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ESPN NETWORK:
ESPN.COM | NFL.COM | NBA.COM | NASCAR ONLINE | ABCSPORTS | FANTASY | THE STORE | INSIDER
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PGA Seniors Championship breakdown By Greg Robertson ESPN Golf Online April 18 1:03pm ET | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The tournament
Two weeks ago, the seniors tried to play their first major of the season -- The Tradition -- and wound up getting just 36 holes in thanks to April snow in Arizona. With a snowstorm on Friday and another on Sunday, golf was nowhere near possible. Graham Marsh was declared the winner, walking away with the second major of his career thanks to his 36-hole score of 8-under 136. Larry Nelson finished three shots back, while Leonard Thompson and Vicente Fernandez were another stroke behind. Irwin, who tied for 20th a 2-over 146, finds himself in the favorite's role when it comes to the PGA Seniors Championship. And why not, since he is the three-time defending champion.
How dominating has Irwin been at PGA National? Irwin's three-peat in this event made him just the first player since George Archer (1990-1992, Long Island Classic) to win the same tournament three consecutive years. He became the first player since Eddie Williams in the mid-1940s to win the PGA Seniors Championship three straight. And it isn't just winning Irwin has been doing in this event. He has simply dominated. After winning by two shots over Isao Aoki in 1996, Irwin began his tear. He won by a massive 12 shots in 1997, then followed up with a seven-stroke win over Nelson last year in a wire-to-wire run. "People may look at it as a cakewalk, but I had to play very, very well to win," Irwin said of his 1998 victory. Over the past three years at PGA National, Irwin is 35-under-par. But Irwin comes into this event on shaky ground for the first time in his Senior Tour career. The two-time player of the year, who has won 13 times over that span, had just two finishes in 22 starts last year out of the top 10. But 1999 has been a different story. He has just one top-10 finish in five starts this year -- a fourth at the GTE Classic -- and has played five of 14 rounds over par. He ranks just 11th in scoring average and 34th in birdies, two categories he usually dominates.
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Fleisher, Fernandez share PGA Seniors lead Summerhays sets the early pace PGA thinking of moving Seniors Championship Senior Tour caddie killed in accident North: All Hale the PGA Seniors Irwin needs to shake slump to extend streak PGA Seniors Championship field
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