Haas Leads, but It’s Just Like Old Times for Irwin

The 81st PGA Championship, a tournament with an identity problem if there ever was one, made a serious effort Friday to reform itself from the Gripe Session Before the Ryder Cup to an actual major golf championship.

And look who managed to do that. It’s none other than the 54-year-old, semi-cranky, mostly gray-haired, three-time U.S. Open champion who prefers to play the senior tour because he doesn’t have to read the names on the golf bags to know who he’s playing with.

Not long before the afternoon’s showers turned Medinah into one long, slippery, soggy sponge, Hale Irwin wound up and tossed out a second-round 69 that put him four shots back . . . and in fairly decent shape to take another victory lap at Medinah, a trot that could be nothing else but one for the aged.

The oldest player to win a major was 48-year-old Julius Boros at the 1968 PGA. Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters when he was 46. So it’s not possible for Irwin, is it?

“We can all dream about it,” he said. “Dreams do come true. And who knows? It could happen.”

Maybe, but in the meantime, there are more players in contention than you can shake a branch at, here at this famous old course that’s in danger of becoming known more for its mud than its trees.

Before a late-afternoon deluge that soaked but did not sink Tiger Woods, another old guy dominated play. That would be 45-year-old Jay Haas, who slapped Medinah with a five-under 67 worth a 36-hole total of nine-under 135 and a one-shot lead.

What’s becoming clear is that this isn’t as much a golf tournament as a senior citizens’ convention. Consider that Haas’ caddie is his 18-year-old son and Irwin probably has socks older than Jay Jr.

Haas knows enough to respect his elders.

“I’ve played with Hale a long time and you know he can still kick my butt,” Haas said.

Of course, that remains to be seen. The sight lines at this PGA are still in a state of flux, considering that there are 10 players within five shots of the leader.

Mike Weir, a 29-year-old left-handed Canadian who graduated from qualifying school in November, shot his second 68 and is only one shot behind Haas.

Woods is next. After beginning the day four shots off the lead, he’s now only two back as a result of his five-under 67. He started with three consecutive birdies and finished a steady round in the rain and growing darkness.

In worsening conditions, Woods had three birdies and no bogeys the last 14 holes.

Right now, his view is more from the bright side, especially since he has a chance to win another major. He has certainly been close lately--a tie for third at the U.S. Open and a tie for seventh at the British Open.

“The key is to keep giving yourself chances,” Woods said. “But you’re not going to win every time and I’ve proven that. I’ve been right there and I hadn’t won.

“I’m proud of the way I played coming in, with the conditions as difficult as they were getting--wind, rain, gusty, swirly. It wasn’t easy.”

Woods said the rain has made the greens slightly easier to putt on because there’s more grass on them. The greens are also softer and holding irons a lot better than during practice, when they were dry and hard.

Lee Westwood completed his four-under 68 just after noon and he’s only three shots behind Haas. Irwin leads an interesting group tied for fifth at five-under 139. Besides Irwin, the oldest player in the field, the group also includes the youngest, 19-year-old Sergio Garcia.

Of the top 23 players through two rounds, Garcia was the only one who failed to break par Friday.

He chopped his way around Medinah with a one-over 73 and said he didn’t have much luck on the greens.

“Just the putt didn’t work very good,” Garcia said.

Stewart Cink is tied with Garcia and Irwin, and so is Skip Kendall, who got out early and set a competitive course record with a seven-under 65. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Brian Watts are five shots back.

All you need to know about handicapping the weekend is that if Kendall can shoot a 65, there are probably a lot of other players who feel they have just as good a chance.

It was a good day to make a move and 46 players broke par. There are 61 players within 10 shots of the leader, so you’d have to say it’s crowded near the top.

For Irwin, it’s a familiar location. He won the 1990 U.S. Open here and tied for third at the 1975 U.S. Open at this same woodsy layout, which has helped his confidence.

“There’s a lot of players with better talent,” he said. “But being the oldest player in the field probably gives me more experience.

“It’s not as if I don’t know the golf course. It’s not as if this is a bad venue for me. It’s the kind of course that elicits my better golf. Can I continue that? Possibly. I mean, I can. But I’m not going to tell you for sure that I can because I don’t know that.”

Whatever happens, Irwin isn’t going to stick around and play the regular tour. He will be in Boston next week to defend his title in a Senior PGA Tour event. He is even eager to get back to the over-50 tour.

“Well, I’ll get back to the players I know,” Irwin said. “I don’t have to look at their golf bags.”

36-HOLE LEADERS

Jay Haas: 68-67--135 -9

Mike Weir: 68-68--136 -8

Tiger Woods: 70-67--137 -7

Lee Westwood: 70-68--138 -6

Skip Kendall: 74-65--139 -5

Sergio Garcia: 66-73--139 -5

Hale Irwin: 70-69--139 -5

Stewart Cink: 69-70--139 -5

Miguel A. Jimenez: 70-70--140 -4

Brian Watts: 69-71--140 -4

Complete Scores: Page 11

*

RECORD ROUND

After the Medinah course record was tied Thursday, Skip Kendall did one better Friday, shooting a course-record 65 to move within four strokes of the lead. Page 11