Victory Isn’t Sudden for Irwin : Birdie on 91st Hole Wins Open in Playoff

Hale Irwin said he had a dream a few weeks ago that he had won the U.S. Open.

“My wife can verify it,” Irwin said Monday. “So dreams do come true.”

It took a while, though, for his dream to become a reality as Irwin and Mike Donald were still tied after an 18-hole playoff.

Then, on the first sudden-death hole, the par-four, 385-yard No. 1, Irwin sank a 10-foot birdie putt to win.

At age 45, he became the oldest player to win the U.S. Open. He also won the Open in 1974 and 1979.

This victory did not come easily.

Irwin was two shots behind Donald after 15 holes and didn’t narrow the gap until he birdied the par-four, 424-yard 16th hole, regarded as the most difficult on the course.

Donald, 34, still had a one-stroke lead going to the 18th hole, but he hooked his tee shot into the trees. His second shot found a greenside bunker and he was 15 feet short of the cup on his sand shot.

He two-putted from there for a bogey, and Irwin two-putted from 25 feet for a par.

So, for the first time since the U.S. Open adopted an 18-hole playoff formula, there was sudden death.

Other tour events, including the Masters, have a sudden-death format after the regulation 72 holes.

“I must admit that you never know that you’ll have the opportunity again,” Irwin said of his victory. “You hope to, and down inside I thought I would have the opportunity, but having it and doing it are two separate events.

“And, for a while, it looked like it would just be an opportunity. I was quickly digging myself into a deep hole, and Mike was playing the kind of golf that I would have tried to play had I been one or two strokes up.

“It was not a great round of golf for either one of us. I think both of us felt that it would go right down to the wire.”

Irwin and Donald, playing in only his fourth U.S. Open after missing the cut in two of them, each shot two-over-par 74s for 18 holes.

It wasn’t a memorable round in that respect, but a grinding, intense one with the swirling winds at Medinah making club selection difficult, especially on the par-three holes over Lake Kadijah.

Donald had birdied the playoff hole three consecutive times: Saturday, Sunday and then earlier Monday.

“I had a suspicion that someone would birdie that hole,” Donald said when they began the playoff.

However, it wasn’t him. He said he didn’t quite catch a sand wedge from 118 yards on the fairway and his shot stopped 30 feet from the cup. He then putted to within three feet, opening the door for Irwin to end the match with his birdie putt.

“I don’t remember even hitting the putt,” Irwin said, “but just saw it go into the hole.”

Irwin was, of course, elated, but he didn’t charge around the green, high-fiving spectators and blowing kisses as he did when he made a 45-foot putt Sunday on the 18th green to get into the playoff.

He did, however, hug his wife, Sally, and daughter, Becky.

Obviously, the birdie putt on the playoff hole was the clincher. But his most important shot probably came on the 16th hole.

He said he was 207 yards from the pin and he hit a two-iron, hooking it around trees with the ball landing eight feet from the cup.

Irwin made his birdie putt, Donald got his par, but his lead was cut to one shot.

Each player parred the par-three 17th hole, and then Donald bogeyed the 18th hole, setting up a playoff.

Irwin was in the Open on a special exemption. Open winners have a 10-year exemption and his had expired.

Others who have had special exemptions have never won the Open. Ben Hogan made the best showing in 1966 by finishing 12th.

Irwin said he had trouble sleeping Sunday night, but didn’t knock the 18-hole playoff format, saying that it suits a major championship.

He also had some kind words for his less-experienced opponent. Donald has won one tour event in 11 years.

“I always thought that Mike Donald could play, but more important, he has proved it to himself,” Irwin said. “I don’t generally feel sorry for an opponent, but my heart goes out to him because I know how important it was to him.

“If there was a way to share in this championship, I would always hope that Mike would be known as one who was very game and gave it a good effort.

“But he’ll be back. He has got some good experience now and that bogey at the last hole, as shattering as it may be, if construed correctly, will be a very positive learning experience.”

Donald shot a 64 in the opening round of the Masters in April and then had an 82 the second day to shoot himself out of the tournament.

He said that his game really wasn’t good enough to compete on that level, but he has worked to improve on it.

“I believe I have moved to another level,” Donald said. “I hope to go on playing good golf. However, nobody remembers who finished second.”

Donald said that Irwin’s experience of playing in 21 Opens helped him.

“After the 11th hole, he was getting pretty frustrated, but he held himself together,” Donald said.

Then, on the par-four, 462-yard 12th hole, Irwin pulled his drive into the deep rough. He had a narrow opening through the trees to the green and he pitched up short. But he scrambled for a bogey when the outcome could have been much worse.

Irwin was still two strokes behind at the 14th hole, where they both got birdies.

“There was pressure on Hale,” Donald said. “If he doesn’t make that birdie putt (from six feet), I would be up by three strokes.”

“Up to that time, I wasn’t concentrating,” Irwin said. “I was concerned with other things, like what Mike is going to hit. But then I began to focus on what I had to do.”

Irwin said he never believed that his age was detrimental to his ability as a player.

“I’ve always felt about myself that tenacity was something I had, that never-give-up attitude,” Irwin said. “That would apply to most things I try to do. You can call it guts, you can call it experience, you can call it a number of things.

“I’ve never abandoned my beliefs. They may have been set aside, or temporarily misplaced, but they’ve always been there.”

Golf Notes

Winner Hale Irwin earned $220,000. He has earned $391,694 this year, the best earnings year of his career. He improved his playoff record to 4-4. . . . Irwin’s last previous tour victory came in the the Memorial Tournament in 1985. . . . Mike Donald was 11 years old when Irwin played in his first U.S. Open in 1966. . . . There have been 28 previous playoffs in the U.S. Open starting in 1901.

TOP SEVEN U.S. OPEN FINISHERS

PLAYER MONEY 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL UNDER *HALE IRWIN $220,000 69 70 74 67 280 -8 MIKE DONALD $110,000 67 70 72 71 280 -8 NICK FALDO $56,879 72 72 68 69 281 -7 BILLY RAY BROWN $56,879 69 71 69 72 281 -7 MARK BROOKS $33,271 68 70 72 73 283 -5 TIM SIMPSON $33,271 66 69 75 73 283 -5 GREG NORMAN $33,271 72 73 69 69 283 -5

* Irwin beat Donald in a playoff Monday.

PLAYOFF SCORECARDS

The 18-hole scorecards of Hale Irwin and Mike Donald Monday in the 90th U.S. Open Golf Championship. Irwin defeated Donald with a birdie on the first sudden-death playoff hole.

PLAYER PAR OUT PAR IN 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 36 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 36 72 Irwin 4 3 4 4 6 4 5 3 5 38 5 5 5 3 4 4 3 3 4 36 74 Donald 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 3 3 37 5 5 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 37 74

PLAYER 360 Irwin 354 Donald 354

THREE OR MORE U.S. OPEN TITLES NAME (NO.): YEARS WILLIE ANDERSON (4): 1901, 1903, 1904, 1905 BOBBY JONES (4): 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930 BEN HOGAN (4): 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953 JACK NICKLAUS (4): 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 HALE IRWIN (3): 1974, 1979, 1990