Hale Irwin shot a 10-under 62 and took a three-stroke lead over Tom Kite and Brad Bryant after the second round of the Champions Tour's season-opening MasterCard Championship on Saturday.
The 61-year-old Irwin, coming off his first winless season in 12 years, had 10 birdies in his bogey-free round for a 16-under 128 total.
He just missed shooting his age when a 4m birdie putt on No. 18 came up just short and to the right. Irwin hunched over, flipping his cap backward.
PHOTO: AP
"I can still do this," he said. "It's not like I've lost it and it's gone. It's back. Just what will I do with it now?"
Kite shot a 64 and Bryant, the first-round leader, had a 68. Jim Thorpe had a 63 to join defending champion Loren Roberts (67) at 12 under.
Allen Doyle (67), Jerry Pate (67) and Ben Crenshaw (68) were 11 under.
Irwin, who has a record 44 wins on the Champions Tour, is seeking his first win since the 2005 SAS Championship.
He missed winning last year for the first time since joining the Champions Tour in 1995.
"I just probably lost a step here and half a step there and that's all it takes," he said.
"All in all, it wasn't a terrible year, but I just didn't play the kind of golf I'm capable of playing, which I've shown the last two days," he said.
Irwin has been working out more and trying to fix the kinks in his game.
He birdied four straight holes twice, once each on the front and back nines.
His tap-in birdie on the par-4 15th, gave him his first lead at 15 under.
Irwin has owned Hawaii like no other golfer, winning eight times on the senior tour including the 1997 MasterCard and the 1981 Hawaiian Open on the US PGA Tour. He has US$3.9 million in winnings, including unofficial money, in the state.
Irwin said he would need to stay aggressive and probably needed a 65 or 66 to force his rivals to shoot an amazing round yesterday to win.
"If you just try to sit on a lead, you'll probably end up doing what I did on the last hole," he said. "You get too careful. You'll get too anxious and not succeed."
Kite had seven birdies and made a 13m eagle putt on the par-5 10th.
His only mistake was a bogey on the par-3 17th when his 8-iron fell short of the green and he missed a 1.5m putt for par.
Kite said he realizes Irwin is hungry for a win.
"He's not the only one hungry, though," he said. "It's going to take some good golf tomorrow to catch Hale."
Irwin is almost unbeatable when he leads or share the lead heading into Sunday, winning 29 of 40 times.
With a cigar in mouth and a brand new Callaway putter in hand, Thorpe had a personal-best 22 putts in a round that included seven birdies and an eagle on the 550m 10th, the longest hole at Hualalai.
His four birdie putts on the final six holes were all within 1.5m.
"I found a way to keep your putting strokes low -- miss more greens," he said.
"It builds your confidence when you make those short putts. So if things don't good tomorrow, I might just miss a green on purpose and chip it and go up-and-down to get some confidence," he said.
Only Gil Morgan (73) and Bob Gilder (77) shot over par during the round on Saturday.
"How would you like to shoot a 13-under par and be three behind?" Irwin asked.
A day after celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary, 71-year-old Gary Player was 6 under after his second 69, again beating his age by two strokes.
Player moved into contention at 9 under with a birdie on the par-4 16th, but triple-bogeyed No. 18 after hooking his drive and dropping his approach in the sand.
"Anytime you end up with a 7, it's a lousy bit of medicine," he said.
"I got a little greedy. I tried to hit it hard and hooked it around the corner and I just hit a terrible shot," he said.
The Hall of Famer is one of four invited players at Hualalai, along with Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd and Lanny Wadkins.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to