Irwin's win equals Tour record

Hale Irwin's love affair with Hawaii continues.

Not that he's done badly in other places on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours, but the islands, Maui in particular, seems to spur him to a higher level.

Irwin added another Kaanapali Classic trophy to his collection today, shooting a 6-under-par 65 today for a four-stroke victory over Joe Inman.

The three-time U.S. Open champion has four victories this season and 29 in six seasons on the Senior PGA Tour, tying Lee Trevino for the tour record.

"It's been a beautiful week here,'' Irwin said. "It always feels a little more special.''

Then, in an understatement, added, "Hawaii has been good to me.''

Irwin had a 15-under 198 total. He earned $165,000 to pass the $2 million mark for the fourth consecutive year at $2.09 million.

Inman extended his bogey-free play to 91 holes, six short of the record held by the late Jack Kiefer. Inman followed rounds of 67 and 68 with a 67.

"I had three or four great chances to make bogeys," Inman said. "I couldn't believe I made the putt at 18 (15 feet). But that's what it takes. Whenever I needed a par putt today, it went in.''

Because he had already made the top 30 exempt list, Inman said he had planned to skip the trip to the islands.

"But I felt relaxed here all week,'' he said. "And it wasn't life-and-death because I had made the Top 30 last week.''

Jim Thorpe, who was seeking his third straight victory, Allen Doyle and Howard Twitty tied for third at 203, and Gary McCord was another stroke back along with Bruce Summerhays, Walter Hall, Stewart Ginn, and Graham Marsh.

Thorpe was shooting for a solo second, going to 13-under after 15 holes, but a bogey and double-bogey dropped him back into the three-way tie for third.

"I'm not really disappointed,'' he said. "I was playing OK, but made nothing happen on the back nine.''

Jose Marie Canizares, who shot a 61 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead, had a 76 to tie for 11th at 205.

Irwin has won the Hawaiian Open on the PGA Tour and, as a member of the 50-and-over gang, has captured the Kaanapali Seniors twice, the MasterCard Championship, and the Senior Skins Game.

It didn't appear Irwin had much of a chance at the start of the day. But Irwin, with a lot of help from Canizares, quickly moved into the lead and steadily pulled away from the field on a perfect day at the Kaanapali North Course.

"Going into the round, I felt I was going to have to play extremely well," Irwin said. "Or Jose Maria was going to have to come back to us. That came very quickly. In a very short span, the 4-shot deficit was gone.''

Canizares, who bogeyed the first two holes, tripled-bogeyed the fourth after twice failing to clear a tree and then going well past the hole on his first putt.

"That kind of got him off-balance,'' Irwin said of Canizares, with whom he was paired in the final round.

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