Associated Press
Hale Irwin smiles after missing a birdie putt
on the 12th hole during the final round of the
Kaanapali Classic yesterday.

---

Irwin on Cloud 9
... and going for 10

By Bill Kwon
Star-Bulletin

KAANAPALI, Maui -- Nine, going on 10.

''Would it be greedy to ask for one more?'' Hale Irwin asked after winning the Hyatt Regency Maui Kaanapali Classic yesterday for a record-tying ninth victory on the Senior PGA Tour this year.

Irwin, golf's first Two Million Dollar Man, shot a final-round 70 under gusty conditions for a three-stroke victory. He finished 54 holes at 13-under 200.

He padded his Senior Tour money lead with $127,500 in tying the single-season victory record set by Australian Peter Thomson in 1985.

''It's been such a special year,'' Irwin said. The nine victories are ''all special.''

Two come quickly to mind, he said -- the Vantage Championship two weeks ago when he reached the $2 million mark, and yesterday at Kaanapali, because he has represented the nearby Kapalua Resort since 1978. And because it tied Thomson's record.

Irwin said he thinks a record-breaking 10th victory will be harder than No. 9.

''Because we're running out of tournaments,'' said Irwin, who plans on playing only the final two events of the year, including the season-ending Senior Tour Championship.

He will skip next week's Raley's Gold Rush in Sacramento, Calif., and probably play in the Ralph's Senior Classic the following week in Los Angeles.

''I'd love to get that place in history (by winning No. 10), but it's not one that's going to drive my career,'' Irwin said.

Thomson will always have a place in golf history, Irwin added.

''We played at different times and under different circumstances. Let's just leave it at that," he said.

"Now that it's been tied, it doesn't diminish his record at all.''

Yesterday, Irwin was focused on catching Bruce Summerhays, who tied the tournament record of 13-under-par 129 for 36 holes.

Irwin trailed Summerhays by a stroke going into the final round, but took the lead for good at the par-4 sixth hole, thanks to a four-shot swing. Summerhays drove out of bounds and took a triple-bogey 7, and Irwin birdied.

''It was a quick turn of events,'' Irwin said. ''From that point it was mine to lose or mine to win.''

Despite bogeys at seven and nine, Irwin played the back nine in 2-under, safely two-putting for pars on the last three holes after a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 15, which he called 'big.'

''That was basically the tournament right there,'' said Summerhays, who finished with a 3-over 74 to share second place with Mike Hill at 203.

Winds gusting up to 35 mph made conditions difficult at the par-71 Kaanapali North Course. Only 21 in the 78-player field broke par, with Bob Duval and Isao Aoki posting the day's low round of 66.

''We had a tough playing day today,'' said Irwin, who saw his streak of eight rounds in the 60s come to an end.

NOTES: Yesterday's Kaanapali Classic was the last for title sponsor Hyatt Regency Maui.

''We hope to announce a new title sponsor in a couple of weeks,'' said Dave Gleason, head of golf operations for AmFac/JMB . . . Kapalua's Dick McClean led the three local entrants at 71--219. Maui's Dean Prince finished with 73--220 and Ray DeMello, Kaanapali's director of golf, with 73--226 . . . The par-4 18th hole, the second toughest on the Senior Tour last year, was again the tournament's toughest this year with a scoring average of 4.39 . . . The easiest with a 4.33 average was the 480-yard 15th, which ranks as the easiest par-5 on the Senior Tour.

Kaanapali Classic

At Kaanapali North Course

Final round, par 71

Hale Irwin, $127,500 -- 67-63-70--200
Mike Hill, $68,000 -- 70-64-69--203
Bruce Summerhays, $68,000 -- 64-65-74--203
Rocky Thompson, $51,000 -- 68-65-71--204
Bob Charles, $40,800 -- 67-66-72--205
Walter H. Hall, $34,000 -- 67-69-70--206
Isao Aoki, $28,900 -- 71-70-66--207
Kermit Zarley, $28,900 -- 70-64-73--207
Jack Kiefer, $21,250 -- 73-67-68--208
Frank Conner, $21,250 -- 68-69-71--208
DeWitt Weaver, $21,250 -- 66-69-73--208
Chi Chi Rodriguez, $21,250 -- 66-70-72--208
Bob Duval, $16,150 -- 74-69-66--209
J.C. Snead, $16,150 -- 64-73-72--209
Rick Acton, $16,150 -- 71-66-72--209
Simon Hobday, $12,801 -- 68-73-69--210
Dana Quigley, $12,801 -- 71-69-70--210
Jay Sigel, $12,801 -- 68-71-71--210
Dave Stockton, $12,801 -- 71-69-70--210
Bud Allin, $12,801 -- 71-68-71--210
Jerry McGee, $9,669 -- 70-73-68--211
Graham Marsh, $9,669 -- 72-69-70--211
John Jacobs, $9,669 -- 69-69-73--211
Jim Albus, $9,669 -- 68-69-74--211
Walt Morgan, $7,926 -- 73-70-69--212
Ted Hayes, $7,926 -- 73-69-70--212
Terry Dill, $7,926 -- 75-66-71--212
Leonard Thompson, $7,926 -- 68-70-74--212
Buzz Thomas, $6,715 -- 73-72-68--213
Bob Eastwood, $6,715 -- 74-70-69--213
George Archer, $6,715 -- 70-68-75--213
Will Sowles, $5,367 -- 72-72-70--214
Buddy Whitten, $5,367 -- 70-73-71--214
Homero Blancas, $5,367 -- 68-75-71--214
Bobby Stroble, $5,367 -- 71-70-73--214
Hugh Baiocchi, $5,367 -- 70-70-74--214
Dale Douglass, $5,367 -- 72-68-74--214
Jim Colbert, $5,367 -- 72-66-76--214
Bunky Henry, $4,250 -- 70-73-72--215
Charles Coody, $4,250 -- 71-71-73--215
Dick Hendrickson, $4,250 -- 71-71-73--215
Dave Eichelberger, $4,250 -- 69-71-75--215
Larry Laoretti, $3,060 -- 70-76-70--216
Austin Straub, $3,060 -- 73-74-69--216
Bob Wynn, $3,060 -- 74-71-71--216
David Oakley, $3,060 -- 75-70-71--216
Gary Player, $3,060 -- 68-76-72--216
Ed Sneed, $3,060 -- 71-72-73--216
John D. Morgan, $3,060 -- 72-70-74--216
Gibby Gilbert, $3,060 -- 72-69-75--216
Larry Ziegler, $3,060 -- 69-70-77--216
Bob E. Smith, $3,060 -- 68-71-77--216
John Paul Cain, $2,040 -- 73-72-72--217
Bob Murphy, $2,040 -- 68-75-74--217
Don Bies, $2,040 -- 70-71-76--217
Jimmy Adams, $1,615 -- 74-74-70--218
Mike McCullough, $1,615 -- 73-72-73--218
Steve Robbins, $1,615 -- 72-73-73--218
John Schroeder, $1,615 -- 72-71-75--218
Harold Henning, $1,615 -- 72-71-75--218
Dan Wood, $1,615 -- 70-70-78--218
Tommy Jacobs, $1,615 -- 70-68-80--218
Dick McClean, $1,233 -- 75-73-71--219
Dennis Coscina, $1,233 -- 74-72-73--219
Dean Prince, $1,105 -- 74-73-73--220
Fritz Gambetta, $978 -- 77-72-72--221
Tom Shaw, $978 -- 76-69-76--221
Ben Smith, $850 -- 74-74-74--222
Orville Moody, $774 -- 78-75-70--223
Bob Dickson, $774 -- 74-75-74--223
Don Massengale, $697 -- 78-75-71--224
Bob Lunn, $621 -- 74-78-73--225
Tony Jacklin, $621 -- 76-73-76--225
Ray DeMello, $544 -- 77-76-73--226
David Ojala, $544 -- 75-75-76--226
Lee Elder, $493 -- 79-77-74--230
Jerry Heard, $459 -- 82-79-76--237
Lou Graham, $425 -- 79-81-79--239