At an age when the thoughts of many senior golfers turn to fishing, Hale Irwin continues to reel in championship trophies and plump paychecks.
Three weeks shy of his 60th birthday, Irwin leads the 2005 Champions Tour money list ($772,774) and has two victories. This at a time when the average age of the other winners on this year’s tour is 53.
“Hale is a marvel, that’s what he is,” Champions Tour pro Mike Reid said. “He’s a fascinating study. Hale’s chief competitor is no longer the guy he’s playing against. Now his competitor is time.”
And Irwin is winning that battle.
“I just have never quite accepted the premise that age is a deterrent, that automatically when you turn a certain age you’re going to fall apart,” Irwin said. “Somebody is always going to be an exception. I want to be that exception.”
With a tough-minded football background and smooth swing, Irwin has rewritten the records and bucked the longevity trends. The former Boulder High and University of Colorado two-sport athlete ranks as the leader in Champions Tour victories (42) and earnings ($21.4 million).
“I’m proud of every milestone I reach, but I try not to count because I’m not finished,” Irwin said.
Most senior players, even the greats, stop winning in their mid-50s. Raymond Floyd won 13 times on the Champions Tour before age 55 but just once since. Each of David Graham’s five victories occurred before he turned 54. Jim Colbert won 18 of his 20 Champions Tour victories before he turned 56. Larry Nelson claimed the 2000 money title at age 53 but has won only three times since turning 55. Gil Morgan, runner-up in official money to Irwin in 1997 and 1998, earned 20 of his 23 victories before age 55.
Irwin, however, has won 15 times since turning 55. How does he do it?
“It would be preposterous to say it didn’t have something to do with my genetics,” said Irwin, winner of three U.S. Opens and 20 PGA Tour events. “But more than anything else, I think it’s come from the part deep, down inside that says, ‘I’m not going to give up.”‘
Reid said he believes Irwin’s game is suited to success later in his golfing life. Irwin has always been known as a tremendous iron player and pressure putter, attributes even more important with a loss of distance. His classic two-piece swing appears rhythmic and effortless. He has also prided himself on staying in shape.
Reid, however, points to what you can’t see as perhaps the most important factor in his continued success.
“That’s his fierce, competitive nature,” Reid said. “That’s what gets him out on the practice tee. He loves challenges. That’s what he lives for.”
Former CU football coach Eddie Crowder can recall the day he offered Irwin a scholarship: Jan. 3, 1963, Crowder’s first day in Boulder after taking the job.
Irwin would become a two-time all-Big Eight Conference defensive back as well as an All-America golfer.
“As a college athlete, he demonstrated a tenacity as a competitor that’s very uncommon,” Crowder said.
He recalled the time he spotted Irwin practicing chip shots until dark at Boulder Country Club – after having competed in a football scrimmage that afternoon.
The CU football staff discovered Irwin’s personality was best suited for that of a defensive back playing man-to-man coverage, although he also showed promise as a quarterback.
“The quarterback position is more of a blended position, where you are involved with the other offensive players,” Crowder said. “Hale, because he is such a competitor, was better as a defensive back, when he was in command of his own situation and when he was all alone.”
Just as in golf.
“I’ve always enjoyed being competitive,” Irwin said. “Even going back to Little League, I strived to be the home run leader or the best pitcher. That part of me has never changed.
“What I’ve tried to do is to not just take that as raw emotion but turn it into something that’s practical.”
That determination to do it his way has also helped his longevity at the top, Irwin says. Amazingly, he has never consulted a swing coach.
“I’ve been self-taught, so I understand better than anyone what shots I can play and what shots I can’t,” he said.
Since his first full-time season on the Champions Tour in 1996, Irwin has placed among the top three on the money list every year except one. He finished fifth in official earnings in 2003 after his lower back gave out during the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields (Ill.). Back pain continues to be a problem but he has learned to deal with it. Retiring is not a consideration.
He would miss the competition too much.
“I look upon this stage of my career as opportunity,” Irwin said. “I don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I’m going to turn 60.’
“I look at each day that comes along as a chance to achieve something. That motivates me.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
