The omens look propitious for Hale Irwin. Only four men have won the US Open four times - Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Eleven more - Alex Smith, Johnny McDermott, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Ralph Guldahl, Cary Middlecoff, Julius Boros, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Andy North and Curtis Strange - have won it twice. Irwin is the only man to have won it three times. So having moved up into a class of his own with his win at Medinah in 1990, history might suggest that Irwin has one more left in him, although time is not on his side. With that win in 1990, aged 45, Irvin became the oldest US Open champion ever. Ordinarily, Irwin's quiet, even austere, demeanour indicated what he was - a talented and tough competitor, solid rather than inspirational, who became good by seldom doing anything badly, which was how he won the US Open in 1974 and 1979 over two remorseless layouts. But when in 1990 he sank a putt of around 50 feet for a birdie on the 72nd green that was to earn him a playoff with Mike Donald, which he won, Irwin ran around the green exchanging 'high-fives' with the gallery. It appeared that Irwin had both swapped his spectacles for contact lenses and that he had also undergone a character transplant.

From 1975-78, Irwin didn't miss a cut in 86 starts on the US tour. By 1989, he finished the year 93rd on the Money List. His best days seemed to have gone. His dramatic success at Medinah proved that you just can't keep a tough guy down.

A tough guy who is good because he is seldom bad.