Hale Irwin - Media Guide

1979  U.S. Open Championship.  1981  Hawaiian Open,  Buick Open.  1982  Honda Inverrary Classic.  1983  Memorial Tournament.  1984  Bing Crosby National Pro-Am.  1985  Memorial Tournament.  1990  U.S. Open Championship,  Buick Classic.  1994  MCI Heritage Golf Classic. 

1998  Toshiba Senior Classic,  PGA Seniors' Championship,  Las Vegas Senior Classic,  Ameritech Senior Open,  U.S. Senior Open,  BankBoston Classic,  Energizer SENIOR TOUR Championship.  1999  Nationwide Championship,  Boone Valley Classic,  Ford Senior Players Championship,  Ameritech Senior Open,  Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic.  2000  Nationwide Championship,  BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland,  U.S. Senior Open,  EMC Kaanapali Classic.  2001  Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley,  Bruno's Memorial Classic,  Turtle Bay Championship.  2002  ACE Group Classic,  Toshiba Senior Classic,  3M Championship,  Turtle Bay Championship.  2003  Kinko's Classic of Austin,  Turtle Bay Championship.  2004  Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf,  Senior PGA Championship.  2005  Turtle Bay Championship,  Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am,  Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach,  SAS Championship.  2007  MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. 

[with Steve]. 2005 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge [with Jay Haas and Craig Stadler].

Hawaii. Tied his career-low round on the Champions Tour with a second-round, 10-under 62 and was never threatened Sunday on his way to his 45th career Champions Tour victory. It was his eighth win in the Aloha State, including seven on the Champions Tour, and it was also his second victory in the event. He also won in 1997. The victory also marked the 13th time he had won the same event on the Champions Tour, and his 23-under-par total of 193 was his lowest winning score in a 54-hole Champions Tour event...Made a strong bid for a second title in March when he was the 18- and 36-hole leader at the AT&T Champions Classic. However, made a double bogey at No. 17 which essentially ended his chances. Finished T4, two strokes out of a playoff...Was one of the 36-hole leaders, along with Des Smyth and Gil Morgan, at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in September before eventually finishing second to Morgan. Missed a pair of short putts on the back nine, which proved costly...Along with Mark O'Meara, came up one stroke short of Keith Fergus at the inaugural Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach. Missed a 15-foot par putt on the last hole that would have gotten him into a playoff. Runner-up effort at Palm Coast was the 42nd second-place finish of his Champions Tour career...Eclipsed the $30-million mark in combined career (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) earnings when he finished T7 at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf...Continued his strong play in his next start at the FedEx Kinko's Classic where he was fourth at The Hills CC near Austin...Was T6 in his next outing at the Regions Charity Classic. Trailed by three strokes after two rounds, but his closing-round, 2-under 70 could not move him up the leaderboard...Added a T7 finish at the Principal Charity Classic, where he rebounded from a 2-over 73 Friday with rounds of 66-68 on the weekend...Missed cut for first time in U.S. Senior Open after rounds of 76-73 at Whistling Straits...Posted T7 finish at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship in October...Closed his year with a fine showing at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Weekend rounds of 66-65 eventually led to a T7, his ninth top-10 effort in the season-ending event...Finished third in Greens in Regulation (73.82 percent) and fourth in Driving Accuracy (77.99 percent).

at 10) when he finished with $808,144. In addition, his record streak of top-10 finishes on the money list ended at 11 when he was 22nd overall...Turned in some of his best performances early in the year, including a stretch where he had three straight top-five finishes in February and five top-10 finishes in eight starts. Had just one top-10 in the final six months...Nearly claimed his 45th Champion Tour title in February at The ACE Group Classic. Trailed eventual champion Loren Roberts by three strokes at the turn on Sunday before moving into a tie with Roberts following a birdie at No. 15. However, saw his quest for victory fall short when he hit his second shot into the water at No. 18, resulting in a double bogey and an eventual T4...Made another strong showing the following week in defense of his title at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Shared the 36-hole lead with Mark McNulty and Mark James and held a one-stroke lead with two holes remaining before making a bogey at the 17th hole, which dropped him into a four-way tie for the lead with James, Morris Hatalsky and Jerry Pate. Moments later, Pate's birdie on the final hole gave him the win...Was fourth at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in April...T10 at the 3M Championship, his seventh top 10 in 11 starts in the Minnesota event...Finished T38 in his quest for a sixth consecutive Turtle Bay Championship title...Played in his first non-major on the European Tour since the 1978 Swiss Open when he was in the field in the Barclay's Scottish Open near Glasgow on a sponsor's exemption. Raised eyebrows when he birdied his last five holes in the opening round and then made the cut before finishing 66th at Loch Lomond...Finished 39th in Putting Average, his lowest-ever finish ever in that category and he also slipped from eighth to 24th in Driving Accuracy. Did not record a top-10 in a major championship for the first time in his Champions Tour career. 2005: Enjoyed another record-setting year as he led all players with four wins and narrowly missed earning $2 million for the eighth time in his career...Made history in late January when he rolled to a five-stroke victory at the Turtle Bay Championship, the 41st of his Champions Tour career. The win gave him five straight victories at the event, the first time a player had ever won a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event five straight times. It was also his sixth win at the tournament. Shot rounds of 67-66-67 and set a 54-hole record at 16-under-par 200. The victory was his 100th top-three finish in his 230th start on the Champions Tour. It was also the eighth official TOUR win he has posted in Hawaii (seven on Champions Tour) and capped an impressive two-week run in the Islands...One week earlier, opened the season with a T3 at the MasterCard Championship. Shot consecutive 7-under-par 65s on the weekend and missed earning a spot in the playoff with Tom Watson and eventual winner Dana Quigley by just one stroke...Won his 42nd career title on the Champions Tour at the rain-shortened Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am near Tampa. Monday finish resulted in a one-stroke victory over Morris Hatalsky and Mark McNulty. Found himself one stroke back of Hatalsky after playing three holes on Sunday before play was suspended for the day. Eventually made two birdies and a five-foot par save on the final hole to prevail on Monday afternoon. Notched his 22nd different tournament win on the Champions Tour with win in Tampa and ran his streak of years with multiple victories to a record 11 straight seasons...Won for the 43rd time on the Champions Tour when he prevailed by one stroke over Craig Stadler, Morris Hatalsky and Gil Morgan at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open. Shared the 36-hole lead with Morgan, and his final-round, 4-under-par 68 made him the year's first three-time winner. The win also marked the 12th time a player won a Champions Tour and PGA TOUR on the same venue (he also did it at Riviera CC near Los Angeles) and made him the 14th player over age 60 (60 years, 3 months, 1 day) to win a Champions Tour event...Added a fourth title and 44th career crown when he was a two-stroke victor at the SAS Championship near Raleigh in October. Entered the final round four strokes behind 36-hole leader R.W. Eaks, but eventually won by two strokes over Bob Gilder and Tom Jenkins. Battled several contenders down the stretch but sealed the win with a clutch eagle putt on the 17th hole. Drained the putt from 24 1/2 feet to assume a two-stroke cushion over Gilder at the time. His blistering back nine (6-under-par 31) included four birdies and an eagle. The victory made him the first player over 60 to win two events in the same year...It was also the sixth time in his 10 full seasons he had won four or more events in a season. The win also marked the eighth time in his career he had won consecutive starts on the Champions Tour...At the Administaff Small Business Classic near Houston, came up two strokes short in his bid for a third consecutive title. Played his last six holes in 2-under, yet fell to a hard-charging Mark McNulty...Was in contention for a major championship victory in July but came up one stroke shy of Peter Jacobsen at the Ford Senior Players Championship. Was the 54-hole leader and battled Jacobsen down the stretch, but missed two crucial putts on the final two holes to finish second. Still earned $220,000 for his second-place finish, pushing him past $1 million in season earnings for the 10th straight year...Voted as the Champions Tour's Player of the Month for January/February as well as September. 2004: Continued to defy the odds and again put together a remarkable season that contained multiple victories, despite having to deal with a tender lower back and assorted neck and shoulder pain late in the year...T7 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, helped him hold off Craig Stadler by a mere 39 points in the season's final event to earn his second Charles Schwab Cup. Led the Schwab Cup race for 11 weeks during the summer and then slipped into second place for four weeks before regaining the top spot for good after his runner-up finish at the Administaff Small Business Classic...Had a Tour-best 40 rounds in the 60s out of 73 played (55 percent)...Survived a grueling week at Valhalla to claim his fourth Senior PGA Championship and his 40th career Champions Tour title. Two-putted from 40 feet to birdie the 72nd hole to claim the weather-plagued event by one stroke over Jay Haas. Led or was tied for the lead after each round, and victory came just three days short of his 59th birthday, making him the oldest winner of a major since the start of the Champions Tour. Win was his seventh senior major title and he joined Jack Nicklaus (JELD-WEN Tradition) as the only other player to win the same major four times...Held off Gil Morgan in late April for the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf crown. Managed to eke out a one-stroke victory after making par on the final hole while Morgan two-putted from 20 feet for a bogey...Made a valiant bid to win his third U.S. Senior Open at Bellerive, but came up one stroke short of Peter Jacobsen. Posted rounds of 67-68 on 36-hole Sunday, but was derailed midway through the front nine of his final round by a bogey-double bogey stretch (holes 5 and 6)...Mounted a final-round charge at the Constellation Energy Classic, matching the tournament course record with a final-round 64, to finish second, two shots back of Wayne Levi. Birdied six of the last seven holes Sunday to post his lowest score since firing a 64 in the second round of the 2002 RJR Championship...Finished second again at the inaugural Administaff Small Business Classic, losing to Larry Nelson on the first hole of a playoff. Jumped into contention during the final round by holing a 4-iron second shot from 195 yards for an eagle on Augusta Pines' par-4 14th hole. Got into the overtime session after a two-putt birdie on the par-5 final hole...Posted an ace during the first round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Used a 3-iron from 185 yards on the par-3 seventh hole. Ended up missing the cut by a stroke, ending his streak of consecutive cuts made at 16. Also only the second time in his career he has missed the cut at the PGA, the other being 1979...Did not participate in the U.S. Open Championship, ending a streak of 33 consecutive appearances in the event. 2003: Despite back woes for the final four months of the season, made history when he won his 38th career title at the Turtle Bay Championship. Made up two strokes on second-round leader Tom Kite the final day, and the pair battled down to the wire before he emerged victorious, thanks to a birdie on the 17th hole. In the process, became the first Champions Tour player to win the same event four times in succession and also became the first to win the same event five times...Overcame a triple bogey on the front nine in Sunday's final round to win the inaugural Kinko's Classic of Austin. Claimed his 37th career title after making birdie on the second playoff hole to defeat Tom Watson at The Hills CC, tying the all-time Champions Tour record held by Miller Barber for consecutive seasons with at least one title...Selected as the Champions Tour Player of the Month for May...Earned a special exemption into the U.S. Open, his 33rd consecutive appearance in the event, but was forced to withdraw after 11 holes in the opening round with severe back spasms. Back injury kept him out of action for almost one month. 2002: Voted by his peers as the Champions Tour's Player of the Year for a third time...Established a Champions Tour record for earnings in a season with $3,028,304, breaking his own mark of $2,861,945 and in the process became the oldest player at the time to win the money title (Arnold Palmer Award) at age 57 (previous mark was by Peter Thomson, who won the 1985 money title at age 56)...Clinched his first Charles Schwab Cup and the money title with his fourth victory of the year at the Turtle Bay Championship in Hawaii. Birdied the first extra playoff hole to defeat Gary McCord. Win allowed him to tie Jack Nicklaus (four wins at The Countrywide Tradition) for most victories in the same event and also was his first playoff win ever on the Champions Tour in six tries...Started the year by winning his third straight Senior Skins (1999, 2001, 2002; did not play in 2000) title on the island of Maui. Prevailed over Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Fuzzy Zoeller at Wailea GC. Won five skins and $260,000 on the final hole to help him earn a record $450,000, breaking Raymond Floyd's mark of $420,000 in 1995....Captured his 33rd career title on the Champions Tour early on at The ACE Group Classic in Naples. Dueled Tom Watson down the stretch before defeating him by a stroke at The Club at TwinEagles...Set a Champions Tour record when he posted his 75th career top-three finish, a T2 at the Audi Senior Classic in Mexico, breaking Bob Charles' mark of 74...Won the Toshiba Senior Classic by five strokes with a record-setting 196 total, his second win in Newport Beach...Also won his third 3M Championship in Minnesota. Was tied with James Mason after 36 holes, but broke away from the pack for a three-stroke victory. Win at the TPC Twin Cities also marked the sixth consecutive season he had won at least three times...Became the first over the $3-million mark in season earnings with his fourth-place finish at the SENIOR TOUR Championship in Gaillardia...Also became the oldest player to claim the Byron Nelson Award as the Scoring leader (68.93). 2001: Eclipsed the $2-million mark for an unprecedented fifth straight campaign at The Transamerica...Won three official events, the fifth straight year he's won at least three times in a season, tying him with Miller Barber and Lee Trevino for the most in Champions Tour history...Broke out of a tie with Lee Trevino atop the all-time victory list by claiming the inaugural Siebel Classic in Silicon Valley, his 30th career win in his 135th start on the Champions Tour...Posted three consecutive rounds of 65 and shattered the Bruno's Memorial Classic tournament record by six strokes with a 21-under 195 total. Easily outdistanced Stewart Ginn by four strokes for his 31st Champions Tour victory...Notched his 32nd title late in the campaign at the Turtle Bay Championship in Hawaii...Played in the U.S. Open at Southern Hills and T52 after being one stroke off the lead after an opening-round 67. 2000: Claimed four official victories, the fourth straight year he won four or more titles in a season...Tied Lee Trevino atop the all-time victory list when he won his second EMC Kaanapali Classic, besting Joe Inman by four strokes...Successfully defended his Nationwide Championship crown, at the time the sixth successful defense of his senior career. Made just one bogey over 54 holes and edged Tom Jenkins and Vicente Fernandez by one stroke...Picked up his second title three weeks later when he held off Gil Morgan by a stroke for the BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland crown...Biggest victory of his season came in early July when he triumphed at the U.S. Senior Open for a second time. Carded rounds of 65-65 on the weekend at Saucon Valley and overtook Bruce Fleisher on the final day to win by three strokes. His 17-under 267 total was the lowest four-round score in any U.S. Senior Open Championship and gave him a sixth senior major title...Finished T27 at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and joined Tiger Woods as the only other player in the field to post at least two rounds in the 60s on the Monterey Peninsula...Underwent LASIK surgery the week prior to the GTE Classic and went on to T3 in Tampa. 1999: Became the first player in the history of the Champions Tour to win five or more official tournaments three years in a row...Won all five of his events from early May until late August. During that four-month stretch, he was par/better in 34 of 37 rounds and had a scoring average of 68.51...Started the run with a dramatic victory at the Nationwide Championship. Holed a 74-yard wedge shot for an eagle on the final hole to break a tie with Bob Murphy...Closed with a 66 to defeat Al Geiberger by two strokes at the Boone Valley Classic...Biggest win of the year came at the Ford Senior Players Championship, when he captured his fifth senior major despite a sore right rotator cuff. Used a final-round 65 to blow away the field by seven shots, the largest margin of victory ever at the TPC Michigan. His 72-hole score of 21-under 267 also equaled Gil Morgan's tournament record set in Dearborn in 1998...Rallied from an opening-round 73 to successfully defend his Ameritech Senior Open title by one stroke over Gary McCord, Bruce Fleisher and Raymond Floyd...Captured the Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic the next week in wire-to-wire fashion, defeating Jim Dent and Dale Douglass by two shots. Win in Minnesota moved him into solo second place on the all-time Champions Tour wins list...Set a Champions Tour record for consecutive sub-70 rounds with 13 in a row (second round/Ameritech Senior Open through second round/AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship). 1998: Voted the circuit's Player of the Year for the second straight season after seven victories, including two major championships...In 22 starts, amazingly finished in the top five in all but two tournaments...Posted a record 18 consecutive top-five finishes before string ended at the Boone Valley Classic (T13)...Won his second consecutive Arnold Palmer Award as the circuit's leading money-winner and averaged $130,088 per start...Also garnered his third straight Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average (68.59), breaking Lee Trevino's all-time mark of 68.89 set in 1990...Each of his seven victories was significant...Fired a course-record 62 in the final round of the Toshiba Senior Classic to come from five strokes back and overtake Hubert Green for the title...Won his third consecutive PGA Seniors' Championship, matching Eddie Williams' mark for consecutive wins in the event (1942, 1945, 1946)...Successfully defended his title the next week at the Las Vegas Senior Classic...Fourth title of the campaign came in wire-to-wire fashion at the Ameritech Senior Open, his second senior victory in Chicago...Despite an opening-round 77, made birdie on the 72nd hole to nip Vicente Fernandez at the U.S. Senior Open at Riviera CC. Became just the 10th player to claim a PGA TOUR and Champions Tour event at the same venue. First-round score was also the highest ever by a winner in Champions Tour annals...Sixth victory at the BankBoston Classic was another successful title defense...Closed out the year with a five-stroke triumph at the Energizer SENIOR TOUR Championship in Myrtle Beach...Broke his own mark for fastest player to reach $1 million in a season when he went over seven figures in just his eighth official event ($101,200 for solo second place at the Bruno's Memorial Classic). 1997: Had nine victories to tie Peter Thomson's 1985 record for most wins in one season...Became the first player to hit the $2-million mark in one season when he won his eighth title at the Vantage Championship and pocketed $225,000...Nine wins came in just 23 starts (18 top-10 finishes)...Got his year off to a great beginning with a two-stroke victory over Gil Morgan at the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii...Outdueled Bob Murphy a month later to win the LG Championship in Naples...Set a standard by successfully defending his PGA Seniors' Championship, winning by a Champions Tour-record 12 strokes...Edged Isao Aoki with a birdie putt at the final hole of the Las Vegas Senior Classic...Took control of the Burnet Senior Classic near Minneapolis with a birdie at the 17th hole and slipped past Lee Trevino...Made birdies on the final two holes for a two-stroke win at the BankBoston Classic...Claimed the Boone Valley Classic near his home in St. Louis, playing all 54 holes without a bogey...Played another bogey-free event at the Vantage Championship and used a 62 at Tanglewood in the second round to edge Dave Eichelberger...Tied Peter Thomson's record for wins in a single season with his ninth victory at the Hyatt Regency Maui Kaanapali Classic, defeating Mike Hill and Bruce Summerhays by three strokes...Claimed his first four titles in just seven starts, the fastest ever to that number...Of the 74 rounds he played, 57 were below par (77 percent) and only 13 were over par...More than half (41 of 74/55 percent) of his rounds were in the 60s...Won the Arnold Palmer Award as the leading money-winner and notched his second consecutive Byron Nelson Award as the Champions Tour scoring leader (68.92). 1996: Just missed winning money title by $12,121 when he was passed by Jim Colbert on the final day at the Energizer SENIOR TOUR Championship, thanks to a birdie on the 72nd hole...Averaged $70,250 per start for the year with wins at PGA Seniors' Championship and American Express Invitational...Led the Champions Tour with 21 top-10 finishes and was under par in 21 of 23 events...Won his first Byron Nelson Award as the Champions Tour scoring leader (69.47)...Victory at the American Express Invitational pushed him past $1 million in Champions Tour earnings in his 16th event, the fastest to do so at the time. 1995: Champions Tour Rookie of the Year after pair of victories and 10th-place finish on the money list in just 12 appearances...Made debut at BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland (T4)...Claimed first win at the Ameritech Senior Open in his fifth start...Victory was third of his career in Chicago area (also won '90 U.S. Open and '75 Western Open). Defeated Kermit Zarley by a whopping seven shots, equaling the largest winning margin on the Champions Tour in 1995...His 21-under-par 195 total smashed the tournament record by five and was just one shy of the all-time 54-hole scoring record in relation to par...Did not make a bogey all week at the Vantage Championship and defeated Dave Stockton by four strokes.

at his alma mater in May 2007...Starred in the prep ranks in three sports prior to attending Colorado and led Boulder High School to a state title in football...Was named to the Colorado State High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006...Son, Steve, also played on the Colorado golf team and won the 2004 Colorado State Amateur Match Play Championship...Got his start in golf at age 4 through his father...Actively involved in his own course design business. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992...Biggest thrills in golf were his first TOUR win in 1971 at Hilton Head Island, SC, his three U.S. Open victories, his two U.S. Senior Open wins and playing on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1991...Participated in a charity golf tournament in St. Louis for 25 years to benefit the St. Louis Children's Hospital and Hale Irwin Center for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology...Says if he could meet one famous person dead or alive his choice would be Abraham Lincoln, because he came along at a very tumultuous time in our history and had a positive influence...His favorite golf courses in the United States are Cypress Point and Winged Foot, while overseas, he gives the nod to Royal Melbourne in Australia...Leans toward the 2-iron he hit at the last hole to win the 1974 U.S. Open at Winged Foot as his all-time favorite shot...Broke 70 for the first time at age 14...Favorite all-time athlete is Byron "Whizzer" White, a fellow CU football standout and the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.