Irwin Has the Right Clubs

Most golfers say it’s not the club that matters, it’s the person swinging the club.

For Hale Irwin, it appears to be both.

He started the Toshiba Senior Classic at the Newport Beach Country Club with all new clubs in his bag except for his driver and putter, and his play over the three rounds was nearly as perfect as the weather.

Irwin shot a six-under-par 65 Sunday to complete a record-setting 54-hole total of 17-under-par 196 and earn a five-stroke victory over Allen Doyle.

Irwin’s total broke the tournament record of 199, set by George Archer in the first Toshiba, played at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa in 1995.

The tournament moved to Newport Beach the next year, and the previous record for this course was 200, set by Irwin in 1998, when he finished with a 62 to overtake 11 players and beat Hubert Green by one stroke.

Irwin, who turns 57 in June, came into the final round this time with a three-stroke lead. It was the 23rd time he came into the final round with a lead and the 18th he emerged with a victory.

In career win No. 34 on the Senior PGA Tour, Irwin used new irons with forged iron blades and steel shafts instead of graphite. And even though he shot a 64 on Saturday, he used a new three-wood and a new four-wood Sunday.

“I’m still struggling with those clubs,” he said.

Struggling?

“On this course, those clubs aren’t as important as some of the other clubs in your bag,” he said.

The club that was really working was his putter, the oldest club in his bag.

“My putter carried the day,” he said. “When it got close I seemed to make birdies.”

But it was a par on the 339-yard first hole that Irwin singled out for setting the tone. He hit a two-iron off the tee into the right rough, then flew the green with a nine-iron. His pitch went six feet past the hole, but he made the putt coming back.

Irwin missed a three-foot putt and took a bogey on No. 5, then reeled off three consecutive birdies, making a 25-foot putt on the par-three eighth hole. He also made a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 16. His three-footer on the 18th gave him seven birdies for the day.

So will Irwin be changing clubs again anytime soon?

“Maybe,” he said. “You’re always looking for the club, the shot, the score.”

And how big a role do the clubs play?

Irwin smiled and said, “When I play well, it’s me. When I play poorly, it’s them.”

Irwin’s victory earned him 225 points in the Charles Schwab Cup race and enabled him to jump ahead of Tom Kite. Irwin now has 718 points and Kite, who won at Valencia the previous week, has 606. Kite withdrew from the Toshiba on Friday because of back spasms.

Irwin also earned $225,000 to take over the money lead from Kite. He has $735,000 in season earnings, compared to Kite’s $608,600.

Doyle, who shot a final-round 67, was alone at 201, and Dave Stockton and qualifier Michael Zinni tied for third at 202. Zinni shot a 67 Sunday. His finish was the best for a qualifier in three years.

Stockton was encouraged after shooting a 66 Sunday but afterward said he was saddened to hear earlier in the day that his longtime friend, Larry Carr, 61, of Bakersfield had succumbed to cancer. Stockton and Carr were teammates on the USC golf team.

A gallery estimated at 26,000 watched Sunday’s action and tournament Chairman Hank Adler said the tournament raised more than $1 million for charity for the third consecutive year.