Irwin's Inner Fire Still Burns

By Dave Shedloski

Town and Country, Mo. -- It's not icing on the cake that Hale Irwin seeks at this week's U.S. Senior Open at Bellerive Country Club. With a record 40 victories on the Champions Tour, including his seventh senior major title earlier this year at the Senior PGA Championship, Irwin has iced more cakes than Betty Crocker.

Irwin still hungers for victories, his appetite still not sated despite repeated trips through senior golf's dessert line. His primal hunter-gatherer instincts compel him, at age 59, to keep pushing for further gold and glory, further proof of life after a PGA Tour career that yielded 20 wins, including three U.S. Opens.

Don't bother asking Irwin how much longer he can remain competitively viable. Having already dispelled the myth that a player's skills diminish dramatically after 55, Irwin is disinclined to read the golfing lifeline on his palm. Not when he still believes his fortunes are still in his hands.

So, the question you must ask is, how much longer does he want to do it?

"That's the more pertinent question," said Irwin, "and the answer lies in my ability to play to a certain level that is acceptable to me. As long as I can still hit quality shots and getting quality results, then I'm going to keep at it.

"I know there is going to come a point when there is going to be some falloff. That's inevitable. But I enjoy the competition. I enjoy playing the game. I believe that I can continue to play at a certain level for some time yet, because I want to do it. I think attitude and desire count for something."

Hale Irwin celebrates the first of his two Senior Open titles in 1998 at Riviera Country Club. (USGA Photo Archives)

Intelligence matters, too, and Irwin was smart enough to concede that a trip to Ireland last week for the British Senior Open – the second of three straight major championships on the senior circuit in four weeks – was not in his best interests, not with a back injury that has troubled him on and off for more than a year. That back injury, which he aggravated at the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, caused him to miss the U.S. Senior Open at Inverness Club in Toledo, where in 1979 he claimed the second of his three U.S. Open titles.

"Terrible scheduling," said Irwin. "I had to make a decision, which was more precautionary than anything, and my priority was to stay here and prepare for our national open."

Irwin certainly knows what it takes to excel in U.S. Golf Association events, having won not only three U.S. Opens (the others came in '74 and '90, and the latter made him, at 45, the oldest national title holder), but also two U.S. Senior Opens (in '98 and 2000). His record in the senior version includes four other top-fives and no finish lower than 11^th, where he has placed in his last two starts.

A native of Joplin, Mo., and longtime St. Louis area resident, Irwin knows Bellerive better than most in the 156-player field, but has played just one official tournament at the Robert Trent Jones-designed layout, the 1992 PGA Championship. A poor ball-striking week produced rounds of 71-77-72-75-295, giving him a share of 66^th place, worth $2,575.

"I wasn't sharp that week," said Irwin, "and Bellerive doesn't let you play indifferently."

On Monday the autograph seekers were out in full force. Irwin signed his John Hancock so many times that he had to start turning people away because of a cramped thumb.

Since turning 50, Irwin has never been accused of indifference while clutching a golf club. He said he doesn't have a sense of urgency to win as he grows older but said that he's not sure how many majors he has left in him.

It's evident that his competitive instincts have become more acute since turning 50, and two victories this year at age 59 – highlighted by his one-stroke victory over rookie Jay Haas at the Senior PGA at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., are testament to his physical and mental staying power.

Such intangibles will be needed this week.

"Focus is the most important thing at an Open," he said. "Familiarity of the course will lend some comfort, but it's still all about how you handle yourself and handle the adversity. It's trite to say it, but it's about hitting one shot at a time, and not getting caught up in where you are. I'm playing OK right now, I'm hitting it good, and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Challenge is what Irwin relishes, and the challenge of a U.S. Open has certainly been one that Irwin has embraced more than most of his peers. And for what it's worth, he wouldn't mind book-ending his three Open titles with a third Senior Open championship this week.

"I guess you could say the open tournaments have been the hallmark of my career," said Irwin. "They have defined my career. I think of that as a great compliment; you couldn't ask for a better compliment, and it means a great deal to me.

"It would be really neat to balance it out with three on one side and three on the other."

Ken Klavon, USGA contributed. Dave Shedloski is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.ussenioropen.com.