| Born: 3rd June 1945, Joplin, Missouri |
| US Tour wins: 20 |
| Ryder Cup appearances: 5 (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1991) |
| 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. |