After edging Larry Mowry by one shot for the 1989 US WEST Showdown Classic title Sunday afternoon, Tom Shaw wasn't in a hurry to go anyplace. Unlike many professionals who can't wait to make a quick beeline out of town so they can cash their big checks, Shaw lingered around taking extra time to talk to reporters, then sat outside signing autographs.
Shaw, the boyish-looking 50-year-old rookie on the Senior Tour, was happy to savor the victory, his first since 1971 when he won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. His final-round 70 gave him a 54-hole total of 207, 9-under-par."I knew it was going to happen sooner or later," he said. "This is even better (than the PGA Tour wins) because after about 35 you don't think you're ever going to win anything again."
In fact, Shaw planned to stick around Utah for a couple more days with his wife before heading to Sacramento for the next Senior Tour stop. After all, he'd hardly spent any time this week with his wife, Nancy, who flew in late Sunday morning from Florida in case of a possible victory.
"I called her last night and said `You gotta come out here,' " said Shaw.
Nancy's version was slightly different. "He called to say he had a two-shot lead and I said, `Hang up, I'm getting a plane.' I wasn't going to miss it."
So Nancy got up at 5 a.m. Florida time to catch a plane and made it to Jeremy Ranch by 11:30 a.m. Utah time. She followed her husband every step of the way over the hilly terrain of the Jeremy Ranch layout.
So Shaw must have been pretty confident of winning to invite his wife out 2,000 miles on short notice, right?
"Actually, I was afraid I was going to put too much pressure on myself," he said. "We've been traveling with our kids the last nine weeks and I felt it wouldn't have been fair if she wasn't here because she's been so supportive."
At first, Shaw didn't impress Nancy or anyone as he got off to a rather shaky start. He made a par save at No. 2 after hitting in a bunker and made a brilliant save at No. 5 after hitting into the sagebrush with his drive. "I could have easily had a 7 there," he said.
He finally made birdie at No. 6 with an 8-footer, but had it canceled by a bogey at 7 when he missed an 18-incher.
At that point he was still even for the day, but everyone else was creeping up on him. "So many guys had a chance to win after nine holes. I was watching the board and just trying to keep my ball on the green stuff."
As Shaw, resplendent in his pink and white shirt and pink slacks, headed to No. 9 tee, there were eight players within two shots of the lead. Shaw was 7-under for the tournament, Don Bies, Dale Douglass, Gene Littler and Lou Graham were 6-under and Jimmy Powell, Billy Casper and Mowry were 5-under.
Shaw birdied at 9 with a short putt, but so did playing partners Bies and Mowry. At No. 10, Bies made an 8-footer to tie for the lead and Mowry chipped in from 25 feet to climb within one of Shaw, who left his 20-footer short.
At this point, it appeared Bies was the man to beat. He had been playing steady all day, while Shaw and Mowry were scrambling for their lives much of the time.
First-day leader Littler and local favorite Billy Casper, playing together three holes ahead, seriously threatened as both birdied 7, 8 and 9 to get to 6-under. But Littler got stuck there and didn't move until he bogeyed the final hole, while Casper fell back with bogeys at 11 and 13.
At No. 11, Shaw, Mowry and Bies all flew the green ("I hit a 7-iron over the green, Don hit a smooth 7-iron and went over the green and Tom hit an even smoother 7-iron and he went over the green," said Mowry) and all ended up making bogeys. Shaw, who had been outdriven most of the day by his playing partners, told his caddy as they approached the green, "I guess I can hit it as far as these guys."
When Mowry birdied 12 from 6 feet, there was suddenly a three-way tie at 7-under between Shaw, Bies and Mowry, with Littler, Graham and the fast-charging Homero Blancas all at 6-under.
Mowry jumped into the lead at No. 13 when he rolled in a 10-footer and Shaw and Bies missed shorter ones - Shaw leaving his short, on the lip. It became a two-man race when Shaw birdied 14 from 10 feet and he and Mowry both birdied 16, Mowry from 15 feet and Shaw from 3. Bies meanwhile dropped out of contention with a double-bogey at 15.
As Mowry moved up to the 17th hole, he remarked to his caddy how his putting was saving his round. He should have waited until after the par-3 17th hole to praise his putting.
At 17 both Shaw and Mowry hit their tee shots long to the back of the green. Shaw lagged his 45-footer to within two feet, but Mowry left his 40-footer six feet short. When he pulled that putt left for bogey, Shaw had the lead to himself.
It looked over after the tee shots at 18 as Shaw hit a beautiful drive past the fairway sand traps, while Mowry hit an awful low hook into the crowd. Mowry knocked a two iron short and to the left of the green, while Shaw hit his 8-iron on the upper level 12 feet away only to see it start rolling back and end up 25 feet away on the lower level.
After Mowry nearly chipped in, Shaw curled his putt just past the hole and ended up three feet below it. He needed the putt for the win and the putt went in the left edge and made a complete circle around the cup as it nestled in the bottom.
"I told myself, `Just keep the left side going through,' " said Shaw of his final putt. "The tendency is to leave it to the right. When I hit it, I thought, `Oh no," because I thought I'd pulled it."
But it went in and the only hard things left for Shaw were to carry off the four-foot long $52,500 check and the heavy Showdown trophy.
"I've played every week since the middle of April - I guess I just played myself into a victory," said Shaw, who gained a lot of fans Sunday with an ever-present smile to go with his fine play.
Mowry was gracious in defeat, admitting that he "took a little bit of a lump on 17 (choked)." But he wouldn't blame the tournament on that bogey.
"In the first round I had it 2-under and bogeyed 15 and double-bogeyed 17. I'll probably remember those holes more that 17 today," he said.
Blancas bogeyed the final hole to finish with a 69 and a 210 total - good for a tie for third with Lou Graham, who reeled off 15 straight pars after birdieing 1 and 3.
Littler was 5th at 211, while Casper, Douglass, Powell and Bies tied for 6th at 212.
The Showdown is already on the Senior schedule for next year and will be played Aug. 17-19. Shaw plans on coming. Maybe he'll even bring his wife for the whole thing next time.