Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Irwin in spotlight as seniors tee off

It was a veritable murderers' row on the driving range, with great players and storied figures bunched together in something of a spectator's dream. A relaxed conversation only added to the gentle setting.

Right in the middle, literally as well as figuratively, was Hale Irwin.

"Hale, nice swinging down there," Ray Floyd called out as he took a spot in a line that also included Lee Trevino, Bob Murphy, Isao Aoki, Rocky Thompson and Tom Weiskopf. "Thank you partner," Irwin said back, accepting Floyd's compliment for his victory in Sunday's PGA Seniors' Championship in Palm Beach, Fla.

Irwin and Floyd, the tour's top guns, can afford to be cordial. They're the dominant players on a well-oiled circuit where extravagance and wealth abound.

And no one is pulling in the big bucks like the 50-year-old Irwin, the logical favorite in this weekend's $1 million Las Vegas Senior Classic at the TPC that started today at Summerlin.

"It's easily said: My start has been nothing short of fantastic," Irwin said of playing seven Senior Tour events this year and leading the money parade with $624,925. "I was trying to get a jump start on the year, which I've done, and now the next part is to keep it going."

So he's playing Las Vegas while he's hot even though five consecutive weeks of tournament play have left him somewhat weary.

"I knew I'd have a 'here-we-go-again' feeling today," he said Thursday. "My immediate goal is to get the lethargic feeling out of my system. But I knew I'd feel this way. I went home for three days earlier this week and I didn't only not play, I didn't want to play."

But Irwin, a former collegiate football player at Colorado, is as competitive as anyone and more competitive than most on the 50-and-over tour. Since turning 50 last June he has played in 19 events, pocketed $1.4 million and won four times, including twice this year.

"You can't win every week, but you have to go out there with that attitude," he said. "This week, I have to be a bit more aggressive because there's only three rounds and that keeps the scores closer."

The majority of the 56-man field would be satisfied just staying close to Irwin, although that's an assessment he leaves to others.

"No trash talking from me," he said. "I don't want to give anyone any incentive they don't already have.

"The Senior Tour is fun but it's still intense and it's very competitive. I haven't given a whole lot of thought (to being the favorite) and I don't think I will. Besides, it seems to me the defending champion in this tournament is a guy who lives here, and he might have something to say about who wins again."

Las Vegas resident Jim Colbert is the defending champion and he's fifth on the current money list, but Irwin and Floyd will be the fans' primary focus as the tournament begins. The latter is relentlessly determined, while the former is something of a heroic figure for his timely conquests of some of the world's most difficult courses.

That's a reputation fashioned by three U.S. Open championships at three extremely demanding layouts, Medinah, Winged Foot and Inverness.

"Without those U.S. Open wins I'd be just another 17-tournament winner," Irwin said. "I think most people would say 'He always won on tough golf courses' when they talk about me and that's very complimentary."

His challenge this weekend is to win on an easier course that typically requires something around 10-under par to be on the first page of the final-day leader board.

And in the event he needs additional incentive to get through this long stretch of competitive play, there's always this one: He promised himself, his wife, his family and his business partners he was taking next week off.

The range -- to say nothing of the scoreboards -- at next week's tour stop in Charlotte, N.C., might seem empty without him.

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