Hale Irwin - Part 8 (45 Senior Tour Wins and Reflections)
In the powerful conclusion to our eight-part conversation with World Golf Hall of Fame member Hale Irwin, we journey with one of golf’s greatest competitors as he reflects on the final chapter of his playing career and the enduring legacy he leaves behind.
Irwin shares memories of his seventh and final senior major victory at Valhalla, a week marked by rain delays, back pain, and a quiet moment of clarity found in the solitude of his car with a book in hand. He speaks candidly about rival and friend Jay Haas, the grace of Payne Stewart, and the brilliance—yet unfulfilled potential—of Tom Weiskopf. With honesty and humility, Hale opens up about what it truly means to win, to persevere, and to walk away on your own terms.
We also explore Irwin’s deep commitment to philanthropy, including the creation of the Hale Irwin wing at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and his recent honor as the 2025 U.S. Senior Open Honorary Chair at The Broadmoor. Hale discusses his second career in golf course design and the joy of building courses that bring people back for another round.
In our final three questions, Hale reveals the one “Mulligan” he might take—not on the course, but in life—and how he hopes to be remembered: not just as a champion golfer, but as a friend, a mentor, and a man who always tried to do what was right.
This final episode is a heartfelt and fitting end to an extraordinary life story, told in the voice of a man who lived it with integrity, grace, and grit. Hale Irwin’s reflections remind us that in golf—as in life—it's the relationships, not the trophies, that matter most.
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"FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.”
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Irwin, Hale
Professional Golfer
When it comes to the toughest competitors and most analytical course managers ever to play, Hale Irwin is near the top of the list.
Irwin’s distinction was excelling when the conditions were toughest, and his three victories in the U.S. Open attest to a sharp mind, a solid game and an iron will. It was never more apparent than at the 1974 U.S. Open, when Irwin persevered to win the so-called “Massacre at Winged Foot” with a score of seven-over-par 287. In perhaps the most difficult conditions a U.S. Open has ever been played under, Irwin shot rounds of 73-70-71-73 to win by two strokes.
Five years later at Inverness, on another punishing U.S. Open layout, Irwin shot even par to win by two. The scenario was quite different in 1990 at Medinah Country Club. Irwin was 45 and had not won on the PGA TOUR in five years. He received a special exemption to get into the championship. Lurking, but never in the thick of it until the final nine holes, Irwin made a 50-foot birdie putt on the final green that tied Mike Donald. The next day he fell behind but drew even when Donald bogeyed the 18th. Then, in the first sudden-death finish ever in the U.S. Open, Irwin birdied the 19th hole to win. Irwin became the oldest winner of the championship.
“When I got onto the tour, I relished the harder courses because I just felt I was going to try harder.”
From 1971 to 1994, Irwin won 20 events on the PGA TOUR, on such difficult courses as Harbour Town – where his first, second and, at age 48, final PGA TOUR victories came – Butler National, Muirfield Village, Rivier…
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