Senior Classic: Despite a slow start, Irwin eyes a big finish

Hale Irwin said he doesn't expect to have the same type of phenomenal success he enjoyed on the Senior PGA Tour the past two years.

But that's not going to stop him from trying.

Irwin, who will be out for his third consecutive Las Vegas Senior Classic title when play begins Thursday, said he hasn't tempered his goal of dominating the Senior PGA Tour just because he has gotten off to a slow start this season.

"After the last two years, '97 and '98 were such great years, that to come out in '99 and to expect to have that kind of year again is foolish -- you don't expect to have those kind of years," Irwin said Tuesday. "You might hope to have those kind of years ... but it's one thing wanting to do it and another thing to do it."

Irwin was winless in his first seven starts this year before posting a one-shot victory over Bob Murphy last Sunday. Part of the reason for his sluggish start, Irwin said, was that he had not defined his goals for the season.

"I think part of the lack of results this year is I didn't have a specific goal," Irwin said. "I can use, let's say '97, as a goal if I want (to think) in terms of wins, which is nine. I could use last year in terms of money won, which was about $2.86 million.

"I need to be more goal-oriented so I think my goal from here on out is to see if I can't get to $2 million (in earnings). For me to win $2 million for the year, which would be a very nice year indeed, I need to win approximately a million and a half (dollars) from this point forward.

"When you start figuring that out, that means tournament wins have to happen. Or, I could reverse it and say, 'I'd like to win four or five more times.' Well, that might take care of that other goal."

Irwin admits he will have his work cut out for him if he is to succeed in achieving that goal. Although he has played sporadically the past three months, Irwin said his schedule will pick up this summer, beginning with this week's $1.4 million Las Vegas Senior Classic.

After winning 16 tournaments and more than $5 million the past two years, Irwin said he needed a break from the game this spring, hence his light playing schedule to date.

"I really had taken the winter and tried to put that intensity level aside," Irwin said. "I needed to get away from it. As much as I was playing and playing successfully toward the tail end of the year, I not only needed, I wanted to get away from it.

"Last week was only my eighth event of the year, so I haven't played a lot -- but that was by design because some of the defending tournaments, like here, and tournaments I wanted to play in have almost been in a row. I knew my May, June, July, August time period was going to be very, very busy."

But what Irwin hadn't counted on was how difficult, or nearly impossible, it would be to pick right up where he left off.

"(Taking that time off), and then picking it up off the shelf and inserting the cassette into the player doesn't work quite that easily," he said.

"The effort has been to resurrect that same level of focus, that same standard that I had established in the past and yet still have time to do some of the other things that I needed to do."

In Irwin's semi-absence this spring, Bruce Fleisher, Allen Doyle and Larry Nelson have picked up the slack, winning seven of the first 12 tournaments.

Just one more thing to shoot for, Irwin said.

"Bruce has set the standard, the level of play, and Allen Doyle has come up with some great play, and Larry Nelson, too," Irwin said.

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