Hale to the Chief

Was that the real Hale Irwin in 2006?

Was that the golf great experiencing two nightmarish finishes in Florida, Feb. of 2006, and never quite recovering? Was that really him?

Irwin would like to think it wasn’t. It isn’t often he describes a year as disappointing. But Florida proved cruel to Hale Irwin last year and for once he did not know how to react.

“I had two tournaments in Florida, back-to-back, where I had chances to win, but lost both because of poor play at the end,” said Irwin, who did not win an event last year for the first time since joining the Champions Tour in 1995 and saw his streak of seasons with at least $1 million in winnings end at 10. “I let that disappointment carry through. To do that and to not be able finish strong at the end, that’s not my normal M.O.”

Irwin, however, wouldn’t let that funk define him. He’s already made a difference this year. He won the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii last month. His 23-under-par 193 was the lowest winning score of his career.

The real Hale Irwin stood up. He’s back.

That means the golfers on the Champions Tour will have to look out. They’ll definitely be aware of Irwin at the Toshiba Classic this week at the Newport Beach Country Club. He isn’t the money leader early in this year, but he still seems to be the man to beat, especially since he has regained his confidence.

“I still don’t feel like the Hale of 1997, but I feel like I have that winning frame of mind,” said Irwin, who had the best season in Champions Tour history, winning seven tournaments in 1997. “I like where I am right now. I still have the confidence. I just want to pick up that momentum [from winning the MasterCard Championship] and carry it over.”

Yes, 2006 is gone. Those days of emptiness in Florida taken away. Yet, in a way the struggle served as motivation.

In Naples at the ACE Group Classic, Irwin put his approach shot in the water on the final hole and finished tied for fourth, two shots behind the champion, Loren Roberts.

Then, one week later in Lutz, Irwin bogeyed the 17th allowing Jerry Pate to take the crown.

The hall-of-fame golfer who has a record 45 Champions Tour victories couldn’t quite recover and seemed lost the rest of the year.

“It was disappointing,” Irwin said of 2006. “It wasn’t a year I had hoped it to be. I had a good 2005, but in 2006, I started slowly and never picked up steam.”

Determined, Irwin found himself during moments of pushing and sweating amid workouts. He went back to aggressive training. Since a back injury struck him three years ago, Irwin hardly performed workouts. But backed against a corner, he had to come out swinging and that meant rekindling his love with cardio work and exercises that helped his flexibility.

It also helped his mind.

“His attitude is so much better,” said Kenny Harms, who has been Irwin’s caddie for the past seven years. “Last year he would hit a couple bad shots and you would see him lose that confidence.”

But Harms said Irwin built back his strength through working out and opened ’07 with a bang.

“Age with him is not a factor,” Harms said of Irwin, who is 61. “He has fought time. Everyone counted him out [after 2006]. By working out and working on his game, he was able to get back in the winner’s circle and he did it in dramatic fashion. With him being as strong as he is, I could se him winning for another two or three years.”

He definitely is a contender to win this year’s Toshiba. After all, he’s the only one to have won the event twice since it began in 1995. He won in 1998 and again in 2002. His 17-under 196 in ’02 remains the lowest final score in the tournament’s history.

Yet, to collect this year’s top winnings of $247,500, he’ll have to overcome a bit more adversity. In the two tournaments after MasterCard, Irwin finished 30th at the Outback Pro-Am Feb. 18 then 36th at the ACE Group Classic Feb. 25.

“I expect Hale to regroup after having two weeks off, getting to Newport and getting ready to win again,” Harms said. “He never gives up and that’s why he’s been so good for so long.”

Now that’s the real Hale Irwin.

A CLOSER LOOK