “have some strength to them.”  Aoki was brutalized by the 18^th, managing to escape with a triple-bogey seven.  Had he parred 18, he would have ended his round at 5 under par, in sole possession of second place.  Instead, he finished with a 2-under 69, tying him for seventh place with Tom Kite and Jim Ahern.

Since Aoki started on the 10th tee, he still had nine holes to go after tanking 18.  A consummate professional, Aoki put the hole behind him and played a stellar front nine, with six pars and three birdies.

Despite his first round finish, though, an Open victory is still well within Aoki’s grasp.  He is only five shots off of the lead, and is ahead of big names such as Hale Irwin, Bruce Fleisher and Gil Morgan.  Aoki is no stranger to playing masterfully in the Senior Open, finishing a single shot behind last year’s Open champ, Fleisher. 

On Friday when Isao Aoki looks out from the 18^th tee box to face the hole again, he’ll be ready.  This golfer rarely lets a hole get the best of him twice.  

E-mail Kevin McManemin at kmcmanemin@usga.org.