Irwin hangs on to win golf title

Press, 19 June 1979, Page 34

Irwin hangs on to win golf title

NZPA-Reuter Toledo, Ohio

Proud as he is of winning the 1974 United States golf open, Hale Irwin still felt he had something to prove to the golf world — and he did just that by hanging on for a two-stroke victory in this year’s championship. The 34-year-old native of Joplin, Missouri, has won plenty of money over the last

20 months, but no tournaments, so it was with admitted relief that he ended his drought yesterday with a putt for an even-par 284 in the seventy-ninth U.S. open at the Inverness Club. Irwin was also well aware of the maxim that anyone can win one major event, but that it takes a great player to win two. He also knew that only 13 other players had won more than one open.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to win it,” he said. “It was a tournament I wanted very badly.”

Irwin is known as a consistent and conservative player — he made the cut in 86 successive events until this year’s Bing Crosby • — but he was anything but steady in the final round.

His driving went to pieces, but fortunately for him his main rivals were also having

their headaches under a hot sun with a blustery wind blowing across the 6982-yard course.

South Africa’s Gary Player, still as competitive as ever at 43, muscled his way into a share of second place with a splendid 68. Jerry Pate, the 1976 champion, was the other joint runner-up on 286 in spite of encountering driving problems of his own for a 72.