FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HALE IRWIN TAKES ONE-SHOT LEAD

INTO FINAL ROUND OF AT&T CHAMPIONS CLASSIC

SANTA CLARITA, CA (March 17, 2007) – Hale Irwin shot a 1-under 71 in the second round of the AT&T Champions Classic at Valencia Country Club today to take a one shot lead heading into tomorrow’s final round.  Andy Bean shot a 66 to move into contention and is tied with Bobby Wadkins, who shot a 67, to both finish the day at 8-under par.

Tim Simpson matched Bean for the low round of the day at 6-under 66.  Simpson is in a pack of players locked in a five-way tie for fourth place along with Gil Morgan, Morris Hatalsky, Jim Thorpe and Loren Roberts.

Irwin’s victory mark on the Champions Tour is impressive when tied or leading after the second round.  Heading into Sunday’s finale, he has 33 wins in 48 opportunities.  In all, he will attempt to win his 46th career Champions Tour title and second of the season if he can hold off the contenders in tomorrow’s final round. 

Second-round average scoring jumped back up on Saturday to 72.093 after a record-setting Friday low of 71.227, the lowest scoring average since the tournament moved to Valencia Country Club in 2001.

Final Round action gets started at 10:20 a.m.  The final group of Irwin, Bean and Wadkins will tee off at 12:20 p.m.

Tickets are for sale at the tournament main gate entrance for $15 daily through Sunday.

2007 AT&T Champions Classic
2nd Round Notes

• Hale Irwin finds himself in a familiar position heading into Sunday’s final round. As the second-round leader, Irwin will try to claim a Champions Tour victory for the 46th time in his career and for the second time in 2007. He won the season-opening MasterCard Championship by five strokes in Hawaii. In his Champions Tour career, Irwin has won 33 of 48 events when he has led or been tied for the lead going into the final round.

• Should Irwin prevail on Sunday, it would be his eighth victory in the State of California, including six on the Champions Tour.

• Loren Roberts increased his record-setting total for consecutive rounds par/better to 34 when he posted a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday. Roberts, who broke Larry Nelson’s mark of 32 yesterday, is T4.

• In the 17 previous AT&T Champions Classics, the Saturday leader/co-leaders have gone on to win the event only six times — John Brodie (1991), Joe Inman (1998, 2000), Jim Colbert (2001), Gil Morgan (2004) and Tom Kite (2006).

• It was a happy 55th birthday for David Eger on Saturday. Eger shot a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday and is T9 heading into Sunday’s final round.

• The pairing of the day on Saturday was Tom Kite, Gil Morgan and Tom Purtzer - all are former winners of the tournament.

• Los Angeles native John Jacobs could post his second straight top-10 finish for the first time since he opened the 2004 season with back-to-back top-10 finishes at the MasterCard Championship and the Royal Caribbean Golf Classic. He finished T9 last week at the Toshiba Classic. Jacobs will celebrate his 62nd birthday on Sunday.

• The field scoring average jumped from 71.227 on Friday (lowest scoring average since the tournament moved here in 2001) to 72.093 on Saturday. A total of 18 players posted rounds in the 60s, down from 23 on Friday and there were 35 sub-par rounds, down from 46.

• After 36 holes, the most difficult hole has been No. 7 (par 3) with a 3.273 scoring average. It has yielded just nine birdies. The easiest hole is No. 9 (par 5) with a 4.233 scoring average. There have been 15 eagles and 87 birdies through 36 holes.

• Bobby Wadkins, Gil Morgan, Morris Hatalsky, Tom Purtzer, Bruce Summerhays and Wayne Levi have all posted two rounds in the 60s.

• Gil Morgan, a three-time winner of this event, is T4 heading into Sunday’s final round and trails Hale Irwin by just two strokes.

• Scott Simpson pushed his consecutive rounds without a three putt to 139 holes before he three-putted No. 6 on Saturday.

Contact:  Dennis Bickmeier  714-488-0112