Irwin has won 10 tournaments since 2001. John D. Hanlon/SI

While Jack Nicklaus stands as the best golfer of modern times (notwithstanding those premature proclamations about Tiger Woods), Hale Irwin proved last weekend that he remains the standard by which all other senior golfers will be measured.

When Irwin won the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga., it was his 39th victory on the Champions Tour. Irwin has dominated the seniors like no other player. While Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were crucial centerpieces who attracted the attention the tour needed in order to get going, neither player was a force anything like Irwin.

Palmer won 10 times back when the fledgling tour was still a novelty; Nicklaus won 10 times but played so sparingly -- mostly at the so-called senior majors or at tournaments played on courses he designed -- that he never carried the tour's banner. Gary Player, who was a 19-time winner, and Lee Trevino, who won 29 times, played far bigger roles in supporting the tour. No one, however, has played as well for as long as Irwin.

Those who discount the seniors as a sideshow should digest this staggering statistic: Irwin has won almost $19 million playing senior golf, more than three times what he won in a stellar PGA Tour career. At the start of 2004, only four PGA Tour players had won more than Irwin: Woods, $39.7 million; Davis Love, $26.1 million; Vijay Singh, $25.8 million; and Phil Mickelson, $23.7 million. Jim Furyk, currently sidelined after wrist surgery, ranked fifth with $19 million.

Only 11 players on the PGA Tour have won as many as 39 titles. Tom Watson and Gene Sarazen are at the bottom of that list with 39, just behind Woods, who has 40. Sam Snead leads the all-time list with 82 wins (a total that has been modified several times as the tour continues to rewrite its history and redefine which victories count on its official list). Irwin has 59 wins on two tours. Nicklaus has 83; Palmer 72.

For a few reasons, I'd rank Irwin's senior mark as one of three golf records that aren't likely to be broken.

First, the competition is deeper and better on the Champions Tour than ever before as more tour players keep themselves in better shape through their 40s.

Second, it's a fact that most players have about a five-year window from age 50-55 in which they play their best, before their scoring skills begin to decline. Irwin has been a noteworthy exception to this rule. He'll turn 59 in June, but he's racked up 10 wins since 2001. Last year was his first noticeable slip, when he missed some time due to a back injury. He played five fewer events than he had in 2002 and fell to fifth on the season money list, the first year he hadn't finished in the top three since 1995.

And third, Irwin had his run at the peak of the tour's popularity and growth. There were 45 tournaments in 2000. Now there are 34. So the depth of the fields may have been stretched a little thinner when Irwin was playing his best. More important, a player now has 11 fewer opportunities to play in a year. So 39 wins is going to be tough to beat.

Two other records look unbeatable. Dana Quigley's mark of 241 senior events played. Nobody else is going to get near that and probably, no one else wants to. And even if they did, they'd have to win often enough to remain eligible for the winners-only Mercedes Championship. In his first seven years on the senior tour, Quigley has won at least once in every year except 1999. A streak of playing in tournaments in which you're eligible is nice, but it's not a real streak. Quigley has played in every tournament for the past six years. He's the Cal Ripken of senior golf, and the trophy will be retired when he does ... which probably will be never.

The other unreachable record is Byron Nelson's mark of 11 straight victories. Woods got to six in a row in 2001, and, if Mickelson hadn't rallied on the back nine while Woods faltered and lost at Torrey Pines, Woods would've had a chance to cherry-pick his way close to the record had he gotten past the Match Play Championship at La Costa.

It didn't happen, however, and it is difficult to imagine anyone else matching that run. So I'm putting Byron's mark into the unattainable class with the others.

As for Irwin, who just keeps rolling along, it will be interesting to see how much longer he'll continue this pace. There is still no end in sight.

Also, there is no end in sight for The Mailbag:

Regarding your statement on spike marks being a thing of the past, what have you been smoking? I've been playing nearly 40 years and can honestly say I've never seen metal spikes do as much damage as Black Widows. Maybe it would help if each package of spikes came with a 10 minute video on how to walk on a green.-- John Weimer, Charlotte, N.C.

Your memory must be gone, Weimaraner, if you've already forgotten what it was like to have four senior citizens dragging their metal spikes around the cup leaving marks like a freshly plowed cornfield, or how high the grass would stick up on a bad mark. Non-metal spikes still do damage but ask any golf course superintendent in America and he'll tell you his greens are much, much better than they ever were before.

Gary, I hear you are a pretty good mediocre player. My question: Do you breathe in or out on your backswing?-- John Boyle, Fishtrap, Wash.

I don't breathe, Pride of Fishtrap. It interferes with my Hogan-like concentration. That's Artie Hogan, if you must know.

We are still waiting for you to comment on Ken Venturi's charges that Arnold Palmer may have cheated to win his first Masters. You have blown off my questions about this topic and instead have been cherry-picking questions about golf bags and Tiger's fiance. Grow a pair and answer a tough question, Van by the River Man.-- David McKee, Cambridge, Mass.

	MAILBAG Gary Van Sickle will answer select questions from SI.com users each week in Underground Golfer. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Palmer apparently followed the rules of the time when he played out a second ball on the 12th hole. Since making the allegation in a promotional release for his book, Venturi has since backed off.

How long does it takes a man like me, 32, who started playing golf five years ago, with handicap 7.4, to become a pro?-- John Osagie, Zurich, Switzerland

About the two seconds to say, "I'm a pro," and then you are one. Any amateur can proclaim themselves a professional at any time. Now, if you're talking about how long it would take you go get good enough to play on, say, the PGA Tour, the answer is however long it takes you to get your handicap to plus-3. And, in most cases, that answer is never.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to SI.com.