Donald Coolly Forces a Playoff : U.S. Open: He will play Irwin, who waits two hours for tournament outcome after making 45-foot birdie putt.

Hale Irwin ran ecstatically around the 18th green at the Medinah Country Club Sunday after making what he estimated to be a 45-foot birdie putt.

He knew then that he had a chance to win the U.S. Open. He was eight under par for the tournament.

But Mike Donald was still on the course at nine under, and Britain’s Nick Faldo was eight under after a birdie on the 14th hole.

So Irwin, who started almost two hours ahead of Donald, had to wait. He could win outright, lose or be involved in a playoff.

Donald got the only bogey of his round on the 16th hole, but parred the last two holes for an eight-under total of 280, forcing an 18-hole playoff today.

Faldo, the two-time Masters champion, is usually a strong contender on the final round of major championships.

He was again Sunday on a warm, humid day. However, he bogeyed the difficult par-four, 426-yard 16th and finished at seven under, a third-place tie with with Billy Ray Brown. Faldo shot a three-under-par 69.

If experience counts, Irwin would have the edge in a playoff. He won the U.S. Open in 1974 and 1979, and, at 45, he would become the oldest Open winner if he wins again.

Donald, 34, has won only one tournament, the Anheuser Busch last year, in a career that began in 1980. Yet he proved Sunday that he was a cool competitor under pressure.

“Win, lose, or draw I’m a winner,” Donald said, “but I’d like to be a big winner tomorrow.”

The 18-hole playoff begins at 11 a.m. PDT. The last playoff was in 1988 when Curtis Strange beat Faldo at the Brookline Country Club in Massachusetts.

Strange, the two-time defending champion, didn’t charge Sunday. He started his round two strokes behind the third-round leaders, Donald and Brown, and shot a three-over-par 75.

“I just didn’t play today. I just didn’t have it,” Strange said.

Seldom has there been a more joyous scene at the Open than Irwin’s reaction to his birdie putt that had to go over a mound while sliding fast to the hole.

Irwin ran madly around the green. He slapped hands with spectators and blew kisses.

He made his entrance into the interview tent by jogging delightedly again.

“In my 22 plus years of professional golf I have never made a putt like that to win, or come close to winning . . . in a tournament of this magnitude,” Irwin said.

Irwin has said that his putting hasn’t been the best part of his game lately.

“I knew I had a difficult putt over a hump,” he said. “However, I felt comfortable at that distance rather than 12 to 18 feet. I hung it out about five feet and it trickled down. It went in sweet as a baby’s kiss.”

As for his emotional reaction to his putt, Irwin said:

“I can’t say it was something planned. I don’t know how you can remain stoic after doing something like that. I certainly couldn’t and didn’t. There was no way I could contain my own excitement.”

Donald was faced with a similar putt when he reached the 18th green. It was about a 50-footer over the mound.

He gave it a good run, the ball going three feet past the hole.

“It was dead straight, but it wasn’t a gimme,” said Donald of his three-footer.

He then calmly stroked the ball into the hole.

Irwin started the round four shots behind the leaders. He was even par after the first nine holes, and then he made consecutive birdies at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes to charge into contention. With his birdie at No. 18, he finished with a five-under-par round of 67.

Donald was the outright Open leader through 15 holes after a fast start when he birdied the par-four, 385-yard first hole and the par-three, 180-yard second hole.

“It looked like a pretty boring round, but it’s the kind of a round you have to play in the U.S. Open,” said Donald, who finished with a one-under 71.

Brown, the former NCAA champion from the University of Houston, has been playing on the tour for only three years.

He got a bogey at the 16th to drop to six under. However, he recovered on the the 17th, a par three of 168 yards over water with a sloping green and bunker at the back that has menaced players all week.

He hit his nine-iron two feet from the hole and then sank his putt for a birdie. He had a chance to get into the playoff if he could get a birdie at the 18th hole.

He had a 15-foot putt that didn’t break in for him as he expected, the ball sliding past the hole.

The 27-year-old Brown then tapped in a two-footer for his par and a share of third place.

Before Brown attempted his birdie putt, Donald said to him, “Make it.”

“That showed so much class,” Brown said later. “That meant a lot to me.”

Asked about his encouraging Brown on the 18th green, Donald said: “It’s his dream, too. He deserved to make it. I could still win in a playoff and, if I missed mine (putt), I’d lose.”

Brown, who shot a par 72, said he wasn’t sure that he would hold up under the pressure of playing in his first Open, and he was relieved that he did.

Irwin has cut down on his tournament commitments in recent years while designing golf courses.

Nonetheless, he is seemingly at his best on Open courses. He also finished third in the 1975 Open when it was held at Medinah.

“I don’t feel Hale Irwin is ready to be put away,” Irwin said. “I still feel that I’m competitive.”

Asked about the fact that he would be the oldest Open winner if he beats Donald in a playoff, Irwin grinned and said, “It’s nice to have an asterisk.”

Raymond Floyd became the oldest Open champion at 43 when he won at Shinnecock Hills (Southampton, N.Y.) in 1986.

Irwin was given a special exemption to play in this year’s Open. His 10-year exemption after winning the 1979 Open had expired.

Irwin said if he hadn’t been given the exemption he still would have tried to qualify for the Open.

Asked if he has an edge over Irwin because of the age gap, 45 to 34, Donald said:

“I don’t think so. Hale is in great shape. He has been one of the best players for 20 years and has played all over the world. He plays a lot like I do. We don’t play the power game.

“It will be match play situation tomorrow, and I will go out and play the same way I did today, just hit fairways and greens,” Donald said. “Sounds boring, but that’s what the U.S. Open is all about. If I try to stuff it down his throat I will end up stuffing it down my throat.

“I have a chance of a lifetime and I’m going out to make it.”

Golf Notes

Greg Norman, Tim Simpson and Mark Brooks finished in a tie for fifth at 283. When Norman, who was grouped with Hale Irwin, came into the interview tent, he said, “I guarantee you that Hale Irwin has won the tournament.” Not yet, anyway. Norman had a final round of 69. . . . Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros each had a final round of 76 and finished at 289. Phil Mickelson, 20, of San Diego, was the low amateur at 288. He won the 1989 NCAA championship while playing for Arizona State. . . . Today’s playoff winner will get $220,000.

U.S. OPEN THE TOP SEVEN

*Mike Donald 67-70-72-71--280 *Hale Irwin 69-70-74-67--280 Nick Faldo 72-72-68-69--281 Billy Ray Brown 69-71-69-72--281 Mark Brooks 68-70-72-73--283 Tim Simpson 66-69-75-73--283 Greg Norman 72-73-69-69--283

* Donald and Irwin meet today in 18 hole playoff.

OTHERS Craig Stadler 71-70-72-71--284 Scott Simpson 66-73-73-73--285 Jeff Sluman 66-70-74-75--285 Curtis Strange 73-70-68-75--286 S. Ballesteros 73-69-71-76--289 Jack Nicklaus 71-74-68-76--289 Tom Kite 75-70-74-74--293

COMPLETE RESULTS C17

U.S. OPEN SCORECARDS Scorecards of the top finishers Sunday at the 90th U.S. Open Golf Championship on the 7,195-yard Medinah Country Club course. Hale Irwin and Mike Donald will play an 18-hole playoff today.

Player Par Out 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 36 Irwin 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 Donald 3 2 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 34 Faldo 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 34 Brown 4 3 4 4 4 4 7 2 5 37 Norman 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 2 4 Simpson 4 3 4 4 5 5 5 3 3 36 Brooks 4 3 5 4 5 5 5 3 3 37

Player Par In 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 36 72 288 Irwin 5 3 3 2 4 4 4 3 3 31 67 280 Donald 5 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 37 71 280 Faldo 5 3 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 35 69 281 Brown 5 3 4 3 5 4 5 2 4 35 72 281 Norman 4 4 4 2 6 4 4 4 4 36 69 283 Simpson 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 37 73 283 Brooks 5 4 3 4 5 5 4 2 4 36 73 283