Jack Nicklaus' victory in the Tradition was vintage Golden Bear - a mix of breathtaking drives and uncanny iron shots that left his competition beaten long before the tournament ended.
His attitude was a reflection of the old days, too.Instead of dwelling on his 7-under-par 65 score and three-stroke victory Sunday - calculated by his office as his 100th pro title - Nicklaus was thinking ahead to his chances of winning a seventh green jacket at the Masters.
"I'm hitting the ball far enough to be competitive at Augusta, and the rest of my game is in pretty good shape," Nicklaus said.
He won his fourth Tradition title, second senior championship this season and 10th overall by stalking Hale Irwin until Irwin came unglued on the back nine. Nicklaus administered the coup de grace at the 12th hole, which he played in birdie, double eagle and eagle the last three rounds.
Irwin made the second of three straight bogeys on No. 12, and the three-shot swing put Nicklaus in the lead for the first time all week.
"I could see him lose a little bit of his confidence at that point because he went down to the next hole and missed a 3- or 31/2-foot putt for par," Nicklaus said.
"When you have the lead by three at 11 and then trail by two two holes later, it's tough," Irwin said.
Nicklaus shot 16-under 272, four strokes better than the 276 last year that put him into a playoff with Isao Aoki before he won his third Tradition crown. Nicklaus also won on his first try in 1990 and repeated in 1991.
Irwin, who began the round at 10-under, one shot ahead of Nicklaus and two up on Raymond Floyd, reached 15-under in the first 10 holes, then finished with a 69 for 275.
Floyd had two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine and needed a strong finish to get back to 281.
Bob Murphy completed the tournament at 282, Walter Morgan and Al Geiberger finished at 283, and George Archer and John Bland were another shot behind.
Gary Player, who nearly dropped out after the second round until acupuncture relieved the pain in his aching back, and second-round leader J.C. Snead were at 285.
Rocky Thompson tied a tournament record with a 64, but had too much ground to make up and finished at even-par 288.
Floyd won this tournament in 1994, becoming the only player other than Nicklaus to win the Tradition on his first try. Irwin was trying to become the third, and he referred to that fact that Nicklaus designed the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain and knows every bunker and knoll.
"I made a few mistakes today that I won't next year," Irwin vowed.
Nicklaus has won 70 times on the regular tour, and his 100 victories is a combination of those, the senior titles and 20 wins in other countries.
He said Larry O'Brien, his administrative assistant, came up with the total and informed him after he won a tournament in Tampa, Fla., in February that his next would put him in triple digits.
"That puts a monkey on your back whenever somebody brings up something like that, so I'm happy to just call it 100 and stop talking about it," Nicklaus said.
Using a cabbage-soup diet offered by a friend of Tradition founder Lyle Anderson, Nicklaus shed 18 pounds over the winter to reach his 185-pound playing weight, and he worked with pro Jim Flick after a poor start in Scottsdale.
He said he felt his arms loosen after practice Friday, and in the last two rounds he had several 330-yard drives and chipped in from the fringe or holed out off the fairway five times.
Everything in his game was flawless in the bogey-free final round, with five birdies and his eagle on the 500-yard, par-5 No. 12.
He hit a huge drive, blasted an 8-iron 151 yards into the fringe about 25 feet from the pin, and chipped in.
Meanwhile, Irwin's second shot went from the rough into a transition area and the third bounced off the green and into a bunker. Irwin's next chip left him an 8-footer for par, which he missed.
"I felt it was my opportunity to prolong the legacy of Jack Nicklaus," Irwin said. "He did play well. He saved a lot of little shots, and my hat is off to him. I think those of us who buried him two or three years ago had better put the shovels back in the garage."