Hale Irwin gains first win as a 60 year old

Hale Irwin won for the first time since turning 60 in June, shooting a 4-under 68 at Pebble Beach on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over three players in the Champions Tour's First Tee Open.

Irwin, a three-time winner this year and the tour's career leader with 43 victories, had a 13-under 203 total. The three-time U.S. Open champion is the first player 60 or older to win since J.C. Snead in 2002.

``I relish the challenge of playing and going out at the age 60 to play like I did when I was 50,'' said Irwin, who earned $300,000 from the $2 million purse.

Irwin made a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and closed with a par to hold off 2004 winner Craig Stadler (67), Morris Hatalsky (67) and Gil Morgan (69). Stadler and Hatalsky, playing two groups ahead of Irwin, both missed birdie putts on the 18th hole.

``You've got to give him a lot of credit to birdie 17 like that,'' Hatalsky said. ``The wind was doing funny things, but he always finds a way.''

Irwin, who began the final round tied for the lead with Morgan, had seven birdies and three bogeys in the final round. The 1984 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am winner, Irwin is the 12th player to win PGA Tour and Champions Tour events on the same course.

``I hit a lot of very good golf shots this week,'' Irwin said. ``I'm not going to beat up my short game, but I had some putting difficulty. But I'm not complaining.''

The former college football star at Colorado has overcome back problems this year.

``I've gotten away from my conditioning because of my back, but I've got to get back to that this winter,'' Irwin said.

Jim Thorpe (66), Bruce Fleisher (66) and Dan Pooley (68) tied for fifth at 11 under, and Mark McNulty (65) followed at 10 under.

Thorpe and Amit Odaiyar of Lodi won the pro-junior competition. They won a tiebreaker after matching Lonnie Nielsen and Colby Smith of Roseville at 19 under.

Arnold Palmer, likely playing his last competitive round at Pebble Beach, shot an 82 to finish at 29 over. Peter Jacobsen, tied for 10th after two rounds, withdrew before the round because of pain in his right knee.

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