Great Moments Make Senior Classic Stand Out

With 45 events scheduled on the Senior PGA Tour, it’s hard for any tournament to get an identity.

But for the last three years, the Toshiba Senior Classic has found a way to stand out beyond the blimp shots of sailboats and coastline.

Twice it has been because of playoffs won by Bob Murphy and Gary McCord, and another time it was because of a record-setting round by Hale Irwin.

But each finish has helped the event gain more attention than most of the other regular tour stops. This year’s tournament starts Friday but there will be events at the course all week, starting at 1 p.m. today with a pro-am event.

“The star quality is important,” tournament director Jeff Purser said. “People remember that the following year and that helps with ticket sales and sponsorships.

‘Plus, you like to put on a good show.”

Last year the event was pushed into the spotlight by McCord, who was much better known as a television announcer than as a player. He was in the event only because of a sponsor’s exemption, then got his first tour victory with a birdie on the fifth playoff hole.

But for much of the day a playoff didn’t look possible. Al Geiberger held a one-shot lead coming to the easy par-five 18th, but hit a poor third shot and made a bogey from the back rough. McCord saw it only because he stopped by the press tent on his way out to load his clubs in his car.

Geiberger, Allen Doyle and John Jacobs joined McCord, who had birdied 17 and 18, in the playoff. Jacobs tried to end the drama when he chipped in from 30 yards for an eagle on the first hole.

But McCord turned and asked the crowd to cheer before making a 15-foot eagle putt, and the pair moved to the 16th hole.

The longtime friends remained tied until a second trip to the 16th.

McCord hit a crisp second shot to about four feet and made the putt for the victory in the fading light.

“The feedback I got through the whole year,” McCord said, “was that it really kind of helped motivate the tour to get going that year. [It went] from Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan winning every other tournament to seeing two idiots like J.J. and I having some fun and enjoying the game and putting on a pretty good show. So everybody liked it.

“Most of the players were really gracious about saying how much they enjoyed it, and it was great for the tour, and it really helped get our tour in the paper a little bit.”

Speaking of Irwin, the 1998 event was one of the many that he or Morgan dominated.

Irwin closed with a course-record 62 (nine under par) to come from five shots back and pass 11 others on his way to the title in the first year that Hoag Hospital ran the tournament.

“I think it can be safely said that is one of my more memorable final rounds on either tour,” Irwin said about his round that included 10 birdies and one bogey.

Irwin’s amazing performance was nearly wasted on the par-three 17th when his tee shot hit the right side of the green only to start rolling toward the lake.

Only the teeth of a rake that was resting outside a bunker stopped the ball from reaching the water. Irwin chipped to six feet and made par.

“Fate intervened,” Irwin said.

The 17th also played a major role in 1997 when Bob Murphy and Jay Sigel battled for nine playoff holes, then a tour record.

With darkness coming quickly, Murphy made a 70-footer for birdie to end the tour’s longest day and start Toshiba’s reputation for amazing finishes.