Irwin Feels Like Two Million

Hale Irwin was far from being as spectacular as he was the previous two days, but he still managed to hang on Sunday, coming up clutch on the final hole to win the Vantage Championship and become professional golf’s first $2-million man.

Irwin, who won this Senior PGA Tour event in 1995 and tied for second last year, shot a two-under-par 69 at Clemmons, N.C., for a 18-under 195 total for 54 holes. That was good to win by one shot and earn the $225,000 top prize and the place in golf history.

But the victory didn’t come without some tense moments down the stretch, as Dave Eichelberger, who started the day eight shots off the lead, shot a final-round 62.

Eichelberger, with his best finish of the season, shot a 31 on the front and then put the heat on Irwin over the final few holes, tying him with four consecutive birdies.

Irwin, standing in the fairway in the final group, knew he needed a birdie to win on the par-five 18th. He pulled out a wood and reached the green in two, and two-putted from 30 feet to secure the win.

After Irwin’s short winning putt, he did a high-five lap with the crowd, reminiscent of his 1990 U.S. Open victory, then hugged his wife Sally.

“It certainly was the shot of the week, maybe the month--goodness knows--maybe the year,” Irwin said of his 245-yard shot that found a five-yard gap between sand traps with the tournament in the balance. “Off the deck, that’s about as far as I can hit it.

“Considering all the stuff out there--the win and the $2 million, all that sort of stuff hanging out there--it was like the carrot in front of the horse and this horse was pretty hungry. I just went for it.”

Irwin’s victory was his eighth of the year and fourth in his last seven tournaments, moving him within one of Peter Thomson’s 1985 season senior tour record. There are five senior events remaining, but it is unclear how many Irwin will play because of a sore right shoulder.

Irwin has averaged a little more than $100,000 in his 20 senior tour events en route to his $2 million. Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour is about $50,000 shy of reaching the $2-million milestone with several events left, including the rich Tour Championship.

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Davis Love needed an ego boost after last week’s Ryder Cup disappointment and he got it, shooting a four-under 68 for a four-stroke victory over fellow Georgian Stewart Cink in the $1.2-million Buick Challenge at Pine Mountain, Ga.

“Playing that good after not playing so good last week means a lot for my confidence,” Love said after accepting the $216,000 winner’s check. “I could sit here and give you a million reasons why it didn’t work out last week.”

None of it mattered this week.

Love, who led Cink by two strokes after three rounds, wound up with a course- and tournament-record total of 21-under 267. His final round was a steady one of five birdies and one bogey over the 7,057-yard Mountain View Course at the Callaway Gardens resort, 90 miles southwest of Atlanta.

Steve Lowery, who started the day 13 shots behind Love, shot a course-record 60 and wound up tied for third at 272 with Hal Sutton, the 36-hole co-leader with Love. Sutton had a 66.

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Annika Sorenstam, the leading money-winner on the LPGA tour, shot a three-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Kelly Robbins as she repeated as champion of the CoreStates Betsy King Classic.

Sorenstam finished with a 14-under 274 total for the 72-hole tournament at Kutztown, Pa., and won $90,000 to put her at $1,055,039 for the year. It was her fifth victory of the year and the 11th of her four-year career.

Tournament host Betsy King began the day tied for the lead with Sorenstam. But King’s round of 72 left her in a four-way tie with first-round co-leader Catriona Matthew (70), Wendy Doolan (66) and Juli Inkster (67), three strokes behind Sorenstam.

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Germany’s Bernhard Langer shot a two-under 70 at Berlin and won the German Masters for the third time, by six strokes over Colin Montgomerie.

Langer, who began the day with a seven-stroke advantage after a course-record 60 Saturday, finished at 21-under 267.

Montgomerie had a 68 for 273, one stroke ahead of Thomas Bjorn of Denmark (69).

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Tour de Forces

Most victories in a year on the major golf tours:

PGA

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Player, Year Wins Money Byron Nelson, 1945 18 $63,335 Ben Hogan, 1946 13 $42,556 Sam Snead, 1950 11 $35,758 Ben Hogan, 1948 10 $32,112 Paul Runyan, 1933 9 $6,912

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LPGA

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Player, Year Wins Money Mickey Wright, 1963 13 $31,269 Mickey Wright, 1964 11 $29,800 Betsy Rawls, 1957 10 $14,321 Betsy Rawls, 1959 10 $26,774 Mickey Wright, 1961 10 $22,236 Mickey Wright, 1962 10 $21,641 Kathy Whitworth, 1968 10 $48,379 Kathy Whitworth, 1966 9 $33,517 Nancy Lopez, 1978 9 $189,814

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SENIOR

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Player, Year Wins Money Peter Thomson, 1985 9 $386,724 Hale Irwin, 1997 8 $2,023,864

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Note: The combined money of all golfers who have won more tournaments in a year than Hale Irwin is $985,148.