Hale Irwin has won three U.S. Opens and competed in the event more than 30 times, but one thing he hasn’t done much of is spectating at golf tournaments, whether it be at the Open or elsewhere.
That will change this week at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., where one of the most successful U.S. Open players ever plans to be on hand to watch his son, Steve, compete in the tournament for the first time. The championship runs Thursday through Sunday.
“We’re very happy” that Steve qualified, Hale Irwin said in a recent phone interview with COgolf.org. “I just hope he plays his best. That’s all you can ever expect.
“The U.S. Open was the pinnacle for me. Now I’m glad he has his opportunity to play in it. He’s earned it.”
Arvada resident Steve Irwin, who will turn 37 on Aug. 6, has enjoyed success in golf, but has never before qualified for the U.S. Open, where his dad built a World Golf Hall of Fame resume. Steve, a former University of Colorado golfer who tried to make a living as a playing professional before regaining his amateur status, was the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year in 2004 after winning the CGA Match Play Championship.
But last week marked a definite highlight in his career when he earned one of five available U.S. Open berths out of a Sectional Qualifying field of 94. Irwin tied for third after rounds of 67-71 at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calif.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on this tournament in my family,” Steve said after qualifying. “This is rather special for me to be able to go and compete.”
Steve, a vice-president at Colorado-based Hale Irwin Golf Services, advanced through U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Desert Hawk at Pueblo West last month. And he felt that the Oakmont layout set up well for him because it isn’t a bombers’ course that gives a big advantage to long hitters.
Hale and Steve played the course together in the weeks leading up to the Sectional, and Hale agreed that it was a nice fit for his son.
“I told him the course was good for him,” said Hale, an all-around athlete at both Boulder High School and CU. “And I told him I had a good feeling about his chances.”
And indeed, Oakmont hit the spot for Irwin, who said his putter was an “all-star and it came through for me big time” last Monday.
So, at age 36 and 10 months — by which time his dad had won two U.S. Opens and 14 PGA Tour events — Steve is making his debut as a U.S. Open competitor.
Hale and wife Sally were busy after Steve qualified trying to help out with all the pre-tournament arrangements that had to be made for Steve and the family.
“A lot of time, the easiest thing is the tournament itself,” Hale noted.
Only four players have won more U.S. Opens than Hale Irwin has — Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson — but that doesn’t mean that Hale will dispense advice to Steve willy-nilly leading up to this week’s tournament at Congressional.
“One thing I feel about advice is that it’s best when the person on the other end asks for it,” Hale said.
One other matter Hale is being careful about is his status overshadowing Steve’s big week.
“This is his time, not mine,” said Hale, who just last month shared the 54-hole lead at the Senior PGA Championship just shy of his 66th birthday. “He has his opportunity now. I don’t want to be a distraction to him.”
Hale Irwin is certainly no stranger to major championships at Congressional Country Club. He competed at the 1976 PGA Championship and the 1997 U.S. Open there, as well as playing one of his first Champions Tour majors, the 1995 U.S. Senior Open, at the course.
For this week’s U.S. Open, Congressional will be both long and tight, stretching to 7,574 yards at par-71. It’s the second-longest course in U.S. Open history, behind only Torrey Pines in 2008.
While that length isn’t ideal for Steve Irwin, that’s not the biggest challenge of a U.S. Open.
To be successful in the tournament, “the formula is pretty straightforward,” Hale Irwin said. “You have to hit fairways and hit greens and make a lot of pars. A U.S. Open will test all of your ability.”
