Hale Irwin

For more than 20 years, the perception of Hale Irwin was that of a boring, mechanical, uptight guy who looked as if he'd be more comfortable behind a desk reading computer printouts than among the rich and famous of professional golf, hitting pinpoint 5-irons and making 40-foot putts.There were the black, bookwormish glasses that Irwin wore when he came out on tour in 1968. There was the boy-it-hurts-to-smile look that became part of Irwin's dour on-course persona, even as he was winning two U.S. Open championships and earning a reputation as one of the best players in the world.

Another of golf's big names is coming to Baltimore later this month for the Constellation Energy Classic. Hale Irwin, a three-time U.S. Open champion who has won 40 events on the Champions Tour, informed tournament officials that he would join the field at Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley for the $1.6 million event, scheduled for Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Irwin will be added to a list that includes eight-time PGA Tour major champion Tom Watson, defending champion Larry Nelson, reigning Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen and Senior British Open champion Pete Oakley.

Hale Irwin has always managed to put time in a bottle -- and seal it tight. The man who won his third U.S. Open at age 45 is approaching 57 and showing no signs of slowing down or settling for anything less than the winner's check. The all-time money leader on the Senior PGA Tour by a sizable margin -- his career earnings of more than $15 million in a little more than six years is more than $4 million ahead of anyone else -- Irwin would like to keep crushing the stereotypes as well as the competition.

Hale Irwin has always managed to put time in a bottle -- and seal it tight. The man who won his third U.S. Open at age 45 is approaching 57 and showing no signs of slowing down or settling for anything less than the winner's check. The all-time money leader on the Senior PGA Tour by a sizable margin -- his career earnings of more than $15 million in a little more than six years is more than $4 million ahead of anyone else -- Irwin would like to keep crushing the stereotypes as well as the competition.

Another of golf's big names is coming to Baltimore later this month for the Constellation Energy Classic. Hale Irwin, a three-time U.S. Open champion who has won 40 events on the Champions Tour, informed tournament officials that he would join the field at Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley for the $1.6 million event, scheduled for Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Irwin will be added to a list that includes eight-time PGA Tour major champion Tom Watson, defending champion Larry Nelson, reigning Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen and Senior British Open champion Pete Oakley.

CHASKA, Minn. -- A year ago, Mike Donald was nearly at the top of his profession. He came within an inch of winning the U.S. Open at Medinah. But the birdie putt, on the 17th hole of a 19-hole playoff against Hale Irwin, rolled over the cup. Irwin won with a birdie two holes later.A lot has happened to Donald since the Open, most of it bad, some of it tragic. Pearl Donald, who was close to her bachelor son, died of complications after heart surgery this year. Donald's game, which began to sour shortly after the Open, has deteriorated badly this year.

BETHESDA -- As much as it is for golf's rich and famous and over-50 crowd, the 16th Senior Open at Congressional Country Club is for another, larger constituency: the not-so-rich and relatively obscure.It's for players such as David Oakley, who five weeks ago underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital for prostrate cancer and today will be teeing off in his first major championship since he missed the cut in the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont.It's for players such as Bob Hullender, a former Air Force general who reportedly can hit 300-yard drives despite playing with two artificial hips.

What had been a rather benign setting at the Hobbit's Glen Golf Club in Columbia for the first two rounds of the inaugural State Farm Senior Classic turned sinister yesterday. The rough seemed a little higher, the greens a lot faster, the nerves certainly more frayed.Just when it looked as if three players would emerge from a pack of a dozen who had taken part in an ugly game of leapfrog on the leader board, Bruce Summerhays made the last of his seven birdies -- to go along with four bogeys -- on the final hole to win the $187,500 first prize.

Hale Irwin was expected to win on the Senior PGA Tour as soon as he turned 50 in June of last year. He has done that, but, more importantly, has risen to a level of consistency not even he could have predicted.In zooming to the top of the current money list, Irwin, who won twice last year and has two wins this season, has not finished worse than a tie for eighth in 14 starts. Included are an eye-popping eight top-three finishes.For the four major championships, he won the PGA Seniors, and finished second in the other three -- the Tradition, U.S. Senior Open and Senior Players.

For those with that run-down feelingThere comes a point when every marathon runner hits the proverbial wall -- the point, usually at about 20 miles into the race, when the energy is sapped and it seems impossible to go on.Runners in the Toronto Marathon today will be able to run through that wall. Organizers will erect a wall, actually an arch, at the 32-kilometer mark as a reminder to the runners.Why the coach wears headphonesJamie Williams, 49ers tight end, was a guest disc jockey on San Francisco's KRQR-FM Tuesday morning and told listeners: "I'm going to let you in on a little secret -- George Seifert is a Billy Idol fan."

TULSA, Okla. - Hale Irwin's resume is filled with many remarkable achievements, a majority of them at the U.S. Open. He is only one of five players ever to have won the Open three times. His victory at Medinah in 1990 made Irwin, then 45, the oldest Open winner ever. Irwin added a line to his glittering record in yesterday's first round of the 101st U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club before play was suspended because of bad weather. When the round is completed today, Irwin could set another Open record.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Tom Kite had hopes of making the race for this year's U.S. Senior Open a three-horse affair, but he couldn't convert on the chances he gave himself early, settling for a third-place finish at Saucon Valley Country Club. "I knew we were going to have to make a lot of birdies," said Kite, who shot 65-66 in the middle two rounds to put himself in position. "Obviously, we knew that we were going to have to go low, and [champion Hale Irwin] seemed to be the only one that was able to put up the numbers early on."

What had been a rather benign setting at the Hobbit's Glen Golf Club in Columbia for the first two rounds of the inaugural State Farm Senior Classic turned sinister yesterday. The rough seemed a little higher, the greens a lot faster, the nerves certainly more frayed.Just when it looked as if three players would emerge from a pack of a dozen who had taken part in an ugly game of leapfrog on the leader board, Bruce Summerhays made the last of his seven birdies -- to go along with four bogeys -- on the final hole to win the $187,500 first prize.

Hale Irwin was not that excited about the prospect of joining the Senior Tour when he was about to turn 50 three years ago.He was only a year removed from the last of his 20 victories on the PGA Tour, and the competitive fires, if not quite as ablaze as they once had been, were still apparent for this three-time U.S. Open champion.As much as Irwin wanted to throttle down from a life he had led since turning pro in 1968 to his focus on his family and a burgeoning course-design business, Irwin still needed to feel challenged.

PGA TourBellSouth ClassicSite: Duluth, Ga.Schedule: Today through Sunday.Course: TPC at Sugarloaf (7,259 yards, par 72).Purse: $1.8 million.Winner's share: $324,000.TV: CBS (Saturday, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).Last year: Scott McCarron won his second tour title, finishing with a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over former Georgia Tech star David Duval, Lee Janzen and Brian Henninger. McCarron had a 14-under 274 total.Last week: Duval edged Jeff Maggert by a stroke in the Houston Open, closing with an 8-under 64 for a 14-under 274 total.

Hale Irwin was expected to win on the Senior PGA Tour as soon as he turned 50 in June of last year. He has done that, but, more importantly, has risen to a level of consistency not even he could have predicted.In zooming to the top of the current money list, Irwin, who won twice last year and has two wins this season, has not finished worse than a tie for eighth in 14 starts. Included are an eye-popping eight top-three finishes.For the four major championships, he won the PGA Seniors, and finished second in the other three -- the Tradition, U.S. Senior Open and Senior Players.

PGA TourBellSouth ClassicSite: Duluth, Ga.Schedule: Today through Sunday.Course: TPC at Sugarloaf (7,259 yards, par 72).Purse: $1.8 million.Winner's share: $324,000.TV: CBS (Saturday, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).Last year: Scott McCarron won his second tour title, finishing with a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over former Georgia Tech star David Duval, Lee Janzen and Brian Henninger. McCarron had a 14-under 274 total.Last week: Duval edged Jeff Maggert by a stroke in the Houston Open, closing with an 8-under 64 for a 14-under 274 total.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Tom Kite had hopes of making the race for this year's U.S. Senior Open a three-horse affair, but he couldn't convert on the chances he gave himself early, settling for a third-place finish at Saucon Valley Country Club. "I knew we were going to have to make a lot of birdies," said Kite, who shot 65-66 in the middle two rounds to put himself in position. "Obviously, we knew that we were going to have to go low, and [champion Hale Irwin] seemed to be the only one that was able to put up the numbers early on."

BETHESDA -- Tommy Aaron, having what he says is a so-so year on the Senior Tour, called his 170-yard, 4-iron shot on Congressional Country Club's 15th hole "my shot of the day."He had driven into the left rough at the 419-yard hole, and his ensuing shot wound up five feet left of the flagstick. That was the last of his four back-nine birdies that pushed him into a tie for the lead with Tom Weiskopf halfway through the Senior Open.The 4-under-par 68 is his best round in eight starts in this event, and his 36-hole total of 138 is also his best.

BETHESDA -- As much as it is for golf's rich and famous and over-50 crowd, the 16th Senior Open at Congressional Country Club is for another, larger constituency: the not-so-rich and relatively obscure.It's for players such as David Oakley, who five weeks ago underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital for prostrate cancer and today will be teeing off in his first major championship since he missed the cut in the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont.It's for players such as Bob Hullender, a former Air Force general who reportedly can hit 300-yard drives despite playing with two artificial hips.