Irwin Looks to Continue Success of Last Two Years

Three weeks into 1999, Hale Irwin still wasn’t prepared to start the year, and it showed at the MasterCard Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He had trouble focusing, struggled with his putting and finished tied for 23rd, 11 strokes behind winner John Jacobs.

“Pure and simple, I just wasn’t ready to go,” Irwin said.

No one would blame Irwin for resting on his laurels. Here’s a guy, after all, who won 16 Senior PGA Tour events in 1997 and ‘98, ringing up an unprecedented $5.2 million in official prize money.

“I’m having a little more difficult time getting motivated, getting ready to play again,” he said, “because it’s been two years-plus without an extensive break.”

But Irwin’s not about to give up on 1999. He rebounded from his poor performance at the MasterCard by winning the Senior Skins championship the next week, also in Hawaii, sinking two birdie putts for $230,000.

Last week, after returning to the mainland, he dropped by Newport Beach Country Club to talk about defending his title at the Toshiba Senior Classic next month.

“It’s still early in the year,” Irwin said. “I’m looking forward to ’99 in a big way. I don’t know if it’s going to be as successful as the last two years have been, but I like to think it will be.”

Irwin’s 1998 got rolling in Newport Beach. Winless in three events leading up to the tournament, Irwin shot a course-record nine-under-par 62 in the final round to rally from five shots back and beat Hubert Green by one stroke.

“If I could point to one thing last year,” Irwin said, “that I think catapulted me into the year that I had it was the final round right here.”

Irwin’s seven victories in 1998 were two short of his 1997 total, but his consistency was incredible. He finished among the top five in the first 18 events and in 20 of 22 overall.

Irwin said he was happy to come to Newport Beach to relive one of his best rounds of the year--the 62, with one bogey and one par saved by a bunker rake that stopped his tee shot on 17 from rolling into the water.

It’s a good mental image, he said, and could help his confidence going into the tour’s Florida swing, which for him starts this week at the American Express Invitational in Sarasota.

“It makes me mindful of positive things and that’s a good kickoff to Florida,” Irwin said, “so I’m looking forward to getting down there and playing well. At least that’s the plan.

“You know you can fool yourself sometimes, you just can’t fool yourself all the time, but to think that I’m going to have the same kind of year this year as I’ve had the last two years . . .

“I’ve played awfully well and I still feel I can do that. It wouldn’t surprise me if I did, but it’s not something you expect to do.”

Including Sarasota, the senior tour has three more events in Florida before the Senior Slam March 2-3 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Next up after that is the fifth Toshiba Senior Classic, with a purse of $1.2 million, March 12-14.

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There is good news on the business end of the Toshiba, according to tournament director Jeff Purser.

Purser and his staff have had a full year to prepare for the event and as a result don’t have many loose ends to deal with.

Hoag Hospital Foundation took over running the event in late August of last year and Purser wasn’t hired and on the job until October. Despite the short time to prepare for the event, it still raised more than $700,000 for the hospital, which was later selected as the tour’s charity of the year.

“It’s two completely different worlds,” Purser said. “If you think about last year, we were still selling at this point. We are definitely in good shape this year. We are sold out of just about everything except tickets.”

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Fred Couples, a consultant for the Talega golf course being built in San Clemente north of Interstate 5, was on site Tuesday for his first tour.

The high-end public course isn’t scheduled to open until the fall of 2000, but there was water in the lake, sand in the traps, grass on the tee box and a green for the 167-yard seventh hole.

Couples stepped to the tee and blasted his first shot into a sand trap behind the hole. His second shot was just short, but his third ended up within 10 feet of the pin.

Couples, who is working with the Schmidt-Curley golf architect firm from Scottsdale, Ariz., made all the standard statements about the unique features of the course that sits in the foothills and will eventually be mostly surrounded by homes.

But he also offered a unique perspective.

“You know, you want a little town like [San Clemente] not to have four million people running through it all the time,” Couples said. “The golf can be pulled in. People will come, then they will leave, and I like that. I don’t mind having people come to my house as long as they get out of there.

“We really don’t want to disrupt San Clemente and turn it into Los Angeles.”

Notes

Boys Hope/Girls Hope is holding its fifth charity golf tournament April 12 at Santa Ana Country Club. For sponsorship and playing information, call (949) 975-8466. Boys Hope/Girls Hope has two group homes in Orange County to help children whose families no longer give them proper care.

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Beck and Kresal can be reached with comments or suggestions at (714) 966-5904, fax 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.Beck@latimes.com or Steve.Kresal@latimes.com.