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MasterCard Championship at Hualalai: Final-Round Notes
 
Jan. 22, 2007
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By Dave Senko
Champions Tour Media Official
Hale Irwin
Hale Irwin's victory was the 45th of his senior career. (Chris Condon/PGATOUR/WireImage)
HALE IRWIN'S CHAMPIONS
TOUR VICTORIES IN HAWAII
Year Tournament
2007 MasterCard Campionship
2005 Turtle Bay Championship
2003 Turtle Bay Championship
2002 Turtle Bay Championship
2001 Senior Skins Game
2001 Turtle Bay Championship
2000 Turtle Bay Championship
1999 Senior Skins Game
1997 MasterCard Championship
1997 Maui Kaanapali Classic
• MasterCard Championship Home Page

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii -- With his win at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai on Sunday, Hale Irwin grabbed the initial lead in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race with 290 points. He is a two-time winner of the Charles Schwab Cup (2002, 2004). Jim Thorpe and Tom Kite, who shared second place, are tied for second with 150 points.

  • Success in the Aloha State and Hale Irwin go hand in hand. This was Irwin's eighth Champions Tour win in the state. The winner of five successive Turtle Bay Championships (2000-05, no event was held in 2004) and six overall, Irwin also won this title in 1997. In addition, he has a 1981 Hawaiian Open victory on his resume and three wins in the unofficial Skins Game, including the 1999 Senior Skins Game at Mauna Lani and the 2001 and 2002 Senior Skins Game at Wailea.

  • This was Irwin's 45th career title and it ended a winless string of 25 tournaments on the Champions Tour dating back to the 2005 season. His 45 career victories are by far the most on the Champions Tour, 16 more than Lee Trevino.

  • Irwin's winning score of 23-under-par 193 was his lowest winning score in a 54-hole Champions Tour event.

  • With his win Irwin won $290,000 and has now earned $4,183,475 in all of the events he has played in the state of Hawaii, including unofficial events.

  • The victory also pushed his Champions Tour career earnings to $23,674,705, an average of $86,720 per start. In addition, he has now earned $29,640,736 in his career on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.

  • Irwin has 108 top-3 finishes in his Champions Tour career. In addition to 45 wins, he has been second 41 times and third 22 times. Overall, he has 186 top-10 finishes in 273 starts.

  • Irwin has won 19 of his 45 titles after the age of 55 and he becomes the sixth-oldest winner in history at 61 years, 7 months and 18 days. He is also the oldest winner of this event, surpassing the previous mark by the late George Archer's previous mark (60 years, 3 months, 23 days) set in 2000.

  • Irwin has claimed the same event on the Champions Tour a total of 13 times with his second victory at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai.

  • Defending champion Loren Roberts posted his 17th consecutive sub-par round, dating back to the close of the 2006 campaign when he shot a second consecutive 5-under-par 67 on Sunday.

  • Irwin led all players in putting average this week at 1.488 and he also had the fewest putts for the week -- 75. Irwin also led in driving accuracy (37 of 42/88.1).

  • A total of 10 players posted three consecutive rounds in the 60s and the field averaged 68.715 for the tournament. A year ago the field averaged 67.981.

  • Jim Thorpe and Tom Kite's runner-up finishes were the 13th of their Champions Tour careers. This also marked the second time Thorpe was a runner-up in this tournament. He was also second in 2001.

  • Hale Irwin has now posted 12 consecutive rounds in the 60s at the MasterCard Championship in his last four starts and is a combined 60-under-par during that span. Irwin led all players in the tournament in total birdies with 25, seven more than Loren Roberts, who was second.

  • Jerry Pate finished T9 in his first start since shoulder surgery last summer and Peter Jacobsen was T19 in his first action since hip replacement surgery last summer.

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