Irwin to contest tenth golf open

Press, 26 October 1984, Page 19

Irwin to contest tenth golf open

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

The organisers of the Air New Zealand Shell Open golf tournament each year endeavour to attract one of the game’s great names, and they have yet to fail. Lured from the United States in previous years have been Tom Kite, George Archer, Al Geiberger, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Gene Littler, Bob Gilder, Lanny Wadkins, Lon Hinkle, Bruce Lietzke and Bobby Clampett, to name some.

From the United Kingdom have come Nick Faldo, Brian Barnes, Sam Torrance and Sandy Lyle, while many top European golfers, notably the West German Bernhard Langer, last year, have tried their luck at the Titirangi course. The United States, though, has been the main source of golfing identities and it is from that country that the organisers have again produced this year’s trump card.

Hale Irwin is their man for the tenth tournament at Titirangi from November 29 to December 2. He might not have the flamboyance or charisma of some of their other drawcards, but his playing skills are without question. Irwin is a person determined to succeed, a brilliant shot-maker with a competitive heart. Success has no limit for him and he should be an ideal man for the big galleries who flock to Titirangi in the expectation of watching sub-par golf. As with many of the Americans who appear at Titirangi, Irwin’s visit will have an ulterior motive. He lists, as his special interests, fishing, hunting and photography and he should have good opportunities to dabble in all three while in New

Zealand. Married with two children, Irwin, aged 39, has cut back his playing schedules to spend more time with his family. He can afford to restrict himself with earnings approaching S3M on the United States tour. As twice winner of the United States Open, one of golfs “big four” events, Irwin has proved himself against the world’s best and on the hardest of battlegrounds. He very nearly made it a third United States Open this year. Irwin’s first United States Open came at the Winged Foot club in New York in 1974 (his second was at Inverness, Ohio, in 1979) and he took a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Open at Winged Foot this year.

With rounds of 68, 68 and 69, five-under par, he seemed to have tamed the course, and the opposition. But on the last day he was out of the race after taking 40 on the front nine and finished, a sad figure shaking his head in frustration and disbelief, with 79 and sixth place. Since turning professional in 1968 and not long after graduating from the University of Colorado, Irwin has won 16 tournaments on the circuit, starting with the Heritage Classic in 1971. He has been among the tour’s most consistent moneyearners.

His most successful year, in 1981, earned him $U5276,500, but his best final placing was third in 1976 when he also earned in excess of $250,000. He has

finished in the top 10 money-earners on seven occasions, including a six-year sequence between 1973 and 1978 when he was never further back than seventh. Some of his other more significant successes include the 1974 and 1975 world Picadilly match-play championships, the 1978 Australian P.G.A. the 1979 South African P.G.A. and the 1979 World Cup individual (and team) championship.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Air New Zealand Shell Open, the promoters have invited all previous winner's to the tournament and the prize money has been increased from 5100,000 to $120,000 with a top purse of $21,600. The field and the prize money are both attractive.