Hale Irwin

Hale Irwin won his fifth USGA championship in record-setting style over Bruce Fleisher, who held the lead for 43 holes, with a 17-under-par performance at the 2000 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.

Irwin tied the mark for lowest final-round score by a champion with a six-birdie 65. His back-to-back 6-under 65s in the final 36 holes at Saucon Valley's Old Course were the lowest in the championship's history by three strokes over Gary Player's 67.66133 in 1987 and spurred him to his second U.S. Senior Open title in the last three years. He also won at Riviera C.C. in Los Angeles in 1998.

"Well, I think you spell it, E-X-P-ER-I-E-N-C-E; you have to underline it," said Irwin, who also has three U.S. Open crowns to his credit. "You have to be there. You don't go train for it. You don't go practice it. You don't go buy some at the store. It's immeasurable."

Irwin, who set the mark for lowest score (267) at any U.S. Open championship, broke the previous Senior Open low mark of 14-under par shared by Gary Player (1987) and Simon Hobday (1994). His 17-under total also surpassed Juli Inkster's 16-under total at the 1999 U.S. Women's Open as the lowest USGA Open score.

He held second place at 11-under-par 202 entering the final round, two strokes behind Fleisher, the leader for the first three rounds. In Sunday's final pairing, a bogey by Fleisher on the first hole, coupled with a birdie by Irwin, knotted them at 12 under.

Irwin, a strong-willed and savvy competitor, then birdied holes 4, 5, and 6 to submerge to 15 under and a one-stroke lead over Fleisher, who recovered from his bogey on No. 1 with birdies on 6 and 8 to get back to minus 14.

Fleisher's sterling iron play and putting from the first three rounds did not materialize on the inward nine on Sunday while Irwin continued his torrid play with birdies on No. 12 and 17.

No one birdied more holes in the championship than Irwin, who garnered 23 in 72 holes, including 15 in the last 36. For the players near the top of the leaderboard, Saucon Valley's venerable Old Course was susceptible to crisp iron play on the rain-softened greens. Scores were lower than most players anticipated.

Matching Irwin's dive into red numbers did not happen for Fleisher. The 1968 U.S. Amateur champion seemed prepped for the crown after three par-doffing rounds, including a record-tying 64 in the first round. His efforts could not keep pace with Irwin's resolute drive toward the title.

"He played super today," said Fleisher of the 2000 Senior Open winner. "And I couldn't control him. If I try to control him, that is wasting my time and energy. He played well. There is nothing I could have done. I tried to put pressure on him. I couldn't. My iron game was a bit off today. I seemed to have funny putts out there and I never really saw anything go in the hole visually."

Irwin continued his excellent play at recent Senior Opens. He has finished no worse than fifth in his six appearances. Irwin has become the 12th player in 100 years of USGA championship play to record at least five victories.