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Remember me? Irwin at 5 under, factors in at Medinah again
Posted: Friday August 13, 1999 10:47 PM
MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) -- Jack Nicklaus has Augusta National. Hale Irwin has Medinah. The PGA Championship may represent the strongest field ever assembled for a major, but the 54-year-old Irwin looked like he was enjoying another banner day on the Senior PGA Tour on Friday by working himself into contention after two rounds. "It's the kind of course that I think elicits out of me my best golf," Irwin said after a 3-under 69, putting him at 139 going into the weekend. Every time Medinah Country Club holds a major championship, Irwin seems to be around the lead. Nine years ago, he became the oldest U.S. Open champion when he beat Mike Donald in a 19-hole playoff at Medinah. And in the 1975 U.S. Open at Medinah, Irwin missed the playoff by one stroke and finished in a tie for third. He probably would have been a factor in the 1949 U.S. Open, but he was only 4. "I've had success here," Irwin said. "It's not as if I don't know the golf course. It's not as if this is a bad venue for me -- just the opposite. I feel comfortable playing the golf course." The gallery flocked to see Sergio Garcia, the teen-age sensation, try to build his lead in the PGA Championship. They wound up cheering for a senior citizen. "Hey, you're not 50," someone yelled from the gallery after Irwin saved par from the bunker on No. 16. This caused Irwin to stop in his tracks, look back and smile. "You're right," he said. Irwin's play for 36 holes is reminiscent of what Nicklaus did at Augusta National in 1998, when the six-time Masters champion made a Sunday charge and tied for sixth. At 58, Nicklaus became the oldest player to finish in the top 10 in the Masters. Medinah hasn't held enough majors to give Irwin that level of comfort and confidence, but even the gallery that swelled to four-deep by the end of his round sense something magical watching him turn back the clock. "You can't look in the mirror and see gray hair, and you can't look in the mirror and see a kid with freckles," Irwin said. "You don't pay attention to how old they are. They are players in the field who are trying to beat you. And if you feel as if you're going to be beaten by these players, you will be beaten. "But I don't like to think that way." He never has. Irwin, who already has won five tournaments and $1.5 million on the senior tour, has been playing without the pressure he feels on the 50-and-over circuit to be at the top of every tournament. Then again, "I didn't come here to be the token old fellow," said Irwin, who received a special exemption to play this PGA Championship. His age may show off the tee. Garcia and Phil Mickelson were hitting 7-irons while Irwin had to pull a 4-iron to reach the same green. But he hit them well, and had just as many birdie opportunities. Whether he can keep it up, not even Irwin knows. The oldest player to win a major championship was Julius Boros, who won the PGA Championship in 1968 at age 48. "I think I can continue playing as I have been," he said. Irwin has been playing so well, he was even asked whether Ben Crenshaw might consider him for the Ryder Cup team should be win this week. "Are we going to get paid?" Irwin cracked. He quickly added, "I'd pay to play." Irwin would give anything for two more rounds at Medinah. If not, there's always the 2006 PGA Championship. Irwin will be 61, but the PGA of America might consider extending him another exemption. After all, it will be played at Medinah.
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