Wednesday, January 16, 2002

[MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP]

AP PHOTO / RODNEY WHITE Larry Nelson putts on the 1st green Thursday, July 8, 1999, during the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Masters of the game

33 of the best on the PGA Senior
Tour will visit the Big Island for
the MasterCard Championship

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By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.com

No other sport allows its athletes to age more gracefully than golf.

Imagine watching baseball players past 50 outside an old-timers game. What would Larry Bird look like trying to hit a 3-pointer at 55? NFL players are lucky to live into their 50s, much less run a crossing pattern at that age.

This is why golf fans over the next two weeks will travel to the Big Island on Friday for the PGA Senior Tour's version of the Mercedes Championships and then onto Maui for the Senior Skins, which welcomes Fuzzy Zoeller into the newest class of 50.

Joining him will be Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Hale Irwin for what promises to be an entertaining 18 holes.

MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP The 2002 MasterCard Championship is a Senior PGA Tour tournament competition among all official money-event champions of the 2000 and 2001 seasons and winners of the majors since 1997. When: Tomorrow to Sunday Where: Hualalai Golf Club, Ka'upulehu, Hawaii Purse: $1.5 million Defending champion: Larry Nelson Format: 54-hole stroke play Tickets: $10 (any day), $20 (good through Sunday). Call Ticketmaster at 1-877-357-7276 or visit their Web site at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will also be available at the gate. Television: Friday, 9 a.m., PAX TV; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m., CNBC Charities: Kona Rotary Club, Brantley Center PAST WINNERS Since the event moved from Puerto Rico 1997 -- Hale Irwin 1998 -- Gil Morgan 1999 -- John Jacobs 2000 -- George Archer 2001 -- Larry Nelson

Not to say this week's MasterCard Championship on the Hualalai Golf Club at Kaupulehu-Kona won't have a measure of intrigue. Rejuvenated Larry Nelson will try to defend his title against a field of 32 other golfers who won a tournament on the Senior Tour last year.

The stellar field includes Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Tom Kite, Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd and Hubert Green. The Wadkins' duo, Lanny and Bobby will be trading shots. So will Irwin, who won this $1.5 million event in 1997.

In fact, MasterCard winners George Archer (2000), John Jacobs (1999) and Jim Colbert (1995) will be competing hard as well for the $258,000 first prize and the knowledge you'll be making a return engagement to the Big Island in 2003.

"I think everybody sees this event as a big one," Irwin said after winning the tournament at Turtle Bay last fall. "You walk around the greens and fairways, and everybody there has accomplished something everybody out here wants to do, and that's win on tour. I look forward to coming back to Hawaii to play in the event."

Irwin is the tour's all-time leader with 32 victories. He will be looking to win at least two official events for an eighth-consecutive season and will also be trying to run his streak of winning at least $1 million for a seventh straight campaign.

And the goals don't end there.

KIP AOKI / KAOKI@STARBULLETIN.COM The par-72, 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed Hualalai Golf Course is located just outside North Kona. It measures 7,117 yards from the back tees, 6,632 yards from the championship tees, 6,032 yards from the regular tees and 5,374 yards from the forward tees. The course is part of the Hualalai Golf Club, which also includes a practice area, driving range, putting green, sand bunker and a clubhouse.

If he wins $2 million, it will be for the sixth time in a row.

"I've been fortunate to be successful on tour," Irwin said. "And part of that is avoiding injury and staying in shape. This is the real challenge for guys in their late 50s. It's hard to say how many more years I'll be out here. But being able to compete is everything."

This will be Irwin's seventh trip to the MasterCard Championship. Only Colbert with eight appearances and $486,066 has made more than Irwin, who has pocketed $463,437 at this winners-only event.

Last year, Nelson held off Jim Thorpe to win by a single stroke in a competitive 54-hole tournament.

Nelson closed with a 6-under-par 66. He won six times in 2000, but cooled off somewhat last year. Still, golf's version of Larry Legend won five events to run his career total to 16. Whenever he's on the course, he's a force to be reckoned with, and this year should prove no exception.

"This is an event you always want to play in because it lets you know (how) you did last year," Nelson said. "If you win, you get to come back and compete against all these great champions. It's an elite field you're happy to be a part of, no matter what."

Nelson holds the record for the lowest second round with a 64. That proves to be a vital statistic. In the previous 18 tournaments, the player who has led or been tied for the lead after 36 holes has won the event 13 times, including six of the last seven years.

The lone exception in that recent run is Graham Marsh, who lost to George Archer in 2000. Marsh led by two shots going into the final round.

Doyle might not receive the same celebrity status as some of his fellow seniors, but don't look for him to be eating at 4:30 in the afternoon to enjoy senior hour at the local restaurant. This guy can afford to eat when and wherever he wants to after being named the 2001 Senior PGA Tour's Player of the Year. He won $2.56 million last year.

THE ONES TO WATCH

Hale Irwin

RICHARD WALKER/RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM

Height: 6 feet
Weight: 180 pounds
Birthdate: June 3, 1945
Birthplace: Joplin, Mo.
Residence: Paradise Valley, Ariz.
Turned professional: 1968
Joined tour: 1995
Senior Tour victories: 32
PGA Tour victories: 20
Other victories: 1974-1975 Piccadilly World Match Play; 1978 Australian PGA; 1979 South African PGA; 1979 World Cup (individual); 1981 Bridgestone Classic (Japan); 1982 Brazilian Open; 1986 Bahamas Classic; 1987 Fila Classic.

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Tom Kite

AP PHOTO/CARLOS OSORIO

Height: 5-9
Weight: 170
Birthdate: Dec. 9, 1949
Birthplace: McKinney, Texas
Residence: Austin, Texas
Turned professional: 1972
Joined tour: 2000
Senior Tour victories: 3
PGA Tour victories: 19
Other victories: 1974 Air New Zealand Open; 1980 European Open; 1981 JCPenney Classic (w/Beth Daniel); 1987 Kirin Cup (medalist); 1989 Dunhill Cup; 1992 Shark Shootout (w/Davis Love III); 1996 Oki Pro-Am; Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (w/Jay Haas).

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Tom Watson

AP PHOTO/MIKE DERER

Height : 5-9
Weight: 175
Birthdate: Sept. 4, 1949
Birthplace: Kansas City, Mo.
Residence: Stilwell, Kansas
Turned professional: 1971
Joined tour: 1999
Senior Tour victories: 3
PGA Tour victories: 34
International victories: 1999 Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge (with Jack Nicklaus & Hale Irwin); 1999 Diner's Club Matches (with Jack Nicklaus); 2000 Hyundai Team Matches (with Jack Nicklaus).

Other Victories: 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983 British Open; 1980 and 1997 Dunlop Phoenix; 1984 Australian Open; 1992 Hong Kong Open; 1994 Skins Game.

John Jacobs

AP PHOTO/LENNY IGNELZI

Height : 6-3
Weight: 225
Birthdate: March 18, 1945
Birthplace: Los Angeles, Calif.
Residence: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Turned professional: 1967
Joined tour: 1995
Senior Tour victories: 3
Other victories: 1984 Dunlop International; Republic of China Open; 1986 Singapore Rolex Open; 1991 Republic of China Open.

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