Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, and raised in Baxter Springs, Kansas, and Boulder, Colorado.

[2] Irwin was a star athlete in football, baseball, and golf at Boulder High School[3] and graduated in 1963.

Irwin then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, played football for the Buffaloes under head coach Eddie Crowder,[4] was a two-time All-Big Eight defensive back (1965, 1966),[5] and academic All-American.

"[8] Irwin earned $35,000 for his victory at Winged Foot and said that he had a vivid dream three weeks earlier that he won the U.S. Open, which he only told his wife about.

He missed out on a record-breaking third straight victory when he was beaten in the 1976 final by Australian David Graham on the second sudden-death playoff hole.

[10] Between January 1975 to the end of the 1978 season, Irwin made the cut in 86 consecutive PGA Tour events.

[11] In 1977, Irwin's three wins on the PGA Tour included a five-shot victory in the Colgate Hall of Fame Classic at Pinehurst Resort.

Irwin shot a second round of 62 at Pinehurst for a 15-under par opening 36-hole total of 127, which was the best in any PGA Tour event for over a decade.

With its narrow fairways and heavy rough,[14] the Inverness course was a stern test for the players.

[15] The next month in The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Irwin came to the final round with a two-shot lead.

In 1983, Irwin had another close tilt at The Open Championship, but lost by a shot to Tom Watson at Royal Birkdale, after whiffing on a tiny putt of about an inch, during his third round of play.

Irwin said that his mistake, which cost him the chance of a playoff with Watson, was "a mental lapse" and that he learned a lesson from it, later being very careful on short putts.

After becoming the oldest ever U.S. Open champion at the age of 45, winning his first PGA Tour event for five years, Irwin was gracious in victory.

Former U.S. Open champion and television analyst Ken Venturi said of Irwin: "Aesthetically and technically, Hale stands at the ball as well as any player I've ever seen.

[28] Irwin has since gone on to shoot his age 44 times in official PGA Tour Champions events (as of August 11, 2020), well ahead of Gary Player's second-place 30.

"[32] For 25 years, Hale Irwin helped to raise money for the St. Louis Children's Hospital, which named a wing in his honor.

[33] In 2019, in acknowledgement of his character, sportsmanship and commitment to charity, Irwin received the PGA Tour's Payne Stewart Award presented by Southern Company.