"Young" Tom Shaw Captures Hawaiian Open
With a flock of long blonde hair, colorful outfits and a wide brim plantation hat, Tom Shaw beats Arnold Palmer
How nice to watch golf played in the sunshine of Hawaii. This week the tour is in Waikiki at the Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open in Hawaii, formerly known as the Hawaiian Open, first played in 1965. The Seth Raynor designed course is only behind Augusta National and Colonial Country Club for the longest consecutive hosting of a PGA TOUR event. We’re going back to 1971 when a “young” Tom Shaw beat Arnold Palmer to win the event. Tom Shaw even gave us his recollections on the week.
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Tom Shaw’s Hot Putter Too Much For Arnold Palmer in Hawaii
The 1971 Hawaiian Open featured a duel between one of the new breed stars, Tom Shaw, versus the king of the older established PGA stars, Arnold Palmer. The Hawaiian Open enjoyed a plum spot on the schedule as it followed the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, the Phoenix Open and the San Diego Open. Plus, with the sponsorship of United Airlines, the Hawaiian Open was one of the Tour’s top half-dozen purses ensuring a topflight field.
Shaw and Palmer fought it out over the links of Pebble Beach during the Crosby with Palmer looking for his first victory since 1969. Shaw entered the final round with a 1-stroke lead and was able to add another stroke to win by two over Palmer.
Shaw had a reputation for winning a tournament and then disappearing. He won the Doral Classic and Avco Classic in 1969 and then didn’t win enough money in 1970 to secure an exemption for the 1971 season. After winning the Crosby in 1971 he promptly missed the cuts at San Diego and Phoenix.
By Saturday night of the Hawaiian Open, the whole city was excited as Palmer was tied for the lead with Shaw. Shaw was putting on an extraordinary display of putting. On Friday he made three birdie putts, two from 50-feet and one from 60-feet. He kept up the pace on Saturday, playing with Palmer, as he holed two more 20-foot putts and a couple of 12-footers for birdie and then, with the impudence of youth, used a little gamesmanship on Palmer when he told him that he probably would have made every birdie putt that Palmer had missed.
On Sunday, Shaw showed up for the final round in an outfit of lime and canary topped with a wide-brim plantation hat. Shaw was one of the first young players to sport wild colored outfits and long hair. He knocked his iron shots stiff to the pin and kept up his putting performance as he secured a 1-stroke victory over the runner-up, Miller Barber. Palmer shot a lackluster 73 and finished in a tie with Lee Trevino for fourth place.
Shaw reached out to Tour Backspin with his memories from that year;
Wednesday, the pro-am day, a group of us used to meet at the Banyon Tree after the round. If you had a late tee time, it was considered a “bad break” because the earlier players got a head start and the last one to arrive got the check . . . a Phil Rogers rule. I was a late arrival, Lanny Wadkins was even later, and got the check!
I never wore a hat or visor before this week. It was a Kona wind that year which produces extremely hot winds. My face was burned and my lips were split, so I bought this wide-brimmed white Hawaiian hat with a colorful band to protect myself. I had to hand it to my caddie while I was hitting. A good friend of mine visited Hawaii the next week and told me there wasn’t one to be found in any of the stores, but everyone on the island was wearing one! I still have the hat — retired undefeated.
Thank you for remembering me,
Tom
The official shirt of the 1971 Hawaiian Open
Check out the bonus fact below for more about Tom Shaw’s “youthful” age and your chance to win a 1991 PGA TOUR Pro Set Tom Shaw trading card.
The playlist this week is the best of 1971. Listen HERE.
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Tour Backspin Quiz | The Price is Right
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Bonus Story
Other players on the PGA TOUR were convinced that Tom Shaw was lying about his age.
“He wants to be known as the bright young blond thing on the tour,” one anonymous pro said the week of the Hawaiian Open.
Shaw was one of the first young players to wear flamboyant colors and growing his blond hair long. He liked to take long, confident strides down the fairway with a smile on his youthful face. He smiled and waved to the gallery.
And as described by Dan Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, he was followed in the gallery by, “one of the cutest wives on tour”.
Shaw claimed to be 28 years old, but some of his pals from Milwaukie, Oregon, and on the tour, insisted he was closer to 32. Sure enough, in 1988, Shaw provided proof that he was born in 1938 making him eligible for the Senior Tour (now the Champions Tour). He started on the Senior Tour in 1989 and won the Showdown Classic that year. He added a major, The Tradition, in 1993.
Tom Shaw Champions Tour Trading Card
Win this trading card! Put a comment, any comment, at the end of this post to get entered into a random drawing for this collectable card. Ends midnight Sunday 1/16/2022
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The Price Is Right answer: $109 per person
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