The Tour's winningest player isn't done yet, even at 66
By Vartan Kupelian, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
Nick Price looks at the swing and nods his head. It's a nod that conveys equal parts respect and admiration.
Tom Watson watches the swing because the action is so pure and efficient.
Even now, after all those years, Hale Irwin knows how to swing a golf club. Irwin celebrated his 66th birth on June 3. He has won 45 times on the Champions Tour and if you're looking at records in sports likely never to be broken, put Irwin's win total high on the list.
Irwin won 20 titles on the PGA TOUR, including golf's sternest test, the U.S. Open, three times. He transitioned to the Champions Tour in 1995 and won a senior major in each of his first five years. He's won the Senior PGA Championship four times, and amazingly almost made it five a few weeks ago at Valhalla Golf Club.
Irwin is, without much question, the best and most prolific player in Champions Tour history. It is a distinction he so richly deserves.
"Well I said it all through my career, especially out here, that Hale Irwin is the guy to beat out here," Watson said at Valhalla.
"And I always take the opportunity to watch Hale practice because I love his golf swing. I like his motion. He just has a great golf swing and, of course, his competitive spirit is second to very few people."
Watson, winner of the Senior PGA Championship in a playoff over David Eger, knows a thing or two about those subjects. His swing is widely admired for its elegance and longevity and Watson is as competitive as they come. It's why he plays the game. It's the force behind his motivation.
Price is another of golf's great champions who minces no words when it comes to what Irwin has done over the years.
"I tell you what, I have nothing but respect for that man's game," Price said. "What is he, 63, now?"
Price was off by a few years but it's an honest mistake and just another example of how ageless Irwin has become.
"I just hope I'm still playing at that age, honestly," Price said. "That guy, you got a record like his, such a great golf swing. Every time I play with him it just seems like he has no weaknesses. The career that he's had on the Champions Tour is second to none. I mean, I don't think anyone will ever match what he's done out here. I got nothing but admiration for him. And if you can play like that at 66, it gives us all a lot of hope still."
Irwin has four top 10 finishes in 2010, including a fourth at the Senior PGA. He's old enough to collect Social Security but he keeps grinding instead of finding a hammock under a cool shade tree and reminiscing about the glory years. Why? That's just Irwin. It's the competitive instinct Watson is talking about.
"I still have a desire to compete," Irwin said.
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What he's had to deal with increasingly is that the body isn't always as willing as the spirit.
"Maybe the realization is hitting me that I used to be able to command my body to do what I wanted it do and now I give it that command and it hesitates or it gives me feedback, 'No, I don't want to do that, I don't want to go there.'
"The lag time is greater now. I think, too, there is a sense of there is going to be an end. Whether it's a tapering off or whether it's the cliff, I don't know. But I do know that I still enjoy the competition, I still like to push myself. I still enjoy going out and playing against the young guys as they come on the Champions Tour."
Irwin knows the vagaries of the game and has always been expert at managing himself and his golf. He knows how much his body can endure, what areas of his game need attention, and when. Those are among the traits that have enabled him to succeed for so long.
Irwin knows he can't go on forever, nobody can. But the good shots, the good rounds, the good scores still make golf fun for him. That's a good enough reason to keep going.
The hammock can wait a little longer.
Vartan Kupelian is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.
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