Irwin takes narrow 36 hole lead

The fittest player on the Senior Tour happens to be the best player on the Senior Tour. He's also the oldest player in the field.

Hale Irwin, the winningest golfer in the history of the elder circuit and favorite for Player of the Year honors, played 36 holes in 7-under-par Friday for a one-stroke lead midway through the Senior Tour Championship.

Rain prevented each of the 30 golfers from completing the first round Thursday. Irwin, 57, was one of six not to finish a hole, but he battled cold, damp conditions Friday en route to a 36-hole total of 7-under 137.

With rain in the forecast for the weekend and the completion of 72 holes an uncertainty, Irwin put a premium on each hole.

"Getting the full day in today, I think, was very good, making up for yesterday," said Irwin, who has three titles this season. "If the forecast on Sunday is what they say, you never know."

With temperatures in the 40's during the morning round, Irwin stayed within a stroke of Walter Hall with a 2-under 70. He followed with a bogey-free 67, which he finished with eight straight pars.

Irwin teed off in the last group as the leading money winner on the tour this season. He has collected $2,852,303 - $9,642 short of his own single-season record set in 1998 - and needs to finish fourth or better to surpass $3 million.

A 35-time winner in eight years on the Senior Tour, Irwin already has wrapped up the Charles Schwab Cup $1 million bonus and is closing in on his third Player of the Year award.

"He doesn't have many leaks," said Gil Morgan, who shares second with Bob Gilder. "So you better be playing your best if he's at the top."

Morgan and Gilder are second at 6-under 138. Gilder, Irwin's playing partner for the first two rounds, is second on the money list with over $2.1 million.

"It seemed like it was tit for tat out there sometimes, but Gil is right there, and let me tell you, Gil can play," Gilder said. "Gil wants this thing as bad as either of us do and a lot of other guys, so this is far from over, far from over."

Larry Nelson is fourth at 5-under 139. Tom Watson, Allen Doyle, Fuzzy Zoeller and Hall are in a group of players at 141 in the season-ending event, which many players consider a major.

"Other than the Senior PGA and Senior Open, the other two is just a matter of designation," Nelson said. "So to me, this is probably one of the more important tournaments we have."

It's so important, officials never even considered canceling a round, after rain prevented everyone in the field from finishing more than eight holes.

Friday's storm left the course extremely soft, making it difficult for the 50-and-over gang to walk the 7,012-yard layout, which is long by Senior Tour standards. Many of the players, including Irwin, rode carts following tee shots.

"Otherwise, we probably couldn't have made it today," Irwin said. "It was almost impossible with the short daylight and this course being as long as it is."

Irwin had consecutive bogeys on the back nine en route to his opening-round 70. He went bogey-free over the second 18 holes, playing the first 10 in 5-under before missing five birdie putts within 12 feet in finishing with eight straight pars.

"It was a little frustrating," he said. "This afternoon, I really had some chances coming in and didn't make any of them."

Irwin has had a ton of chances this season but is second on the tour to Gilder (4) with three titles. He has failed to finish in the top 10 just five times in 26 starts, placing third or better in 10 events, including a pair of playoff losses.

"I would be silly to sit and say, 'I'm upset, I regret this,'" he said. "That's not it at all."

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