Irwin, Woods look good Click here for more on this story Posted: Friday August 13, 1999 05:01 PM By Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated MEDINAH, Ill. -- It's 3:30 here and nuttiness reigns. How else to explain Jay Haas and my boy Mike Weir running away from the rest of the leaders, which includes the stellar quartet of Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Hale Irwin? It seems clear now that the scores here are going to be very low, thanks to the early week rain. The early guesses around the press room are as low as -15. So that's why I'm not despairing about Haas and Weir presently being at -8. There's plenty more birdies to be had by the rest of the field. I gotta say, I'm really diggin' Irwin right now. I've sat in on a series of his interviews, and he's obviously warming to the chase. He feels like he can win, and who's to say he can't. The soft greens have turned this into a long-iron contest, and Irwin remains one of the best in the business. He also gets double bonus points on the experience factor -- all his Senior wins have him battle-hardened, and he took the 1990 U.S. Open here at Medinah. His playing partner Garcia looked a little shaky with the putter Friday, but I expect him to come strong on the weekend. What's he got to lose, anyway? Right now Tiger is going nuts on the front nine. He seems very at ease and in control of all aspects of his game, notably his emotions. Presently he's four back of Haas, who just birdied, but I'd still rate him the favorite going into the weekend. I'm sorry to be so curt, but duty calls and, surprisingly, I'm not talking about the free beer they put out in the press room every evening. We'll chat again ... Alan Shipnuck is a Sports Illustrated staff writer. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.