GOLF SENIOR TOUR : Birdie Gives Shaw Victory After Hill’s Eagle

Four years after joining the tour, Tom Shaw barely looks old enough to be a senior.

Shaw probably aged a bit Sunday before sinking a three-foot putt on the final hole to win the $850,000 Tradition at Desert Mountain Country Club.

The birdie gave Shaw a five-under 67 and a 269 total, good for a one-stroke victory over Mike Hill.

Shaw, getting his first tournament victory in three years, finished a record 19 under over the 6,869-yard Cochise course. He took the lead for good on the seventh hole, but had a scare.

Shaw and Hill, playing in the last threesome, went to the 531-yard 18th with Shaw holding a two-stroke lead.

Both had chances to reach in two. Shaw’s shot scooted through the green to the rough slightly off the fringe. Hill hit a five-iron to within 12 feet, but there still seemed no cause for worry when Shaw chipped to within three feet.

It all changed when Hill sank his putt for an eagle and a 270 total. A miss by Shaw, and there would have been a playoff.

“Did that putt go in?” Shaw asked afterward. “I knew it had to because I never was in a playoff and wouldn’t know what to do.”

The $127,500 first prize was only $17,000 less than Shaw won all last year, when he was 45th on the money list. Shaw’s best finish in six previous tournaments this year was 16th at Indian Wells a couple of weeks ago.

The key to Shaw’s victory probably was playing No. 7, the toughest hole, two under par for the four rounds. It is a 190-yard par three surrounded by water.

When Shaw sank a 35-foot birdie and playing partners Hill and Gibby Gilbert bogeyed it, Shaw took a two-stroke lead. He never let anyone catch him.

“I made him make that putt,” said Hill, who said his 67 for the last round was better than his 66 Saturday. “For a fraction of a second, I thought it was playoff time. I thought Tom pulled the putt.

“You always hate to finish second. I finished second 11 times on the regular tour, and nobody said anything.

“But give credit to Tom. He’s been struggling for several years. He had pressure on him all day.”

Probably the second-happiest golfer was Raymond Floyd. It wasn’t because his final 65 enabled him to tie for third place. It was because he leaves for the Masters in top form.

“I never did read these greens right,” Floyd said. “I read Augusta well, and otherwise my game is at it’s peak.

Shaw, who made three birdie putts of 15 feet on the front side in addition to the 35-footer that put him in command, almost wasn’t allowed on the senior tour.

“PGA officials told me that according to their records I was only 46 when I applied for the senior tour in December of 1988,” Shaw said. “I had to send to Wichita for a birth certificate to prove I was born in 1938.

“What happened was that when the guys on the regular tour kept teasing me about being so young, I told them I was born in 1942. Well, I didn’t know there would be a senior tour and a hassle.

“I’m sure I aged when Mike sank that eagle putt. A few more like that and I’ll look my age.”

Shaw said that Bob Toski and several other teaching pros had helped him with his game in recent months.

“I felt things were coming together,” he said. “But only I knew it until this week.”

Although he finished with a five-under 67, Jack Nicklaus--who designed the course, had won here twice and was the favorite--was never a factor. He finished at 278, nine strokes behind.

Nicklaus heads for the Masters without a tournament victory since 1991.

Golf Notes

Because of limited parking facilities, only 25,000 tickets are sold for the Tradition. For the first time Sunday, all the tickets were sold. Local resident Dale Douglass said that if fans had known how to find the course in the mountains about 30 miles north of Phoenix, it would have sold out years ago.

Walter Zembriski has sworn off stretching exercises. Shortly before the tournament started, Zembriski pulled a chest muscle and he played poorly. “I’ll never do those exercises again,” he said. “They’ve ruined my game.” . . . Although Arnold Palmer is heading for the Masters, he goes there without much confidence. Palmer shot a 74 for a 295 total.

Defending champion Lee Trevino shot a 72 and finished 11 shots behind.