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MasterCard Championship at Hualalai: Second-Round Notes
 
Jan. 20, 2007
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By Dave Senko
Champions Tour Media Official
Gary Player
Gary Player is signing some fantastic scorecards along with some autographs. (Chris Condon/PGATOUR/WireImage)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
GARY PLAYER THRU 36 HOLES
Category Result Rank
Driving Accuracy 78.6% T12
Driving Distance 267.5 yds. 41
Greens in Regulation 58.3% 39
Putts per Round 24.5 1
Putts per GIR 1.524 2
Sand Saves 80.0% 7
• Gary Player's Player Page

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii -- The MasterCard Championship at Hualalai kicks off the race in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup, and a total of 290 points will be awarded to the winner on Sunday. Jay Haas won the title in 2006, a scant 20 points ahead of Loren Roberts. Hale Irwin, the second-round leader here at the MasterCard Championship, was the winner in 2002 and 2004.

  • Gary Player bettered his age for the second consecutive day. The 71-year-old Player shot another 3-under-par 69 on Saturday and became the first player to better his age twice in the same event since 74-year-old Joe Jimenez did it two times at the 2000 SBC Championship. Player has bettered his age six times in his career.

  • Hale Irwin has enjoyed more success in Hawaii than any current player on the Champions Tour. The winner of five successive Turtle Bay Championships (2000-05, no event was held in 2004), Irwin also won the 1997 MasterCard Championship, the 1999 Senior Skins Game at Mauna Lani and the 2001 and 2002 Senior Skins Game at Wailea. He also claimed the 1981 Hawaiian Open. Should he emerge with a win on Sunday, it would be the 45th of his career on the Champions Tour, and he would also become the fifth multiple champion of this season-opening event.

  • Irwin's 10-under-par 62 matched his career low on the Champions Tour. It was the fifth time in his career he had fired a 62 and the first since the 2000 EMC Kaanapali Classic on Maui.

  • Irwin has earned $3,893,475 in Hawaii and a victory on Sunday would push his career earnings in the state over $4 million.

  • When he missed a 12-foot birdie opportunity on No. 18, Irwin also missed a chance to shoot his age. Had he fashioned a 61, he would have been the second-youngest player to match or better his age. Walter Morgan fired a 60 at age 61 in 2002 at the AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship.

  • As mentioned, Irwin will be bidding for his 45th career victory on the Champions Tour on Sunday. He has enjoyed great success when he has led or been tied for the lead in his Champions Tour career. He has been in that position a total of 40 times and has won 29 times, most recently at the 2005 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

  • In the previous 23 tournaments, the player who has led or been tied for the lead after 36 holes has won the MasterCard Championship 15 times. However, in the last three years, Fuzzy Zoeller (2004), Dana Quigley (2005) and Loren Roberts (2006), all came from behind in the final round to win.

  • A win by Hale Irwin would also make him the oldest winner of this tournament at 61 years, seven months and 18 days. The late George Archer's victory in 2000 made him the oldest winner in tournament history (60 years, 3 months, 23 days). Archer is also the youngest winner in tournament history (50 years, 3 months, 6 days) after claiming the 1990 event.

  • Defending champion Loren Roberts posted his 16th consecutive sub-par round, dating back to the close of the 2006 campaign when he shot a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday.

  • Dana Quigley's string of consecutive rounds in the 60s at this tournament ended at 15 when he shot a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday. However, Hale Irwin's 10-under-par 62 gave him 11 consecutive rounds in the 60s at Hualalai.

  • A record total of 37 players in the 41-man field finished with rounds under par, one more than on Friday. In two rounds, 73 of the 82 rounds posted have been below par. The scoring average dropped from 68.829 on Friday to 68.390 which is the lowest second-round scoring average since the event moved here in 1997.

  • Ben Crenshaw is the only player without a bogey after 36 holes. Crenshaw is currently T6 at 11 under par.

  • Hale Irwin leads all players in putting average after two rounds at 1.500, while Gary Player has had the fewest putts after two days at 49 (24.50).

  • In addition to leading all players in putting average, Irwin is also first in driving accuracy (26 of 28/92.9) and is second in putts per round to player at 25.50.

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