Thursday, June 14, 2001
Irwin shows the kids a thing
or two
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tiger Woods got
off to a shaky start Thursday in his quest for a fifth straight
major title, while 56-year-old Hale Irwin showed the kids a thing
or two at the U.S. Open.
Irwin, a three-time Open champion and the
oldest player in the field, shot a 3-under-par 67 in the first
round to delight the huge gallery at Southern Hills Country Club.
Woods, playing in the afternoon, bogeyed
his third hole and stood 1 over through four.
“Age is a number,” said Irwin,
already the oldest player to win the Open. “You don't have
to be through. I'm not going to accept the fact I can't do it.”
Now a fixture on the Senior PGA Tour, Irwin
began the opening round with two straight bogeys but finished
with a flourish at the treacherous 18th hole, sticking a 2-iron
from 198 yards to within 2 feet of the flag.
Irwin swirled his cap above his head, whipping
up the fans as he walked up the fairway. He tapped in for his
sixth birdie of the day.
“I had a little patter in my heart,”
said Irwin, tapping his chest. “It felt really good.”
Another old-timer, 45-year-old Loren Roberts,
was in at 69. Germany's Bernhard Langer, who's 43, reached 3 under
before falling back with a double-bogey 7 at the 13th, when he
landed in the water.
Retief Goosen, a 32-year-old South African,
gave the youngsters something to cheer about, playing the first
four holes at 2 under.
Kevin Sutherland, who's never won on the
PGA Tour, was 2 under through 12 holes. Stewart Cink blistered
the back nine with a 31 for a 69 total, tied with Roberts.
Irwin's performance shouldn't be viewed
as a surprise. He and Woods were the only players to shoot two
rounds in the 60s in last year's Open at Pebble Beach, with Irwin
winding up in a respectable tie for 27th.
Eleven years ago, Irwin defeated Mike Donald
in a 19-hole playoff at Medinah to become the oldest Open champion
at 45. Irwin also won the Open in 1974 and '79.
Woods, a 15-shot winner last year, teed
off in the afternoon with an errant iron shot, rolling his eyes
and smiling weakly as the ball faded into the gallery along the
right side of the fairway.
He mumbled an obscenity after his second
shot landed short and left of the green, but managed to get up-and-down
for par.
At No. 3, however, Wood three-putted from
about 40 feet for a bogey.
Phil Mickelson, lumped with David Duval
as the best players never to win a major, got off to a good start
with a 70. Argentina's Angel Cabrera also opened with an even-par
round.
“I was very lucky,” said Cabrera,
who teed off at 7:30 a.m. EDT and played nearly the entire round
under gray clouds. “The greens were not as fast, there was
not a lot of wind and not a lot of sun.”
Mickelson experienced an Open moment when
he attempted a flop shot at No. 9 from just below the green in
the first cut of rough. He failed to clear a ridge, the ball trickling
back nearly to his feet.
Mickelson recovered with a nice up-and-down
bogey, then birdied No. 10 after hitting a wedge to 3 feet of
the flag. He also received a warning for slow play at No. 12,
lingering over a shot for too long after a U.S. Golf Association
official told his group to speed up.
Woods, the only player to hold all four
major professional titles at once, was an overwhelming favorite
to win his second straight Open.
His most likely challengers were Mickelson,
Duval, two-time Open winner Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, perhaps even
Sergio Garcia, who birdied the final hole for a 70.
Irwin wasn't ready to put himself among
the contenders. Last year, he opened with a 68, slumped to scores
of 78 and 81, then finished with a 69.
“I'm not under any illusions,”
Irwin said. “I know I'm capable of playing like this every
day. If I will is another matter.”
There briefly was a Nicklaus atop the leaderboard,
only this was Jack's son. Gary Nicklaus birdied the second hole,
but he struggled the rest of the way for a 78.
Jack Nicklaus, whose streak of 44 straight
Opens ended last year at Pebble Beach, and wife Barbara were in
the gallery.
“We understand what we are this week,”
Nicklaus said. “We're parents following our son.”
Southern Hills is an American classic —
bending, tree-lined fairways and heavily contoured greens, a combination
that requires players to think their way around in the suffocating
Oklahoma heat. Swirling gusts only add to the challenge.
In any conditions, Woods is the man to beat.
“I think certain players, he plays
with their minds,” Lee Westwood said.
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