Irwin Bites Bullet After Nicklaus Lands Double Eagle

Hale Irwin responded to Jack Nicklaus’ first double eagle in 31 years with a 7-under-par 65 Saturday and took a one-stroke lead after the third round of The Tradition.

Irwin, recovering from a 76 the day before, when erratic winds forced all but a handful of players over par, matched his opening-round score and finished at 10-under 206.

“I guess there was a little redemption on my part to make sure that the 76 yesterday was a fluke and the 65 on Thursday wasn’t,” said Irwin, the 1995 Senior PGA Tour rookie of the year.

Nicklaus, the defending champion, also shot a 65.

Raymond Floyd, who won this senior major in 1994 and started the round a shot behind J.C. Snead, was third at 208.

Nicklaus suddenly came out of the pack on the back nine.

Four-under at the turn, he birdied No. 11, then gobbled up Irwin’s lead with two monstrous shots on the 12th.

Nicklaus’ 340-yard drive on the short par-5 rolled to the bottom of the fairway, leaving 159 yards to the flag. He pulled out an 8-iron, knocked the ball onto the front of the green, and rolled it in for his first double eagle since 1965.